1936 Cord 810 Cabriolet: A Groundbreaking Automotive Design on Display at DFW Car & Toy Museum

The 1936 Cord 810 Cabriolet represents a pivotal moment in automotive history, embodying technological innovation and design excellence that challenged conventional automotive engineering of its era. Currently displayed at the DFW Car & Toy Museum, this remarkable vehicle offers visitors a rare glimpse into a transformative period of automotive design.

Designed by Gordon M. Buehrig for Auburn Automobile Company, the Cord 810 Cabriolet revolutionized automotive technology with its front-wheel drive V-8 engine and unconventional steering column gear shifting mechanism. Its groundbreaking design eliminated traditional automotive elements, replacing them with sleek, modernistic features that were decades ahead of their time.

The car's aesthetic innovation was so profound that it was featured in the Museum of Modern Art's 1951 exhibit of "Eight Automobiles," where it was praised for embodying the dynamic energy of a fighter plane. Its distinctive design included hidden door hinges, a one-piece hood opening from the front, and retractable headlights operated by a dashboard hand crank.

One of the most remarkable features was its disappearing convertible top, which could be seamlessly concealed behind the seats, creating an extraordinarily smooth and streamlined silhouette. This design element exemplified the car's commitment to merging form and function in unprecedented ways.

The museum's specimen is a rare automotive treasure, retaining its original chassis stub frame and featuring a correct replacement engine. It serves not just as a display piece but as a testament to the innovative spirit of 1930s automotive design.

For automotive enthusiasts and design historians, the Cord 810 Cabriolet represents more than just a vehicle—it symbolizes a moment of radical reimagining in transportation design. Its influence can be seen in subsequent automotive innovations, demonstrating how forward-thinking design can transcend its immediate context and inspire future generations of engineers and designers.

Museum visitors have the opportunity to examine this automotive masterpiece up close, gaining insight into a pivotal moment when automotive design began to embrace modernist principles of simplicity, functionality, and aesthetic elegance.