1930 Cord L-29 Cabriolet
The L-29, like most Cords, was front-wheel drive. Indicated here by the circular bodywork immediately under the radiator. When new, the 1930 L-29 convertible sedan (shown here at the Amelia Island Concours of 1998) fetched $3,295. Today's market pegs the car's value at roughly $175,000! In 1930, only 1,873 L-29s were produced, the most of any of it's years of production.

Powered by a Lycoming L-head eight with 125hp, it sported nearly 300 cubic inches of displacement. As sales slowed the prices dropped $700 on this particular body style while the L-eight was bumped up to 132 hp/322 cubic inches. Neither of these ploys helped and the L-29, like many expensive and deserving cars of this period, failed at no fault of their own.