Cord Firsts

L-29 Cord had this feature with a dedicated gauge for just oil level. Many older cars had oil sight tubes or glasses for this function also. Cord 810/12 may have had the first dual use gauge.
CORDially Mike

Was the Cord the first car that you could check the engine oil level from inside the car. The dash fuel gauge doubles as the engine oil level too....

Was the dash mount handbrake a first?

I feel like I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe. ~Author Unknown

Four speed trans. were also standard in 1910 Pierce Arrows and many other big cars of that era.
CORDially Mike

Take a look at the list and comment. The addition of Other Unusual Items should be interesting!

American Production Firsts:

Unitized body
Pontoon fenders
Full wheel hubcaps
Disappearing/Adjustable headlights
Hinged Front opening hood
Wrap around louvered grille
Hidden Cowl Oil and Water Fillers
Hidden Locking gas filler cover
Concealed Door Hinges
Interchangeable door stampings
Step down floor
Thermo-plastic interior door handles
Thermo-plastic Steering wheel (Tennite)
Horn Ring
Radio as standard equipment
Center roof-mount remote radio speaker
Remote Oil level gauge w/ float in oil pan
Rheostat control on instrument panel light
Tachometer (as shared with Duesenbergs and super-charged Auburns)
Dashboard Clock Design (electric wind)
Green filtered Backlit Dashboard Gauges
Color coded interior garnish moldings
"Beam Ceiling" trim scheme
Rotating rear quarter windows on phaeton
Trunk mounted spare
Three tail lights (one for license plate and two flushed-in red tail lights)
Flush mounted tail lights
Rear centered license plate
Radiator enclosed in engine compartment
Bolt-on front power package (stub frame)
Plug-in Wiring Loom
Birdcage support for convertibles
Overdrive gear as standard equipment
Aerodynamic shape
Designed using a Styling Bridge
1st car designed in clay in a one quarter scale model and then transferred directly to die models without going through the stage of building a full scale mock up.


Other Unusual Features:

No Running Boards
Disappearing top on convertibles
Constant velocity universal joints
Electric-vacuum Bendix gear shift
Crank Case Ventilation
Low to the ground profile
Lycoming V-8 Engine
Top Mounted Cummins-Switzer Supercharger
Transaxle
Independent front suspension
Four speed transmission (there is an Editor's note saying the Graham Paige of 1929 or 1930 had a four speed 'box.)
No Exterior Mirrors
Airplane style dashboard
Concealed Under-chassis Radio Antennae
Clutch Switch controlled Startex

Transaxles were used decades before Cord 810-12. They were not used in front of the car though.
CORDially Mike

how about the real transaxle (week as it was0?

First and last

How about cowl filers?
RF

You may stand corrected, Mike, but you have nothing to be humble about. My trading cards (which you instigated) are very popular, and I'll be ordering my 2011 series soon.

Josh Malks wrote: Now, now, Mike. A few hours after Kellie's initial post I amended her query to "American Production" cars.

Of which the Auburn Speedster is, of course, one.

Go figure...I stand humbly corrected. :rolleyes:

Now, now, Mike. A few hours after Kellie's initial post I amended her query to "American Production" cars.

Of which the Auburn Speedster is, of course, one.

Bill Hummel wrote: Now just wait a minute!

My baseball trading card featuring my Cord clearly says this was the first production car with a disappearing top.

The custom cars don't count.

Someone show me a picture of a '31 Auburn with a disappearing top. I don't believe it!!!!

I didn't see the term "production cars" in the initial query. Mike is right of course about the Auburn Speedsters. The 810 Cord certainly has plenty of firsts to its name.

LOL

What do I know? .....

Bill, the Auburn speedsters all have disappearing tops. There were Duesenbergs with disappearing tops too, but they are considered custom, I don't think the speedsters are considered custom.

Now just wait a minute!

My baseball trading card featuring my Cord clearly says this was the first [u:3hdx1ws8]production[/u:3hdx1ws8] car with a disappearing top.

The custom cars don't count.

Someone show me a picture of a '31 Auburn with a disappearing top. I don't believe it!!!!

You forget the Auburn Speedster with disappearing top in 1931 and on.
Cordially Mike

Bill Hummel wrote: First one with a completely disappearing top. (Cabriolet & phaetons)

I believe Classic Era coachbuilders were first at this; the Murphy Convt. coupe and Brunn Riviera phaeton come quickly to mind.

Kelly,
I wish I would have thought of this. I'm going to use this information in the next coloring book, (which I am working on presently)
should be done in time for the Reunion. Thanks!!!

1935 Auburn Speedster, no running boards. I doubt if that was first either.
CORDially Mike

1st hidden fuel cap. 1933 Terraplane. Maybe 193o's Willys Knight's.

