Cord 810 photo in Huntington Library, Pasadena, California

Yeah, I decided to leave that one alone since we already had a good photo of the car.

Not that Arthur Cernitz isn't a fascinating guy. I get the sense he was something of a huckster if not a full-on con artist. He arrived in Los Angeles claiming to be  "heir to the throne of the principality of Burkovina [sic] in the former kingdom of Austria Hungary." For at least a few months in 1936, he advertised a patent medicine called Mazadyne that I suspect was a sham.

I posted a few more nuggets about Mr. Cernitz here.

Best we stick with Jeannette

A wonderful set of pictures of an ultra modern Art Deco house complemented by the equally ultra modern Cord. It is amazing what is tucked away in libraries.

Hi Gary,

Back in the 1930's cars were issued a new metal plate each year with the color of the plate changing each year. There were no additional metal tabs or stickers used as registration indicators, those did not come about until WWII and after. This car could be a 1936 or a 1937 that has been registered for 1938 and got the new plates. Here are how the 1936, 1937 and 1938 plates looked:



Best regards,
Bill

And now the plot deepens. I'm not sure when this "38 Plate" came out but... If it was 1938 then this can still be a rather new Cord sold in the first month of 1937. I recall no 812 Cords were made after June 1937 except the one prototype we know of. I also noticed in this new picture the passenger side front tire appears to be well worn... Or it could be the angle of the picture. The center looks well worn.


Gary Parsons

I went back to the Huntington website and downloaded the highest resolution version they have. When I blew up that one, it seems to clearly show "1938." For some reason, that gets lost in version I originally posted.

JIM.OBRIEN wrote: When I blow up the photo, the license plate says 1930??? It appears to be the original tires with no wear on them. Maybe this is when they bought the car brand new. Very interesting.

Jim the plate does say 1930 but.. This could easily be that particular series of California plates. It never meant this is the year of the car or the plate. I think the most collected California plate is the coveted "Black Plate". It was on many cars thru the 1950's.


Gary Parsons

When I blow up the photo, the license plate says 1930??? It appears to be the original tires with no wear on them. Maybe this is when they bought the car brand new. Very interesting.

While doing some genealogy research, I stumbled on the attached photo taken at 601 Amalfi Dr., Pacific Palisades, California, the home of Arthur Cernitz and has wife, Jeannette. That's probably her beside the car, but I'm not certain since there are no other public photos of her as an adult. Jeannette Cernitz and her first husband, George Warrington Curtis, are the grandparents of American marathon swimmer Diana Nyad.

Complete set of photos here: Arthur W. Cernitz residence.