1929 Cord L-29 Cabriolet

t first glance, the Cord L-29 may not appear to be

a remarkable car, at least for its era. Upon closer

examination, however, this L-29 could be called

revolutionary—no less a visionary than Frank Lloyd

Wright, who once owned this car, declared it so.

The L-29 was the first front-wheel-drive car to

be manufactured in any significant quantity. Among others,

Cord selected Harry Miller to engineer the car. Miller had set

the racing world on its ear with his superb front-wheel-drive

racecar designs that succeeded at Indianapolis.

For Miller, front-wheel-drive had two primary advantages.

First, it eliminated the need for a driveshaft to be placed

underneath the car. This allowed the chassis and body to sit

much lower, which enhanced both handling, through a lower

center of gravity, and aerodynamics, by presenting a smaller

body to the air rushing by. Second, with the drive wheels at

A