1930 Cord L-29 Sport Cabriolet

Voll and Ruhrbeck of Berline was a world-class builder of fine custom coachwork. Their work graced the finest of chassis, including Horch, Mercedes, Daimler, Bugatti, Maybach, and Rolls-Royce. Their work would also adorn the Cord automobile.

This example wears Sport Cabriolet coachwork by Voll and Ruhrbeck. It is believed that, to expedite the process, the chassis was absconded from the original show car sedan. Just ten months after the chassis had departed Indiana, it appeared in its new formal dress, as it wears today. It made its debut at the February 1931 Berlin Motor Show. It was among a selection of Auburn and Cord offerings presented by Fahrkraft G.m.b.H., the Auburn-Cord distributor in Berlin. The March issue of Auburn's dealer newsletter, The Accelerator, displayed the sport cabriolet, picturing it with Mr. Schmidt, of Hamburg distributor Franck & Schmidt, and Ruth Ingrid Richard, Miss Germany.

The car has very large doors that open to reveal a five-passenger interior clothed in thick leather and capped with polished mahogany. In the front are bucket seats and assist handles crafted of woven leather to help close the massive doors. There is beltline molding that flows through the doors and then sinks under the edges of the convertible top and flows down around the rear fenders. There is a low, raked windshield with a subtle visor. The top bear's landau irons and wraps around an unusual spring-loading mechanism, which assists in raising and lowering the bows and fabric. The windows roll down through custom tracks, which then fold away to disappear when the windows and top are lowered.

Inside is a complete interior headliner, giving it the feel of being an enclosed car. In the back is a leather-covered trunk.

It is believed the car remained in Germany until around 1940 when it departed the country for reasons unknown. The final destination was Argentina. The story resumed in the early-1970s when it came into the care of Ken O'Connor of California. Selling the automobile was Argentinean broker Hector Mendizabal. Mendizabal had described the car as a German-bodied Cord bearing the coach number 1686. Upon arrival at the pier in San Francisco, CA, the car was not in pristine condition, but it was complete and retained its original serial number plate and numerous custom trim pieces. At the time, it was the only known extant European-bodied L-29, and it was an ideal basis to begin a restoration.

O'Connor planned to complete the restoration work himself, but as years passed, the car was never completed. In 2002, he sold the project to Jim Fasnacht, who had the work completed. The restoration was handled by the specialists of LaVine Restorations in Nappanee, Indiana. Numerous L-29 experts were contacted and interviewed, ensuring the work was done correctly. The goal was 'cost-no-object' perfection in every nut and bolt. The work was completed in March 2004 and then shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August 2005, marking the first time that the Voll & Ruhrbeck Sport Cabriolet had been displayed to the world since 1931. The car scored Second in Class, behind the 1931 DuPont Model H Sport Phaeton by Merrimac.

A month later, the car returned to Auburn, Indiana, for the first time since its chassis departed for Europe seven decades prior, to be shown at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club's National Reunion. The car was awarded the E.L. Cord Award, marking it as the Best L-29 of the show. It also won the Harold Ames Trophy for Best of Show from over 300 judged ACD cars. Its next show appearance was at the 2013 Concours d'Elegance of America at St. John's.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2013