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What is the definition of a "Hand-built" Cord?

  • Josh Malks
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30 Apr 2004 15:48 #1668 by Josh Malks
Replied by Josh Malks on topic Missing transmissions
I've done my own part in perpetuating the "missing transmissions" urban legend, but have since "recanted". There is little question that all of the Cords at the shows had transmission HOUSINGS --- they were needed to hold up the front of the engine, and Lycoming/Spencer Heater had plenty of them. What is not known is how many, if any, had gears inside the cases.

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  • Auburn/Cord Parts
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30 Apr 2004 14:56 #1667 by Auburn/Cord Parts
Replied by Auburn/Cord Parts on topic Re: first 100
Balin Wire-

I don't disagree with you on handbuilt Cords being interesting and more work to restore. We've worked on several including #5 with inboard headlamps and the bodies were made up of lots of small sections put together. However, value wise, they never bring as much because they are a little lumpy and rough around the edges. The company did finally turn an ugly duckling into a swan! Handbuilt Cords suffer in judging as well! I do not agree with the long standing transmission story. In interviews I made with old factory workers like Slim Davidson, Roy Weisheit, and Ed Rudd, all agreed that only a couple of open Cords had missing transmissions. They also said that just because the Sedans had transmissions, it didn't mean that they would work and this started the no transmission story among competitive auto manufacturers that perpetuate to this day. I can account for 17-20 handbuilt Cords in existance.

Stan


balinwire wrote: There was a recent newsletter that had some pictures and a description of the differences. Mostly in the door window profiles and I think the show open cars were buried in a levee!

tomscord is building a fabulous sedan, #18 I believe and it is the oldest know example remaining, I think. If a comparison could be considered, the oldest corvette known is appx. #5 and I know it is worth a considerable + premium. The last Camero was sold for a premium.

Considering how much more effort with the metal work, front splashes and the dash differences I would double a show cars value but the value is in what someone is willing to pay also. Some may want a production car as the parts were more uniform.

There were so few (appx 3000 total limited production) of the 810 +12 made I would consider all of them hand built cars and the first 100, hysterically hand built show cars for the 36 show deadline that was unachievable except for the dedicated Auburn staff, do you think the unions today would allow there member assemblers and drafting staff work 24 hours a day and sleep at there desks to meet the deadline?

Possibly an exaggeration but the staff was dedicated to meet the deadline possibly due to the horrible depression then and just glad to have a two-dollar a day job. I would love one of the surviving 100 but I love a challenge. How many of the 100 still remain?

balin?


Auburn/Cord Parts, Inc. P.O. Box 547 1400 N. "A" St. Wellington, KS 67152 (620) 326-7751 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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  • Josh Malks
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23 Apr 2004 21:42 #1638 by Josh Malks
Replied by Josh Malks on topic Repro
Actually, one of the pre-production "handbuilts" was modified to replicate one of the prototypes --- inboard headlights, windshield lowered, etc. It belongs to Paul Bryant and has been on loan to the ACD Museum.

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  • balinwire
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23 Apr 2004 20:35 #1637 by balinwire
Replied by balinwire on topic pre-pro
It is a tragic loss to have lost the first few prototypes. Was not one of the production cars reworked <for display>to look exactly like the first few prototypes with the inboard headlights and low windshield?

It would have been nice to have been an employee of The Auburn Motorcar Co. in 1937 and have had an option to buy one of the unsold show cars!

balin?

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  • Josh Malks
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23 Apr 2004 17:13 #1636 by Josh Malks
Replied by Josh Malks on topic What to call the "handbuilts"?
The 100 Cords built by Auburn for the shows are generally called "handbuilts" and there is no way to change that anymore. As I've said, I call them "showcars". Maybe "pre-production" would have been the most correct title.

Stan is wise to distinguish these from the first six correctly named "prototypes". These cars were truly built by hand. The factory labelled these E-306. #1 was a hybrid; 810 sheet metal back to the cowl, Auburn body. #s 2 thru 6 were the first true 810 Cords. (It was #2 that took the shakedown cruise to Los Angeles in 1935.) While several of the "handbuilts" survive, not a single one of the "prototypes" is known to exist.

