Cord 810/812

Cord 810/812, designed by Gordon Buehrig, 1935 Buehrig did away with the upright radiator grille most cars of its day still wore and ran horizontal louvers around the nose instead, which is why it earned the nickname "coffin nose." The fenders hid the first retractable headlights on a production car, an idea that took decades to become ordinary. It was a sensation when it appeared at the New York Auto Show in late 1935, and the Museum of Modern Art honored it some sixteen years later. Start here to see how early a car could look clean, low and unornamented.