1929 Cord L-29 Cabriolet

The L-29 was engineered by racecar builder Harry Miller and Cornelius Van Ranst. Its power plant began as the 125 horsepower, 289.6 cubic inch, Auburn straight eight, but ended up quite different. The cylinder head was modified for a rear engine mount. According to one Cord authority, the L-29 engine had over 70 unique parts.
The super-long front allowed body engineer John Oswald to craft a flowing hood fenders ensemble, and Auburn chief designer Al Leamy applied a Duesenberg-style radiator that only accented that impressive length and lowness conferred by front-wheel drive. In all, the L-29 looked sensational in its four 'factory' body types: Sedan, Brougham, Phaeton, and Cabriolet. Numerous celebrities bought L-29s, and coachbuilders at home and abroad created stunning custom bodies. Standard models were fairly priced in the $3100-3300 range.

Brooks Stevens purchased this Speedster new and redesigned the body in the mid-1930s. It has many advanced design features for its time and is extremely fast and agile for an L-29. Mr. Stevens kept the car for 65 years and used it in many road races, hill climbs and road rallys. The current owner purchased the car from his estate in 1997.

By Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2008