Errett Lobban “E. L.” Cord produced automobiles under the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company brand and the first Cord was introduced at the 1929 New York Automobile Show. Cord automobiles were the first American production car to feature front wheel drive. This 1937 Cord 812 Sportsman has a reverse mounted eight-cylinder Lycoming engine, which connects to a trans-axle which powers the front wheels through an ingenious arrangement of flexible shafts which allow the front wheels not only to power the automobile but steer as well. The Cord’s design by Gordon Buehrig, proved too advanced for the average automobile buyer and by 1938, Cord was no longer building automobiles.