1936 Cord Experimental Berline

FRONT 3/4 VIEW

1. The too-high, too-straight hood terminates in a narrow and painfully undistinguished two-part grille, topped by a spindly-looking sculpture of no apparent merit.
2. The transaxle gearbox is covered by a nicely shaped sheet-metal panel.
3. The fenders and wheels seem woefully undersized for the overall mass.
4. The wheel design is elegant but not correctly proportioned for a big car.
5. Whoever thought this sweeping running board was a good idea was wrong in terms of aesthetics, however practical it might be.
6. The profile of the roof and the curve of the door clash ungraciously, the roof bulging for extra rear headroom.

REAR 3/4 VIEW

1. Far below this hood lies a V8 engine which has no need of such height.
2. These doors seem to be reworked from those of contemporary 810 and 812 models to provide a bigger interior volume.
3. The graceless roof seems entirely too much like a GM “turret top” design of the time.
4. These round lamps are surprisingly inappropriate, not integrated into the design in any way.
5. Nice fenders, but they don’t really fit the car.
6. The fat, tacked-on trunk shape doesn’t fit either.

INTERIOR VIEW

The cabin, at least, is handsomely finished with nice, polished wood capping at the top of the doors and beneath the small dual-pane, vee-shaped windshield. The front compartment looks to be quite narrow. To the left and right of the eight-dial, engine-turned bright metal section can be seen the hand-cranks for the recessed headlamp in the repurposed 812 fenders. Usually, limousines have an extended rear compartment with folding jump seats, but that does not seem to be the case here. This car does seem to have a lot of additional interior height, much to the detriment of its graceless profile.