Underhood/undercowl structural birdcage on some models; Rotating quarter window; Standard equipment 4th overdrive gearing; First '30s FWD car to be awarded Stevens Trophy

First one with a completely disappearing top. (Cabriolet & phaetons)

Forgive me for chiming again but this is such a fun topic.

first roof center mounted speaker?

And one thing it does not have is rain gutters, could that be a first?

A bit of cold water here. Gordon's list, alas, includes a number of items that were [i:3qcg9752]not[/i:3qcg9752] Cord firsts:

- constant velocity joints (not the double-Cardan's used on the L-29) were used on the Ruxton in 1929.
- the Bendix gearshift was the Hudson "Electric Hand" in 1935.
- numerous cars had independent front suspension earlier
- four-speed transmission ditto

He's right, of course, about the "step-down floor". Americans still remember the 1948 Hudson for that, but Cord beat 'em by 12 years.

"Aerodynamic shape" would seem to be far off the mark with the well known Rumpler Tropfenwagen of 1921, "first streamlined automobile" having made quite a splash.

**OOPS! Sorry about that. Forgot you DID specify "on American production cars." YOU KNOW you are getting old when you cannot even remember the previous page of posts <!-- s:oops: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_redface.gif" alt=":oops:" title="Embarassed" /><!-- s:oops: -->

Halo backlit guage lens

Hinged front opening hood

there must be more~

This topic picqued my curiosity as soon as I read it. It also prompted me to dig through some articles I had mothballed - I finally found what I was scratching for. "Cord Was First! by Gordon Buehrig" is the name of the article - compelling reading, at least for those of us with a closet full of anoraks and a big tool box marked "DO NOT TOUCH."

I'll give the basics as laid out in the article.

Firsts include:

- Layout
- Constant velocity universal joints
- Electric-vacuum Bendix gear shift
- Independent front suspension
- Bolt-on front power package
- Step down floor
- Unitized body
- Three tail lights (one for license plate and two flushed-in red tail lights)
- Rear centred license plate
- Thermo-plastic interior door handles
- Color coded interior garnish mouldings
- Radio as standard equipment
- Tachometer (as shared with Duesenbergs and super-charged Auburns)
- Four speed transmission (there is an Editor's note saying the Graham Paige of 1929 or 1930 had a four speed 'box.)
- Rheostat control on instrument panel light
- Aerodynamic shape
- Disappearing headlights
- Horn ring (first American car)
- No running boards
- Pontoon fenders
- Full wheel hubcaps
- Interchangeable door stampings
- "Beam Ceiling" trim scheme
- Hidden gas cap
- Disappearing top (excepting various boattail models)
- 1st car designed in clay in a one quarter scale model and then transferred directly to die models without going through the stage of building a full scale mock up.

So there you have it! Time to pick up my anorak from the dry-cleaners and check the lock on my tool box.

Trunk mounted spare?

Few cars had TWO taillights in 1936, but there may have been some. Certainly none were flush.

I had to use plenty of the little memory left to remember this,

Cowl accessed coolant and oil fillers?

The dashboard clock design was an original first and was patented. Tail lights were flush-mounted. Wraparound louver design grille. Not sure whether anyone else had a built-in radio yet.

You guys are on a roll! Keep 'em coming - Brad and I had those on our list - except the styling bridge and "adjustable" headlights.

How about check oil from dash board.

How about fully enclosed radiator? No tunnel? Just thinking

The first car that you can adjust the head lights so they wouldn't shine too high. When weight is added to rear of a Cord the head lights can aim too high. You can then crank the head lights down a bit to improve seeing the road and not blinding oncoming drivers.

I know one thing they were first with NOT having.....

R&amp;L door mirrors

Were stock full wheel cover hubcaps one of them?

Hi,

First car I got yelled at for crawling around inside as a kid?

<!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->

--Tom

Does first car to be designed using a styling bridge count?

Friction can be a drag sometimes :rolleyes:

Attaboy, Justin.

Concealed door hinges?

If "same time" counts:

5. Unit body

1936 Lincoln-Zephyr too.

I would specify "production American car".

The 500K Mercedes had the horn ring 1934 as well as the covered gas door at the same time as Cord in 1936.

Thanks for clarifying Josh!

Good idea, Kellie. Probably best if you ask for "Firsts on an American Production car" Otherwise there will always be a one-off or an obscure European make that had whatever it was earlier.

2. Covered gas tank filler
3. Horn ring
4. No running boards

In preparation for our upcoming Annual Reunion, Brad Waken and I were making a list of Cord 810 firsts. Some of them are obvious, and even an Auburn gal like me knows. However, some of the innovations are not quite so obvious. So in an attempt to get a COMPLETE list of Cord firsts, I am going to leave it to you all, the EXPERTS.

Here?s one to get the ball rolling, and I will let you take it from here:

1.) Disappearing Headlights (I know ? easy!)