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What is the definition of a "Hand-built" Cord?
- Josh Malks
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- Auburn/Cord Parts
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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
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- Josh Malks
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Josh B. Malks
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- balinwire
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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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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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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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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
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- Bill Hummel
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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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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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Mike
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- Bill Hummel
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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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