Thursday 31st December 1931
Production of the Cord L29 ended after a 3 year and 4,429 cars. The marque was dormant until the introduction of the ‘coffin-nosed’ Cord 810 in 1935. The L29 was the first American front-wheel drive car to be offered to the public, beating the Ruxton automobile by several months, in 1929. The brainchild of former Miller engineer Carl Van Ranst, its drive system borrowed from the Indianapolis 500-dominating racers, using the same de Dion layout and inboard brakes. The L29 came with full instrumentation, including a temperature gauge, oil pressure gauge, and speedometer on the left with a gas gauge, oil level gauge, and Ammeter on the right of the steering wheel.It was powered by Auburn’s 4,934 cc, 125 hp L-head Lycoming inline 8 driving a three-speed transmission, giving it a top speed of 80 mph.
