When the Great Depression claimed E.L. Cord's industrial empire, the Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg marques went with it. The Cord L-29 was perhaps one of the most distinctive cars ever produced, thanks to the extra long bonnet necessitated by the straight eight engine and front-wheel-drive system. Though cloaked in various bodies, the long low lines of the L-29 are unmistakeable. The world's best known Cord, winner of countless awards, fell under the auctioneers hammer on Saturday, and sold for a record US$2.42 million. Great piccies.
Introduced in the summer of 1929, the Cord L-29 was a very high-tech vehicle for its day. Its front-wheel drive-train was inspired by the Miller-powered 1927 Indianapolis 500 car built by Cornelius Van Ranst and Tommy Milton and was the first American front-wheel drive production car.
The L-29 also had hydraulic drum brakes all round, putting it ahead of most of the competition at that time. The Model A Duesenberg of 1921 was the first passenger car to have four-wheel hydraulic brakes and even Ford did not swap from cable operated to hydraulically operated drums until 1939.
![The Hayes-bodied Cord L-29 Special Coupe. Image © RM Auctions and Darin Schnabel](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/58f4102/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4117x2740+0+0/resize/1440x958!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fcord-count-alexis-de-sakhnoffsky-27.jpg)
The L-29 was offered in a wide variety of factory bodies, powered by a 125 bhp, 298.6 cu. in. L-head inline eight cylinder engine, running though a three-speed selective sliding-gear manual transmission.
This particular car was designed by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky and built by Hayes Motor Body Works specifically for international show competition and a rumoured US$20,000 was spent on the project - a very large sum of money at the time, and the build was completed just months before the stock market crash that precipitated the depression.
![The Hayes-bodied Cord L-29 Special Coupe. Image © RM Auctions and Darin Schnabel](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/af7e53f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4256x2832+0+0/resize/1440x958!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fcord-count-alexis-de-sakhnoffsky-4.jpg)
When the car arrived in Europe howvwer, it swept all before it, winning the Paris, Monte Carlo and Beaulieu Concours d'Elegance all in the same year (1930) - the feat had been perfromed before, but not by an American car.
In total, 5,010 L-29s were produced including 43 custom-bodied versions of which this car is one of only twelve still known to exist.
![Introduced in the summer of 1929, the Cord L-29 was a very high-tech vehicle for its day. Its front-wheel drive-train was inspired by the Miller-powered 1927 Indianapolis 500 car built by Cornelius Van Ranst and Tommy Milton and was the first American front-wheel drive production car.](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/d4cca11/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4256x2832+0+0/resize/1440x958!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fcord-count-alexis-de-sakhnoffsky-10.jpg)
This car returned to Hayes after its European showings, then sold through a number of well-documented owners until it was completely restored in preparation for its entry into the special Custom-Bodied Cord class at the 1987 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, where it won Best in Class, the Co-Chairmen's Award and People's Choice.
![The Hayes-bodied Cord L-29 Special Coupe. Image © RM Auctions and Darin Schnabel](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/219ad44/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4256x2832+0+0/resize/1440x958!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fcord-count-alexis-de-sakhnoffsky-24.jpg)
The Hayes Coupe featured in many publications in the late eighties including Motor Trend, the April 1988 Collectible Automobile and The Classic Car and reproduced in highly detailed 1:16-scale model form by the Danbury Mint.
![The Cord L-29 had hydraulic drum brakes all round. Image © RM Auctions and Darin Schnabel](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/753df07/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4256x2832+0+0/resize/1440x958!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fcord-count-alexis-de-sakhnoffsky-1.jpg)
In mid-1991, the car received Level 1 Original Certification (CL-073) following detailed examination by the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club and at the 2008 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance it won Best in Class for the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg class.