The Cord 810 and 812 stand as some of the most beautiful and technologically advanced cars of the late 1930s. Like lots of good ideas though, their production run was short and just several thousand were ever produced and sold. That rarity is probably one of the things that people like about the 810/812. Their distinctive coffin nose, hidden headlights, large fenders, low slung stance, and art-deco looks recall a time before WWII when America was really beginning to find its stride in the technological and design fields. It was the first front wheel drive car built by a US company and it is probably the only car that fwd doesn’t take anything away from for us. Long story short, it is an amazing design that could never be improved upon or altered to make look better….but of course someone tried.
This car we found on eBay is actually a 302 powered 1969 Mustang with a fiberglass replica Cord body draped over it. Like most kit cars, it is awkward and weird. Redeeming qualities include the 8-track player and….well, the 8-track player. The car was built by an Oklahoma company called S.A.M.C.O. We have never heard of the company or a Mustang based Cord kit car before so we’re thinking that they weren’t hot sellers. We could go into a blow by blow breakdown of what we’re not into with this car but we won’t. Most glaring are the bulbous headlights jutting out from the front fenders. The hideaway lights that were such a hallmark were obviously not part of the kit car program. The wire wheels make our souls hurt, and the fake stainless steel “supercharger” pipes exiting from the side of the hood garner a “sad trombone” noise in the background. We’re done. Tell us what you think after checking out the photos below and cruising the eBay Ad!
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS CAR AND TO SEE THE LINK FOR THE EBAY AD!
To each his own. I’ve seen worse.
The headlights
It looks frightened, like the Mustang doesnt really know what happened to it, but it wants out.
I saw one of these at a car event and the owner kept insisting it was a “real Cord” so I did some research. A guy named Glenn Pray had bought up the remaining inventory of NOS Cord parts and the rights to the name and made a car called the 8/10, a scaled down Cord with FWD based around a Corvair engine and Citroen components. Cord collectors treat the Pray cars as more or less legitimate heirs to the Cord name. Pray lost control to his financial backers who eventually sold out to Bill Lear, of LearJet fame, who named the company SAMCO and had it redesigned, based on an International chassis, with a choice of Ford or Chrysler V8 power. While SAMCO cars are welcome at Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg events since the company indeed owned the rights to the name, nobody regards them on the same level of the Pray cars. Pray’s Auburn Speedster replicas are also highly regarded.
More here.
And yet I see potential!!
It’s a 3rd gen Mustang; LOTS of suspension, brakes and drive train upgrades available.
Making a set of “hide-a-way” headlights is just a matter of a Pick-N-Pull run (Fiero headlights maybe) and some fiberglass work.
Add a set of 17″ Daytons with better tires, build a “machine turned” dash and replace the sound system with something more modern, repaint to a black with pearl and you have a one-off custom.
Needs some hideaway lights. it kinda reminds me of the guy in highschool with the really thick glasses.But it can be fixed just like the guy with the glasses.
Looks better than a mustang…
SAMCO ? They should have named it SHAME-CO . . . .
It’s not my taste in custom cars but to each his own, I guess. I still don’t understand why people who spend $$$$$$ on their dream will paint them brown? It would look much hotter in red, black, yellow, anything but Hyundai/Honda/Toyota brown.
Of course, everyone knows these are best done on a VW chassis!