1930 Cord L-29 the nearly 40 year project

[Eric Macleod]

So I wasn't going to post this until it was 100% done. I still need to add the trunk and I am thinking of attempting to add some pinstripes as the 1:1 car has it. 

The back story in brief is I was attending a car show in St. Ignace,  Michigan that had a model contest.  I entered a few models and won a couple awards. While packing up the models I overheard a couple guys talking about their projects.  One said "how are you coming on the L-29 project?" I butted into the conversation and asked if someone had released a model of a Cord L-29.  The answer was no,  so he was building his own from a MPC Chrysler Imperial kit. I thought,  "how hard could it be?" and went to work to find an Imperial of my own.

That was in about 1980 and I have had this kit on my workbench on and off ever since.  Multiple aborted attempts have been made to finish the model. Finally this year with Snake's excellent "bring out your dead " thread, some of Pico's parts and a couple "distressed " Cord L-29's from Automodello, I have what you see here. No, it is not perfect.  There are imperfect aspects of the paint and my striping hand is no longer as steady as it was when I was 16. Warts and all,  I  present a 99% complete Cord L-29 Phaeton Sedan.

A word about the color combination.  This is a model of Dick and Janet Saddler's Cord. I first saw the car in the Kalamazoo, Michigan downtown Christmas parade in 1979. The car had been finished only weeks and was absolutely mind boggling.  It went on to win first place among other Cord L-29's at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg festival in Auburn Indiana for several years in a row.  It is a meticulously researched and restored car and some 40 years following it's restoration continues to be one of the most well respected restorations of the groundbreaking Cord L-29. While I briefly thought of replicating the colors  another car, the local connection and authenticity of the Saddler car sent me in this direction. 

Comments are always welcome.

[89AKurt]

Nice to see a Gangster Era classic get built.  Some projects are like that,  but I think 40 years takes an award.  I'm not into brush painting to begin with, so totally understand why you said it's not perfect.  But it's a nice looking classic, AND IT'S FINISHED.

I know someone who took 12 years to restore an Auburn, he let some of us in the auto club tour his house, where he built a special garage for the car, he drives through the normal garage to get in.  There were moths flying around the exterior lights, the house smelled of moth balls, because of the wool upholstery.  He has attended numerous A/C/D shows and always got first place, he finally told them to give the award to someone else.  He never drives it, even to the club's annual show.  Seems like a shame.  This jogged the memory, had to share.

[Peter Lombardo]

Wow, very sharp looking.  Clearly we don't many of these "Big" thirties era cars here, love the color combination and the red spoke wheels look great.    P.S., that Auburn roadster looks great too, from what I can see of it.

[Eric Macleod]

7 hours ago, 89AKurt said:

Nice to see a Gangster Era classic get built.  Some projects are like that,  but I think 40 years takes an award.  I'm not into brush painting to begin with, so totally understand why you said it's not perfect.  But it's a nice looking classic, AND IT'S FINISHED.

I know someone who took 12 years to restore an Auburn, he let some of us in the auto club tour his house, where he built a special garage for the car, he drives through the normal garage to get in.  There were moths flying around the exterior lights, the house smelled of moth balls, because of the wool upholstery.  He has attended numerous A/C/D shows and always got first place, he finally told them to give the award to someone else.  He never drives it, even to the club's annual show.  Seems like a shame.  This jogged the memory, had to share.

I have heard of that car but not sure if I ever saw it down there.  I've not shown a car at Auburn in about 10 years but maybe will go down this fall. We'll see what happens after (if) COVID-19 remits this fall.

You are right about brush painting.  I think my next project will be a tad less ambitious....maybe right out of the box. Thanks for looking.

[Eric Macleod]

38 minutes ago, Peter Lombardo said:

Wow, very sharp looking.  Clearly we don't many of these "Big" thirties era cars here, love the color combination and the red spoke wheels look great.    P.S., that Auburn roadster looks great too, from what I can see of it.

I wish I could take credit for the Auburn. Its a 1932 8-90 Speedster, a resin cast. I liked that I could have an Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg shot, all in 1:24 scale. Thanks for the compliment. 

[Pico]

Terrific project! Who was it talking about their L 29 project? Is there one still out there drifting around in a dusty box? Enquiring minds want to know. 

[David G.]

It's nice to see this at such a stage of completion Eric. 

Congratulations and Well Done!

David G.

[unclescott58]

Looks good from what I can see. My all time favorite car is the '37 Cord 812 Sportsmans. But I find just about all Cords beautiful. 

Any chance of seeing more pictures of the front of your model? I'm curious to see how you handled the front differential. Something that always stands out on an L-29. And to me, helps give the car a look of power. 

[Sam I Am]

WoW Eric, that is an awesome and intimidating car. I have only seen a few of these massive automobiles over the years but they always make every other car around them pale in comparison. 

Glad you stuck with it !

[Spottedlaurel]

40 years?! Well done for persevering with it, must be very satisfying to finally see it complete.

[Eric Macleod]

6 hours ago, Pico said:

Terrific project! Who was it talking about their L 29 project? Is there one still out there drifting around in a dusty box? Enquiring minds want to know. 

Well...I recall the conversation was between the contest judges. One of them worked for (or was a contributor to) Scale Auto Enthusiast magazine. I honestly cannot remember which person was working on the L-29, whether it was the SAE author or someone he knew. It was clear both were "bigwigs" in the model car hobby. I too would curious if there is a 45 year WIP out there...or an L-29 completion that has never seen light of day.

The latter is a possibility as I suspect there are a lot of builders (I am one of them) who build models, lots of them, that never are shown. Speaking personally,  I had a bad experience at a show, perhaps 10 years ago. I took a break from contests and just never got back to it.

Mayhap my model will shake another model or two out into the open.

[Eric Macleod]

52 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

40 years?! Well done for persevering with it, must be very satisfying to finally see it complete.

Satisflying? Oh...that's the understatement of the year. But, I have to admit, it feels a little weird.  I had the same feeling when I ran my first marathon, restored my first car and when I completed my Ph.D. Now what? I'm sure I will come up with something. 

[Eric Macleod]

3 hours ago, Sam I Am said:

WoW Eric, that is an awesome and intimidating car. I have only seen a few of these massive automobiles over the years but they always make every other car around them pale in comparison. 

Glad you stuck with it !

Me too. And I have really appreciated your support through the process. 

[slusher]

Stunning!

[Eric Macleod]

14 hours ago, slusher said:

Stunning!

Thanks!