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  • balinwire
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22 Apr 2004 19:56 #1627 by balinwire
Replied by balinwire on topic first 100
There was a recent newsletter that had some pictures and a description of the differences. Mostly in the door window profiles and I think the show open cars were buried in a levee!

tomscord is building a fabulous sedan, #18 I believe and it is the oldest know example remaining, I think. If a comparison could be considered, the oldest corvette known is appx. #5 and I know it is worth a considerable + premium. The last Camero was sold for a premium.

Considering how much more effort with the metal work, front splashes and the dash differences I would double a show cars value but the value is in what someone is willing to pay also. Some may want a production car as the parts were more uniform.

There were so few (appx 3000 total limited production) of the 810 +12 made I would consider all of them hand built cars and the first 100, hysterically hand built show cars for the 36 show deadline that was unachievable except for the dedicated Auburn staff, do you think the unions today would allow there member assemblers and drafting staff work 24 hours a day and sleep at there desks to meet the deadline?

Possibly an exaggeration but the staff was dedicated to meet the deadline possibly due to the horrible depression then and just glad to have a two-dollar a day job. I would love one of the surviving 100 but I love a challenge. How many of the 100 still remain?

balin?

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  • Auburn/Cord Parts
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22 Apr 2004 19:41 #1626 by Auburn/Cord Parts
Replied by Auburn/Cord Parts on topic "Handbuilt" Cords
Bill-

I agree with you that virtually all late Cords were not assembled like production cars. The term "handbuilt" as answered by Mike Dube is correct and these are not to be confused with the name "prototype" which were the first few cars built. These were mainly built as test vehicles for mechanical or body features. Only about 5 or 6 were fabricated as prototypes. My research indicates that the Auto Mfg. Association required 100 cars built to be recognized as a bonified manufacturer. By the time all of the details were worked out, the Auto Mfg. Association loosened their grip as the Cord was merely a new model by the Auburn Automobile Co., whom they recognized, and Cord was not an independent make. The handbuilt Cords used parts made by individual workers and had to have their numbers kept track of as one part might not fit another.

Stan

Auburn/Cord Parts, Inc. P.O. Box 547 1400 N. "A" St. Wellington, KS 67152 (620) 326-7751 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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  • Bill Hummel
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22 Apr 2004 16:13 #1623 by Bill Hummel
Replied by Bill Hummel on topic Re: Handbuilts

Josh Malks wrote: The first 100 or so Cords were built over a period of several months. I prefer the term "showcar" to describe those first pre-production cars.


All things being equal, is one of the showcars more valuable than a production car?

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  • Josh Malks
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22 Apr 2004 15:33 #1622 by Josh Malks
Replied by Josh Malks on topic Handbuilts
The first 100 or so Cords were built over a period of several months. Only a small number were finished by the time of the auto shows in November. They rest were completed thru February of 1936. They were assembled mostly from stampings provided by the suppliers of the dies, as part of the contract. Few parts were handmade or pounded out with power hammers as has been written in some places. But the jigs in which they were held for welding were temporary, and the dies had not been finally refined, and some mounting holes were still being cut on individual pieces, so parts sometimes had to be tweaked while each car was being assembled. That's why a fender for one "handbuilt" may not exactly fit another, or a production car.

Bill is correct that all Cords had more hand work in them than many other production cars. That's why I prefer the term "showcar" to describe those first pre-production cars, but "handbuilt" is pretty much the standard appellation now.

Josh B. Malks
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  • Mike Dube
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21 Apr 2004 23:48 #1619 by Mike Dube
The "hand built" term refers to the first lot of cars (100 I believe) that had to be assembled for new Cord to be eligible for the 1936 Auto show season. They had to rush to get these things done in time, entailing much more handwork than the production cars required. For the sake of trying to stimulate the economy, FDR moved the first show it up from January 1936 to November of '35, which really put them under the gun. As a result, a few cars were less than complete, as in missing transmissions.

Mike

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  • Bill Hummel
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21 Apr 2004 21:36 #1617 by Bill Hummel
In another message thread, Stan and Josh keep referring to "hand-built" Cords.

Weren't they all hand-built? They certainly didn't have robotic tools and sophisticated automated machinery making the cars!

So what's makes one Cord hand-built and another ... what? factory-built, assembly-line built?

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