| In it's day, the Cord was rather like the iMac computer is today - a compact counter-culture, fashion statement - buttoned down and quite sleek in its egg-like body, but precocious in its prognathic wrap-around grill that looks like a marquee on an Art Deco diner. An American original! |
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| Yes, it's true. The Cord is bigger on the outside than it is, well, on the Outside. And yet, it can appear to be exceeding thin. As a result, Dr. Who is reported to suffer from Tardis Envy. | |||
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 Now, the Cord was such a paragon of industrial design, that it informs many other innovations. For example, can anyone doubt that the design of the Hoover upright vacuum was inspired by the road-eating front end of the Cord? Photographs by Chaz |
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 Seriously, folks, urban legends aside, the front end of the Cord really is an all-American Art Deco banner. That's part of its great charm. Photographs by Chaz |
| Have you noticed, that with car mirrors, the back of the mirror, which faces forward, reflects the future, while the front of the mirror, which faces backwards, reflects the past? Photograph by Chaz |
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| Let's slide right in and look at the cockpit with untutored eyes... Lots of guy stuff. We got gages to gage with, knobs to pull, buttons to push, keys to turn, toggles to tog, red lights to flash, and even a mysterious little shifter thingie. A classic of decoficiency. Photographs by Chaz | |||
 And it truly looks even more impressive when one looks in through a tantalizing reflection in the window. Photographs by Chaz |
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| Now we come to the back of the Cord, which looks a lot like a beetle. Oh, the thing on the right? Just a plucked eyebrow. They do look so much nicer plucked, you know. Photographs by Chaz | |||
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When bumpers created vistas and lights, even the red ones, were quite modest. Photographs by Chaz 
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| A wonderfully coiled spring bumper and where the gas goes. Photographs by Chaz | |||
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| "Cord" has two possible derivations. The most obvious is a cord, as in a light rope, and comes from the Greek word chorde, meaning "cat gut." But Cord can also be derived from cordis, the Latin root meaning "heart". Judging by the Cord coat of arms, which features three hearts and no cat gut whatever, the heart derivation is more attractive. A small car, then, with great heart. Photographs by Chaz |
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all photos © 2006 by Charles M. Nelson |
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