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Welcome to Cord in South Africa

Today, the Cord 810 and 812 is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cars ever built, and the 810 Cord has been honored by the Museum of Modern Art as one of the 8 best designs of the 20th century.

Built by the Auburn Automobile Company in 1935, the Cord 810 created a major sensation at the New York Auto Show, with car enthusiasts 'wowed' by Gordon Buehrig's amazing design. The car suffered a few teething problems which combined with an expensive car being launched during the Great Depression and Auburn's limited finances, resulted in production lasting only two years. In 1937, the Auburn Automobile Company stopped producing cars, but the legacy lives on with the Cord still remaining one of the most desirable cars ever built.

A limited number of Right-hand-drive Cords were manufactured for export from the USA and 17 reached the shores of South Africa. This website is dedicated to the Cord lovers in this country who lovingly restored and preserved some of these cars. (See History).

My fascination with Cords

I have always been fascinated by Cords. As a child growing up in the 50's, my father and I were crazy about cars in general. The Cord 810 Sportsman was our favourite fantasy car that we had pictures of, but had never seen in real life, and we used to have great discussions on the styling and sheer beauty of the car. At the age of eight I vowed to own a Cord someday.

I have had quite a few classics over the years, including a 34 Chev, 56 Chev, 76 Corvette Stingray, 1948 Chev Pick-up Streetrod and a 1950 Hudson Pacemaker Coupe, but continued to dream of owning that Cord. Things took a turn when I met Mike Otto who is the owner of a beautiful Cord Beverly A friendship developed and Mike was able to persuade Ced Pearce, the owner of a Custom Berline and a Sportsman to part with a 810 Westchester that had been in his barn for over twenty years. Mike and Cedric have owned and built quite a few Cords and are "The Cord Gurus" in South Africa. (See Cords in SA).

Only a handful of Cords remain in South Africa and our restored 810 Westchester is one of them. (See Restoration). I still get a 'kick' each time I drive it. We even had a Cord at our wedding (See Wedding).

Drop me a line if you are a Cord owner.

Ray Exton

rayexton1@gmail.com

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