Stunning 1937 Cord 812 Beverly Supercharged with complete number matching characteristics! Outstanding ownership history with total restoration completed in 2007! Superb operation and loaded with options. ACD Certificate of Authenticity included! Rare piece of history!
Founded by E.L. Cord in 1929, the Cord Front-Wheel Drive automobile was a luxurious, and highly innovative, vehicle featuring unique front wheel drive drivetrains. It would be produced by the Auburn Automobile Company in the Connersville, Indiana plant through 1932. Production was halted, and a new design from automotive stylist, Gordon Buerig, was introduced at the 1935 New York Auto Show. This fresh look included a vehicle with hidden headlamps, the absence of visible running boards, front-wheel-drive with independent suspension, vacuum/electric pre-shift semi-automatic 4-speed transmission, and a flat front fascia with louvered grill! Today, they are often referred to today as the ‘coffin-nose”. The impact at the unveiling was beyond impressive, and many orders commenced. Unfortunately, production of the Model 810 proved difficult at the necessary scale. It would be 1936 before any vehicles could be delivered. It continued into the 1937 model year as the 812 with an optional higher horsepower, supercharged model being introduced. Sadly, only 1,174 units would find homes in the 1936, and another 1,149 812’s in 1937. It is believed very few of these 2,323 vehicles survive today, so they are undoubtedly one of the most sought after, and affordable, collector pieces ever to come from the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg franchise.
Offered here is a 1937 Cord 812 Beverly Supercharged Sedan finished in Geneva Blue with Blue Broadcloth interior with white piping. It remains fitted with its original, number’s matching 288 ci Lycoming V8 engine with factory supercharger producing a factory rated 170 horsepower and original pre-select semi-automatic 4-speed transmission with synchromesh top 3 gears. Additional features include full dash instrumentation with tachometer & clock presented beautifully in a machine turned surround, working Cord factory AM radio, front and rear folding armrests, dual cowl vents, crank out front windscreens, jeweled cigar lighter, front & rear bumper guards, locking glove boxes & fuel door, Firestone Deluxe Champion wide whitewall tires measuring 6.50-16, and beautiful chrome wheel covers! We can proudly report that every component is in full working condition mechanically. It is said to have had about 4,500 miles driven on the restoration, last completed mid-2007.
Remarkably, this 1937 Cord 812 Beverly Supercharged has a remarkably well documented past starting life in Oahu, Hawaii from dealer Pacific Motors specializing in Willys, Cord, Auburn, and Diamond T trucks! A truly rare car in general, and to start life so far away from Indiana, it did not go unnoticed by its original owner! Believed to have been on island during the Japan invasion of 1941, it would not make its way back to the mainland until the late 1950’s with the aid of a naval official bringing it back to San Diego, CA, then by trailer all the way to Aberdeen, SD where is would stay carefully protected for the approximately 20 years. It then sold to Irl Good, with considerable persistence, in approximately 1971 who would take it to his home in LaMoure, ND where he owned a Pontiac dealership, with sincere intentions of completely restoring it. With his passing in 1987, this Cord 812 stayed with the family with a host of restoration parts until 1995. The family finally decided to sell this cherished family heirloom to retired Major Leonard P. Redburn of the Army Air Corp, now residing in Ballwin, Missouri. (Just a worthy note about this honorable American hero: Major L.P. Redburn led an incredible military career as an Aircraft Commander on a B-25 with the 82nd Bombardier Squadron, 12th Bomb Group during World War II with efforts over the Middle East & Southern Atlantic before being shot down over Greece as the lone survivor of his 5 man crew. Suffering major cuts and severe burns, he finally surrendered after hiding in a downed enemy aircraft fuselage for over 24 hours during an American bombing raid, was then shuttled off to receive adequate enemy hospital treatment, before finding his way to the notorious German Stalag Luft III prison camp (The Great Escape movie was based on this camp’s tragic history), then led by force to abandon the camp alongside 9,000 other airmen in subzero weather to avoid a Russian advance to a new prisoner camp near Munich, Germany. He remained a POW for nearly 32 months, before General Patton was able to liberate him and other prisoner allies. He finished his career as the Director of Training of the 2481st Air Reserve Training Wing.)
Upon acquisition of his this 1937 Cord 812 Beverly Supercharged, he would transport it back to his home in Missouri and slowing begin restoring it. By 2005, it was already professionally repainted, reupholstered, with overhauled drivetrain, and requiring only final sorting. Unfortunately, Major Redburn pasted away in 2006, leaving his family the car. They would commission Doug Jenkins Restorations to finalize the restoration and take it Auburn, appropriately, in 2007 to be sold at auction. John Dwyer of Wheels & Wings, purchases it and took it to his private Colorado Springs collection, then on to Arizona through May 2016. It was last owned by long time Cord connoisseur, Jack Richards, who elected to drive this amazing Cord from Sedona, AZ to Chesterfield, MO in just 3 days without a single fault! We would like to mention that the odometer ceased to operate at 13,108 miles while one his way to Auburn for the 2016 ACD Fall Meet. We will be selling it mileage exempt. This 1937 Cord 812 Beverly Supercharged will come with an official ACD Certificate of Authenticity featuring authority inspection and factory recorded components, as well a copy of Cord Complete Service & Specification Handbook, ownership history, and two sets of keys!
You will be hard pressed to find a car with more history and virtually rust free preservation, not to mention superb driving characteristics! Please feel completely welcome to call with questions, set up an appointment, and drive home to your own garage! Act quickly! Supercharged Cords are not easy to find these days! Excellent blue chip pre-war investment!
Price: Auction
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Location: Saint Louis, Missouri, United States
