The 1936 Cord 810/812, designed by Errett Lobban Cord, is a classic car that’s well-recognized as a relic and cherished by many car geeks around the world. However, unlike other cars, it was immediately dubbed as an “epic failure” upon its release.

The Cord was designed as a front-wheel drive, with an independent front suspension. However, the sedan was mostly known for its 3 eye-catching designs which was unprecedented at the time. These were; hidden headlights that were opened by the driver using a hand crank, a covered gas cap and a horn ring.

Here’s Why it Was Not Popular

Prior to its release, the car built up a lot of hype and anticipation, but the actual car had a lot of challenges.

Errett Lobban Cord was known as an overachiever and innovator, who put much emphasis on the visual and appearance of the car he designed instead of their functionality. Hence the Cord was widely known as “the most beautiful but unreliable sedan ever built”.

Particularly, the car was prone to overheating and when taken to mechanics at the time, most of them could not fix it due to the complexity of the car’s design. This made it a car that many steered away from due to its challenges.

In hindsight, the development of the car was done during the period of the Great Depression and therefore many people cite the mechanical problems as a result of lack of funding.

The price of the Cord was another issue that made people avoid it for as it was sold at a hefty sum that threatened to put a huge dent in people’s pockets.

Luxury cars at the time were known to be pricey, as they were sold with just an engine and frame and customers had to pay a hefty price to commission the design of the car bodies. However, the Cord cost $3000, a price that was exorbitant in comparison to its size.

At the time, people considered quantity over quality but the Cord was considered to have failed in both. Many people believed that for the price, the car should have been bigger in size instead of smaller and therefore most took to other cars such as the Duesenberg.

Despite all the shortcomings, the Cord was considered revolutionary at the time due to its concealed hinges as well as full-face wheel covers and a separate license-plate light.

Despite it not being well-received back in the day, the 1936 Cord is a remnant of what was a revolutionary time back in the day, and owning or cruising in one of these rare beauties is a sure way to travel back in time.

For this reason, it has been worshiped as a revolutionary vehicle that could have done much better in recent times.