Ever since the 1936/1937 Cord 810/812 models came on my radar, I haven’t been able to get them out of my head. Not only are they gorgeous, but they’re also different from so many of their contemporaries in a variety of ways, including how they route their power. I recently gained a greater appreciation for their front-wheel drive layout at an unlikely place: a storage unit.
My mother-in-law Liz is in the process of consolidating her two storage units full of furniture, family keepsakes, and holiday decorations into one. That involves pulling stuff out and hauling it to Goodwill to donate or taking it home so my wife can tell her if it should be kept or discarded. Either way, I’ve accompanied Liz several times to help her whittle down the inventory (one of which showed me the spaciousness of the 2025 Toyota Sienna Platinum).
If you’ve ever moved things into or out of a storage unit, then you probably know that it’s easier when you use one of the available platform trucks. They can turn three runs with your arms full into one. But as I recently learned, there’s a way to make using of those quicker and less frustrating. Typically, when I’m at my MIL’s storage unit, I’m mentally checked out, trudging through unpleasant, boring tasks. That was the case during a recent trip: I was pushing a cart loaded with stuff down one of the numerous hallways, but then it became undeniable to me that I was doing things the wrong way. I kept having to adjust my “steering” because the rear wheels were directing the load.
If you stop by The ClassicCars.com Journal on Saturdays, then you’ll know that I have an ongoing series called “Car Connections,” a reminder of how car enthusiasts can link anything to automobiles. In this case at the storage unit, I didn’t even have to try to do that because the circumstances immediately brought to mind the advantages of Cord’s front-wheel drive. Last June, I wrote a piece about how Cord pointed out that by pulling the car forward instead of pushing it, FWD offered better traction and directional stability. Wanting to make things easier and being a giant car nerd, I decided to pull the cart. My treks to and from my MIL’s Honda CR-V were quicker and less troublesome, but I still couldn’t wait to go home, daydreaming about a supercharged 1937 Cord 812 the whole way there.
