Saw this Cord replica (or attemp at one) today....

[keiser31]

I used to see a couple of these in San Diego when I lived there. A mini Cord wannabe....there were other companies that made a copies with hidden headlights.

[uh6077]

I like it. There are certainly much worse kit cars out on the road (Jags and MG built on VW chassis)

[keiser31]

I like it. There are certainly much worse kit cars out on the road (Jags and MG built on VW chassis)

That is so true.

[West Peterson]

That's really not a Cord replica (nor a kit car). It was made by the Cord Automobile Company. It's called a Cord Sportsman 8/10.

History of the company can be found here:

http://www.stutzbearcat.com/cordhistory.htm

[keiser31]

Thanks for that, West. I love learning.

[alsancle]

The 8/10 was made by Glenn Pray and what is pictured here is the Samco which was the company that bought the tooling. The 8/10 ran with a Corvair drivetrain and was front wheel drive. The Samco was more of hot rod with v8 engines and rear wheel drive.

Note that the 8/10 cars used many original Cord NOS parts from Glenn's bins.

[rons49]

I had a '68 Samco/Cord. SAMCO stood for Sports Automobile Manufacturing Company. Bill Landers, who was a partner of Bill Lear (Lear Jet), bought out the Cord Automobile Co in 1967, which was in bankruptcy. Glenn Pray( who recently passed away) was the man responsible for resurrecting the marque. In 1965 & 66 Glenn Pray rolled out the "second generation" Cords powered by a Corvair engine reversed to give a front wheel drive operation. With the help of General Tire & Rubber's product called Royalite , Glenn was able to make his dream come true. GT&R donated the Royalite bodies to Cord in order to show automobile & aircraft companies what a fine product they made. In 1968 Landers attempted to start over again. My 68 had a Ford 289, 4 bbl & a C-4 auto. In '69 it could be had with a Chrysler 440. The car weighed in at 2820 lbs ( I weighed it on a truck scale), and it was an absolute rocket. But, with manual AMC 10" drums... look out for flying trees. The suspension was a Kaiser Gladiator pickup truck frame with 4 leaf springs. With such a light car on a stiff suspension, it made for some interesting moments. But, it was fun. Samco made Cords for 2 more years ending in 1970. The prices were about $6000, and that really put a drag on sales . The book " Glenn Pray, the Man Who Brought Legends to Life" by Josh Malks, is a wonderful story of the history of the Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg names after the mother company closed shop in 1938. Ron

Edited August 18, 2014 by rons49 (see edit history)

[Dave Gray]

Do you mean Royalex which was made by US Royal. In the 70s Diamond Reo truck hoods were made of Royalex as well

as a number of Kit car bodies. I was a body man at the time and worked with this material quite a bit.

Dave

Carlisle, Pa.

[keiser31]

Somewhere in my literature I have an order packet for one of the Royalex Cords. I saw an example at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport and I sent in for the packet. It shows the molding of the body and most of the components.

1964 to 1966. Wayne McKinley a Chevrolet Dealer of O'Fallon, Illinois helps finance the manufacturing of the new Cord Sportsman 8/10. With a Chevrolet Corvair power plant, and front wheel drive, the new version of the original 8/10 Cord features a convertible top, and a body composite called Royalex® developed by U.S. Rubber Company. However, a lack of financial oversight and manufacturing experience by the companies original participants from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, doom any long term possibilities of mass production of the 8/10 model Cord. Leroy Duncan and Wayne McKinley stay through until 97 of the Corvair-powered Sportsman's are built.

Though impressive in outward appearance, the underpowered, fire-prone and often controversial Corvair engine along with the car's poor handling characteristics proved too much to overcome. The manufacturing goal of ten cars per day was never achieved and persistent financial difficulties pushed the company into bankruptcy by 1967. However, the car with such a popular and timeless design would not be forgotten, and soon captured the attention of another manufacturing genius.

[alsancle]

They actually look pretty good in person. I've always wanted one with the turbo and manual transmission.

[keiser31]

They actually look pretty good in person. I've always wanted one with the turbo and manual transmission.

I agree on the looks. Very nicely done in relation to the originals.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Is it true the ACD guys allow these as well as the Pray Auburns to participate in their events? Seems to me their have been full sized Cord replicas built as well?

[alsancle]

At the reunion They have an area slightly off to the side for the Glenn Pray auburn and cords (which are *technically* not replicars) and replicars.