Golden Valley Classic Car Show Brings Back Memories
If you’ve never heard of a Cord automobile, you’re not alone. But car enthusiasts will tell you, they’re something special.
When staffers like Chuck Carlson of Covenant Living in Golden Valley arranged a car show for their residents, they had no idea how successful it would be. Chuck says he’d hoped ten or so cars would show up.
He got that. And then another ten. And then a few more. Resident Pauline Price found a Model-A Ford, and that brought back some memories. A Model A was the first car she learned how to drive back in the ’30’s.
A classic Dodge fire truck emblazoned with the Crystal Fire Department logo showed up, as did a DeSoto and a couple of Jags.
But the real star was a 1929 Cord L-29 in just about flawless condition. The L-29 was the first front wheel drive American-built car. It didn’t sell very well, mainly because the Great Depression hit just as it came out, so only around 4,400 examples were built over three years.
And that makes it rare – while it originally sold for around 3 grand today, there’s one for sale right now for just under $200,000. Its rarity and immaculate condition made the L-29 the breakout star of the show. Chuck remarked that he went to the Back to the Fifties show last weekend, and out of more than 11,000 cars there, “didn’t see anything that nice.”
The turnout and the quality of cars has Chuck thinking about making this an annual event for Covenant.
