In the midst of the Great Depression, the market for high-priced Duesenbergs was getting thin. Former Duesenberg designer Gordon Buehrig was coaxed back from a job at GM to create the car, which he based on a design he'd started at GM.
Later, it was decided that the car would be a Cord instead of a Duesenberg and that it would have front-wheel-drive, an extremely unusual configuration at that time. (Cord was among the first car companies to use it.) The first version was called the 810, followed quickly by the 812, shown here, which was available with a supercharged engine. Other novel features on the 810 and 812 included retractable headlights and flush taillights.
Unfortunately, reliability problems, combined with parent company Auburn Automobile's financial straits, soon spelled the end for Auburn, Dueseberg, Cord and the 812.
