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Though the technology of front wheel drive had already been discovered and even raced at the Indianapolis 500, Errett Lobban Cord revitalized and civilized it for 1929 and got his L-29 to market shortly before the front wheel drive system of Ruxton, built by Moon. Lack of a dedicated backer killed the Ruxton and the L-29 was virtuously killed by the stock market crash. In the end, though, Cord had still produced the number of L-29s they had originally set out to build, 5,010. 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 sales ploys helped and the L-29, like many expensive and deserving cars of this period, failed at no fault of their own. No L-29s were actually produced in 1932 as the assembly lines came to halt on December 31, 1931. Incidentally, the final 157 L-29s were badged as 1932 models and incorporated many of the stillborn plans for the L-29's replacement, the L-30. For more information on the Errett Lobban Cord empire I highly recommend reading Josh B. Malks "Cord 810/812 - The Timeless Classic". You will either want to rush out and buy one of these magnificent automobiles or simply admire them from afar and wonder how much it has cost the owner. |