When the first Cord Front Wheel Drive (Model L-29 reached full production in September of 1929 plans were conceived for the next model to be a 1932 New Cord Front Drive. The wheelbase was to be 157 5/8 inches, 20 inches longer than the L-29. The engine was to have a16 cylinder engine ,but it was decided to go with the 12 cylinder for economic reasons. One month later (October 29,1929,Black Tuesday) the stock market collapse changed the phrase Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression. One prototype, E-1 was to be produced with a 16 cylinder Lycoming engine as a 7- passenger chauffeur-driven Limousine. A letter signed by E.L. Cord brags about his custom built Limousine for his own usage. Finished in blue with black reveal moldings. The driver's compartment was upholstered in tan leather and the passenger area was covered in tan broadcloth with Butler finish for all metal hardware and fittings. The body has aluminum panels over a heavy oak structure with solid walnut interior moldings. All of the bracketry is steel forgings or bronze castings. The skirted fenders and running boards are steel. The Depression had gotten to the point that hardly anyone could sell cars much less buy something as expensive as this proposal. The 1932 Model Front Wheel Drive proposal was scrapped and the E-1 Cord Limousine with only 779 miles of use was also scrapped. Major components were disassembled and scattered to various dealers. The engine remained in Auburn as a standby generator at the power station. In more recent years , the body was discovered in the Rockford, Illinois area. Shortly afterwords, a group of blueprints surfaced in Auburn,Indiana. The grille assembly was discovered in Urbana, Ohio. Another lead located the fenders in Phoenix, Arizona. Five years after accumulation of parts were united, the running boards were located in Plato Junction, a small community just outside of Elgin, Illinois. Something destined this Cord to live and to live again
Rendering
Duesenberg LaGrande
Union City LaGrande J-188 was originally installed in chassis 2207 equipped as a convertible sedan by Murphy in 1929, but somewhere along the line the body disappeared. Duesenberg expert Randy Ema believes the original body was destroyed at some point. Restorer Ed Lucas was traveling through Indiana and bought a used Duesenberg chassis ' J-188'. Ed decided to create a LaGrande Phaeton body for the car. He built the wood framing and had the new body skinned by English Wheel specialist Mike Wheeler in Canada, with whom he's done several other cars. Ed sold the project, however, a restorer Fran Roxas actually completed it in the late eighties. Recently purchased at auction by Cliff Alexander. Because of the history of J-188, there's some controversy about the car's place in the ratified Duesenberg world.
Cord L-29 LaGrande
Reproduction of a lost LaGrande..
A cigar rack is built into driver's door.
H.S. Lewis from Beaver Falls, New York purchased the Coupe new on 5-23-1931.
Union City built 8 LaGrande bodies for the Cord L-29's ''Custom" body program, 2 Town cars, 2 Victorias, 1 Coupe,1 ( Salon ) Sedan, 1 Boattail Speedster and 1 Sedan.
Freda Thompson behind the wheel, photo taken by her boyfriend Dr. Ken Campbell, taken at the home of Harold Tallman. The car was in the possession of Harold Tallman at the time, Aug. 1931
www.unioncitylagrande.com
Duesenberg President Harold T. Ames knew that sales of the Model J could be improved if the firm offered a series of catalog customs, however he realized that the firm's clients wouldn't bite unless a well-known coachbuilder was involved, hence the mid-1930 emergence of LaGrande, Duesenberg's exclusive in-house coachbuilder. In reality, LaGrande was a fictitious builder, formed to help sell the designs of Duesenberg's body designer Gordon Buehrig. n An in-house coachbuilder enabled Duesenberg to keep close tabs on quality and give them a tidy profit as all Lagrande bodies were built by production body builders who could deliver a custom appearing body for less than half the price of a true custom-built coach. An estimated 29 LaGrande bodies sold between 1931 and 1936. The LaGrande Sweep-Panel Phaeton made its debut at the 1931 New York Auto Salon. Most of the bodies for the LaGrande program were supplied to Duesenberg in-the-white by the Union City Body Company of Union City, Indiana. Others included Brunns, Walker, Weymann and Central. In-the -white refers to bodies delivered to a chassis manufacturer. Union City supplied approximately 21of them - all of which were delivered to Indianapolis in-the-white then decked, trimmed and painted by Duesenberg in-house staff of talented craftsmen, whom Buehrig considered to be equal of those working for the prestigious coach-builders. All things considered, this seems like an inefficient way to build an automobile, part here and part there, but then it would also have been more efficient for Michelangelo to have painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling with a roller.
