Errett Lobban Cord: His Empire, His Motor Cars

E.L. Cord was first and foremost a salesman, both of products and of himself. In 1924, after achieving great success as an automobile distributor, Cord became the man with enough talent and panache to lead the Auburn Automobile Company out of its slumber. By 1929, Auburn sales had increased 15-fold and Cord was the head of an empire. His Cord Corporation owned Lycoming Mfg. Co. (engines), Limousine Body Co. and Central Mfg. Co. (auto bodies), Century Airlines, and Duesenberg, among others. Cord's philosophy of automobile design (and salesmanship) might be summed up in two words: Novelty Sells. Though mechanically ordinary, his Auburn models, with outstanding styling and clever paint combinations, were hot sellers. Cord oversaw the introduction of the fabulous Model J Duesenberg, a car whose combination of size, cost, performance, and style was and is unmatched in American automotive history. His most novel car was the rakish Cord L-29, the first American production car to feature front-wheel drive. All this and more is told of America's true renaissance man, E.L. Cord, in the original and complete biography of the man behind the Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg lines. The luxurious presentation includes 280 over-sized pages containing more than 500 rare illustrations, photographs and documents.