Sam Lovegrove's Texan Cord 810 in England

Hello, I am making good progress with my 810 westchester now.
I have replaced most of the sheetmetal, Floors, full sills, front chassis stubs. I am Looking forward to getting it into bare metal as soon as I finish the rear arches and valance. - Sam Lovegrove

Congratulations on acquiring your Westchester. I know you have a massive project on your hands, but have faith. I am busy with the restoration of my Westchester too. You might be interested in checking the progress on my website www.cordinsa.co.za

Mine should be with me in about four weeks, It has an engine, dont know its number, hopefully the frame number is legible.
I know my friend who found the car collected it in november from where it had been for quite a few years, I will find the name of the man he purchased it from.It is getting interesting, This kind of thing realy validates a club scene. we will work it out. The Brough superior motorcycle club works in the same way, they all seem to keep track of the movement of most machines, Having original factory records and more recent data is quite rare for pre-war machinery.
Thankyou for your help.
Sam

Dear Sam,

I think you've hit the nail on the head that these 2 Cords may have crossed paths years ago. Since the car here has a later plate, obviously, someone restamped one. I will have to see if I can get the frame number so we can compare them. These things make the history of these old Cords interesting. I did find some old invoices for Tom Smith of Dakota Hardware in Fargo, ND when he owned the Cord!

Stan

Hello Stan,
Interesting eh! As far as I know there should only be one car with this ID,
Is this correct?
All the paperwork from my car is with the shippers, I know there were a few names of previous owners amongst them, Possibly had mixed parts with the same owner as your car at some time? The numbers I have were from the plate on the firewall, I will have engine and frame numbers when I collect, We will have to investigate further!
Does your car show a frame number?
does anyone else have any ideas?
Sam

Sam

The Cord you have in question brings up an interesting item. I have the same numbers on a very similar appearing Cord with nearly the same
story. The car we have is a Westchester model 810 S#1875A, Body#C90-1015 sometimes listed as 1025 and engine FB1137. The serial & engine numbers are stamped on a 1937 data plate, these plates have 2 patent dates. This car was owned by Tom Smith of Fargo, ND and sold to a man in Texas by the name of Miller then as a parts car to a Mr. Rogers of Texas and then somehow back to the Dakotas and owned by a man in Canada. It was shipped here to Kansas 20 yrs ago. It was sent to us for restoration but it's in such bad shape and so many parts missing that it wasn't practical, due to cost, for restoration. This car has a 1940's Ponitac rear bumper and the trunk lid is off but matches in color. This Cord has the rear axle removed from underneath and is hard to move around. They are at least fraternal twins. You did not list an engine number from the plate and a frame number would help.

Stan

Welcome, Sam. Do stay in touch with other ACD Club members in the UK. You can find contact info in your Club Directory. A new one is due out this spring.

Thankyou Pat, thats Very encouraging, I will definitely post more pictures whenever there is any progress.
Do you have any "before and after" or "before and still before" Pictures, Its great to see the relics as well as all those shiny cars, something allmost gets lost in restoration. I wil enjoy my Archeology time unpacking.
Sam

Hey Sam, Looks like a beauty. It is much better than the last (3) cars I bought, and more complete. Please let all of us know how things progress. This forum is great for info, parts, and general ACD companionship over the airways.

Hello, I am Sam.

I live in England and have recently purchased an 810 Westchester, serial no.810 1875, body no. C90 1015. It has been in Austin TX for a while, I believe it may have once belonged to the curator of the Smithsonian. there is also an old North Dakota title. it looks as though it was rescued from a breakers as it has a lot of shove marks on it and all the nice bits pinched, maybe someone remembers this? I am not squeamish any history is good history.

I am gathering parts fast thanks to some good contact through the ACD club site, Thanks Guys. The car is now on its way to me and I will be restoring it to use as a daily driver, It's a bit of a mess at the moment but most projects I buy are and they all get done! Just finishing a 1950 Pontiac convertible.

I have wanted a cord since I was 8, I'm 32 now and shocked to be owning one! I have never seen a real one.

Any help on the past history of this car would be greatly appreciated.
I hope to come to the states at some point to an ACD meet, maybe with the 810 to Auburn, Now thats ambitious hey!

Yours sincerely,
Sam Lovegrove