Photo taken in front of Knox College, 23 Kings Circle, University of Toronto.
As with the Duesenberg LaGrande , so it would be with the L-29 Cord custom coachbuilders. All Union City custom LaGrande's and Connersville factory bodies were transported to Auburn, Indiana. in-the-white for final assembly. The new facility built in 1929 behind what is now the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum was where the final assembly took place, bodies were mounted onto chassis, painted and accessorized. Union City supplied a total of eight bodies for the Cord L-29 custom body program. Two Town Cars, two Victorias, one Salon Sedan, one Boattail Speedster, one Coupe and one Sedan.
Patented Seats
Duesenberg President Lucious B. Manning used the original body on no fewer than four chassis, which wasn't uncommon for a wealthy owner to have a favorite coachbuilt body moved to a new chassis.
Union City Body Company build date: October 1st, 1930.
June 1931 Paris Concours . The LaGrande Speedster took first place.
Gables
Reproduction
A bar set including two decanters is designed into the passenger door.
Photo taken inside the Paris Automobile expo.
Photo's taken December 1930 in snowy field in Auburn. January 1931 the car was shown at the New York Auto Show. The Woodlite Headlights had to be replaced with conventional headlights to be accepted for showing in Europe. The black grille was chrome plated as well.
1931 E-1 Experimental L-29 CORD Limousine
Back in Auburn, Indiana, November 1931 a Mr. Cutter driving the L-29 Cord with his family. Mr. Cutter was the Service manager for Auburn, four days after these photos were taken , the Cord Speedster went missing.
Two ( Hard-Top ) Coupes were built by the Union City Body Co. with Union City Body Co. patented adjustable bucket seats. LaGrande Coach upholstery was always covered in muslin cloth for protection, before being shipped to Indianapolis for final assembly. Built in 1930 for the 1931 model year.
Reproduction of a LaGrande
Duesenberg Fixed Top Coupe
Original L-29 Cord lagrande Speedster
This imposing long wheel-base 1932 LaGrande Dual Cowl Phaeton Model J carries chassis number 2415 and engine J-463, a Dietrich convertible Berline body and sometime between 1946-1956 the car was involved a garage fire and the Dietrich body was destroyed. In the 1970's J-463/2415 was adorned with an elegant new body built in the style of a LaGrande Dual-Cowl Phaeton.
1931 Cord L-29 LaGrande Speedster re-creation
Philip O. Wright , a designer who was responsible for some of the sportiest Duesenberg Model J's ever created , presented this sleek boattail speedster design (Front wheel drive). The coachwork was built by Union City Body Company, part of E.L.Cord's growing industrial complex. Completed in time for it's debut at the New York Auto Salon public Showing in 1931, the car was introduced as the Lagrande Speedster. It then departed to France where it appeared at the Paris Concours d'elegance and achieved First Place. The Lagrande Speedster was returned to the states for another showing, then sent to Canada for the major auto shows, it disappeared after that, and not the slightest hint of it's fate has yet to surface. Only one Cord L-29 was bodied with Philip Wrights front wheel drive Lagrande Speedster coachwork . Re-creation started in 1995 and was completed in 2004, consuming 20,000 man-hours, meticulously recreated in every detail , even in its original colors of Royal Cranberry and Cashmere Cream.