In the 1920s, the Auburn Automobile Company was looking for a new man to lead the company into the future. The man chosen as manager was a successful entrepreneur, Errett Lobban "E. L." Cord, whose counteroffer amounted to buying the company out entirely and was accepted in 1924. Five years later, Cord's eponymous brand released the L-29, featuring a beautiful albeit traditionally styled body, and a Lycoming engine and three-speed transmission mounted backwards, becoming one of the first front-wheel drive production cars. Cord's goal for the next car was a "Baby Duesenberg," and tasked Auburn Speedster and Duesenberg Model J Designer, Gordon Buehrig, with the project. However, in the wake of the Crash of 1929, the project evolved to become the next Cord, the 810.

Buehrig's design for the 810, and subsequent 812, was a radical new streamliner based on the L-29's engineering principles, instantly recognizable for the pronounced hood, the sleek, wraparound louver grille, and the retr