Cord L-29 Berline 1929 1/43 Scale Diecast Metal Vintage Car Collectible Model

• diecast and pre-painted, ready to display
• material: metal & plastic
• scale: 1/43

Cord was a brand of American luxury automobile manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company of Connersville, Indiana, from 1929 to 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937.

Auburn was wholly owned by the Cord Corporation, founded and run by E. L. Cord as a holding company for his many transportation interests (which included the Lycoming engines, Stinson aircraft, and Checker Motors). Cord was noted for its innovative technology and streamlined designs.

Cord L-29 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 Cornelius Van Ranst, its drive system borrowed from the Indianapolis 500-dominating racers, using the same de Dion layout and inboard brakes. Built in Auburn, Indiana, the Cord was the first front-wheel-drive car to use constant-velocity joints. While commonly used today in all front-wheel-drive vehicles, their first use was on the 1929 Cord. The lack of rear drivetrain components and straight frame (without rear kick-up to clear up the rear axle) allowed it to be much lower in height than competing cars whose average height was about six feet or almost two metres. Both stock cars and special bodies built on the Cord chassis by American and European coachbuilders won prizes in contests worldwide. The L-29 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 a Lycoming 4,934 cc (301 cu in) 125 hp (93 kW) L-head inline 8 from the Auburn 120, with the crankshaft pushed out through the front of the block and the flywheel mounted there, driving a three-speed transmission. Gearing in both transmission and front axle was inadequate, and the 4,700 lb (2,100 kg) car was underpowered, limited to a trifle over 80 mph (130 km/h), inadequate even at the time, and readily exceeded by the less expensive Auburn. Still, the styling was lovely, and despite the 137.5 in (3,490 mm) wheelbase and steering demanding fully four turns lock-to-lock, handling was reportedly superb.[2] Wheelbase was 137.5" and the height of the sedan was 61". The 1930 Chrysler Imperial and Chrysler Eight copied several styling elements.

The L-29 was priced around US$3,000 ($47,343 in 2021 dollars), putting it in the upper tier of America's most expensive luxury automobiles alongside Cadillac, Marmon, Lincoln, Packard, Franklin, and Stutz, and below only Duesenburg. It could not, however, outrun the Great Depression, and by 1932, it was discontinued, with just 4,400 sold.

--copied from Wikipedia