409 Cord

After years of looking for them, I finally found some color photos of the 409 Cord when finished. I’m a little fuzzy on the upholsterer. It was a famous shop in or near NYC, called “Reuters” I think. This was one of two cars done by my Dad’s custom sports racing shop, Raceway Garage, Bronx, NY, in 1964 for wealthy Miami area Sportsman and boat racer, Bill Bourne. The other one was a super-charged Crosley! As you can see, the Cord came out with a tasteful modification, that, generally, preserved its Classic look.

Thank you for checking, and responding, RF. At least I won't be wondering about that one.

Great Stuff Joe! the history etc..
I just received a photo packet from from Richards brothers from when they visited & purchased a Cord stash from Eugene Ohrloff here in SF a while back. The small-block-Chevy phaeton I mistakingly spoke of is really a Cabrolet. The photos you display of your Dad's work are clearly a Phaeton. So the car I saw was not of your Dad's work.
RF.

Can you imagine my disappointment!
While I was on Summer break from college, My Dad needed to get TWO cars delivered from his Bronx, NY shop and DRIVEN down to the Coral Gables area of Florida to Mr. Bourne. This magnificent Cord, and a customized Ford station wagon.. Guess which one I got to drive... <!-- s:cry: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cry.gif" alt="" title="Crying or Very sad" /><!-- s:cry: -->

Wow, I'll bet that car could scare you with the peddle down!

Not everyone's cup of tea, of course..
But I was very excited to find another box of old auto negatives from my father's sports and classics customs, (from back in the '60's) yesterday. Still no photo of the 409 cord when completed, but found this really good shot of the 400-plus hp Chevy 409 installed in the Cord pictured above. The body was not customized, and it looked beautiful when finished. But it had plenty of "zip."

Here is another ACD custom, that my Dad did, a little later, in the early 60s, as I remember..
Dad had a couple of Cord convertibles (Phaeton?) stored in crumbling one-car wooden garages behind the neighbors family home. I have a number of photos when he started the restoration/customization. But I can't find any photos (yet..) of the finished car. It was another ACD custom engine upgrade of the Cord to a Chevy 409! The car was done for a wealthy sportsman racer named Bill Bourne from around Coral Gables, or Miami suburbs. My Dad did all of Bill's custom cars ever since he gave Bill the thrill of wining The President's Cup Race (major race boat event of the time) with one of the custom marine racing engines Dad built and installed in it, in the 50s. The car was gray with a cream top and dark pleated leather? interior. Any info on what happened to THAT Cord? This was the Start of the project.