1936 Cord Phaeton

Greetings and welcome to our blog following the work we are doing on our 1936 Cord 810 Phaeton.  

Firstly, I want to lay out the objective of this car, before I delve into details. We are focusing on assembling this car to driver quality condition to enjoy it and hopefully draw some attention towards our restoration shop. Someday I do hope to do a nut and bolt restoration on the vehicle, but I do not quite have the time or budget to go that far. Now let us begin with its known history. 

My friend purchased the car in the 1980s out of St. Louis, Missouri. He always wanted a Cord Phaeton. He told me at one point that he was having trouble finding one and seriously considered a Westchester Sedan. He and his wife went out to look at it and, on the way, back he asked his wife what she thought about the car. She surprised him by telling him that he should not get that car. When asked why, she told him that he wanted a phaeton and that is what he should get! After having looked at many other Cords, he waited until he got his phaeton. It was a great family car and driver for him over the years. 

Unfortunately, in the early 2000’s he had a garage fire, which ended up destroying a few of his classic cars. Luckily this one was saved, but had smoke damage. Upon his going over the car he found out that the cylinder heads were in need of replacement and that the engine block was cracked. Naturally he started disassembly on the engine and getting it machined, while he worked on refurbishing from the firewall forward. As is too common of a story, life got in the way. 

Many years passed and ultimately, he started downsizing cars and this allowed my wife and I the opportunity to acquire it. Now we want to get it going and enjoy it. 

The car is in good overall shape, though quite dirty from the fire and years of storage. As is the fun of projects that have been taken apart, what goes where, and what are we missing?

I am already part of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club and will be asking them if they can help me find any additional history on my car, but if any of you do, please let me know. 

For info The Serial Number is: 2275

The engine number currently in the car is: FB2036

Engine number it started with is: FB1391

I will do my best to keep you updated on our assembly of the cord, but I may not be as diligent keeping up with the blog. I hope you enjoy following along this journey with us as we put this Cord together. 

Cordially,

Justin Smeltzer