From Ontario to Australia: discovering the past of a special Cord

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If we were to all sit down and compile a list of our top 10 dream cars, we'd expect the 'coffin-nose' Cord of 1936-1937 to be a recurring feature. In addition to having Cord's avant-garde front-wheel drive and being a pioneer of unitary construction, the 810 and 812 were futuristic in all sorts of ways, and that's before we come to the beautiful styling which defies classification. It does not look obviously American, and it certainly doesn't look like anything else of the 1930s.

For many of us, Cord ownership may have to remain a dream, but for a lucky few it becomes a reality. Terry C. of New South Wales was looking for a classic American car in 2007 when his thoughts drifted back to a Cord he could vividly remember seeing parked at the side of the road in Footscray, Melbourne, in 1960, when he was just nine years old. He found a 1936 810 sedan for sale in America and realised he could just about afford to buy it, albeit with the caveat that it required total restoration.

The outcome of the restoration may be seen in the photographs. Terry did an excellent job, and no doubt there's an interesting story to be told about the work that went into it, but more interesting still is car's past, which Terry gradually uncovered while he was bringing it back to life. It started with a message to the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Club, which was answered by Cord 810 and 812 historian Ron Irwin.

Irwin supplied a list of 1586A's past owners, which included a Canadian gentleman called George Van Nostrand, who owned it from 1958 to 1966 and used it as a daily-driver as well in addition to attending ACD Club meetings. Terry corresponded with Van Nostrand and learnt that he had bought it from another Canadian, William Horning.

Unravelling the story, strand by strand

Thus encouraged, Terry decided to find out what he could about the earliest owners, who were named as A. Mason of Acton, Ontario, followed by Lee Merrill of Hamilton, Ontario. Acton was a small town then which derived most of its income from leather-making, but it had a great divide between 'Actonians', who had lived there all their lives, and 'Actonites', who had moved to the area.

With the help of Acton's local library, Terry learnt that Merrill had been a branch president of the United Empire Loyalists Assocation of Canada, so he got in touch with the UELAC and soon after heard from Actonian Jim Dills, whose parents had been friends with Amos and Cordelia Mason who, it transpired, lived on Bower Avenue and operated a woollen mill making children's underwear. Next, Terry heard from none other than Merrill's grandaughter, who kindly furnished him with the original handbook, plus the Salesman's Book from the O'Donnell Mackie dealership in Toronto.

Amos Mason would probably have a word or two to say if he could see the universal admiration with which Cords are regarded today. Jim Dills was about five when Mason bought the car knew, and he remembered how it was plagued with reliability problems and, after one frustrating journey when the lights suddenly died on a pitch-black night, an exasperated and angry Mason put it up for sale after only 12 months of ownership.

For Terry, the best was yet to come when he managed to get in touch with the Masons' daughter, Judith Manthus, and niece, Joan McKenna, who supplied him with pictures of Amos and Cordelia with the 'silvery blue' Cord. Mrs. McKenna remembered being fascinated by the headlights when she first glimpsed it as six-year-old after her aunt and uncle had driven over 500 miles to visit her while she was recovering from scarlet fever.

Merrill obviously enjoyed the Cord more than Mason as he kept it from 1937 to 1954, but he was a hands-on owner who always maintained it good shape, as Terry learnt from Merrill's grandaughter, Jane McFerrin, who remembered her grandparents driving it extensively, including on a coast-to-coast drive of Canada in both directions.

A centenarian's birthday surprise

In 2016, a picture appeared in The Hamilton Spectator of Trudy Weaver, a local woman who was celebrating her 100th birthday. The picture was taken by her brother in 1939 and showed her posing with a grey Cord with dark blue wings. Merrill, it transpired, was her neighbour, and the Cord was 1586A.

Terry flew to America in 2018 for the ACD Classic Car Festival in Auburn, Indiana, which was first staged by the ACD Club in 1956 as The Reunion. Sure enough, in a film of the inaugural event, 1586A appears while owned by Horning. The event was also attended by the Cord's designer Gordon Buehrig, who was photographed with 1586A on two occasions. While in America, a visit to 103-year-old Mrs. Weaver concluded Terry's journey of discovery.

Now fully restored in its original colour, the Cord may be seen out and about at events around Australia. Its appearance is as exceptional as its history, and it's wonderful that it's found an owner who's as enthusiastic about it as Lee Merrill was.

Words: Zack Stiling; photographs: Historic Vehicles
Information supplied by Historic Vehicles (www.historicvehicles.com.au)
 

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