A 1937 Cord 812 convertible in which cowboy movie star Tom Mix was killed is to make an appearance at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in Florida next year (9-11 March).
Mix was the original "man in the white hat" and a pall-bearer at Wyatt Earp's funeral, but came to a grisly end when he missed signs for roadworks, crashed and suffered head injuries from a metal suitcase full of cash that was on the Cord's back seat.
The coffin-nosed Cord, one of fewer than 200 supercharged 812 convertibles built, is now owned by Bob White of Scottsdale, Arizona and is one of only three – the other two previously owned by Al Jolson and Barbara Stanwyk – with rare options including an externally mounted spare.
White bought the car in 2010 and has completed a painstaking 18-month restoration, its first since 1940. Exact reproductions of Mix's dashboard-mounted holster and an oversized accelerator pedal to accommodate his cowboy boots have been created. Even replicas of hand-cast medallions presented to Mix by the King of Denmark have been placed on the Cord's bonnet, just as the were in 1940.
Amelia Island concours founder and Chairman Bill Warner said: "The 812 Cord is rare, technologically advanced and extraordinarily desirable. The Tom Mix Cord is the most famous of the breed. It's a true 'destination car', the kind that hard core classic car enthusiasts will travel hundreds of miles to see."
James Elliott is a former Editor of Classic & Sports Car