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Mercury Cord. Not since Walter P. Chrysler strode into business for himself and built up his Chrysler Corp. to compete with General Motors all along the line, has the motor industry felt a new presence so definitely as it now feels Errett Lobban Cord's. John H. Quinlan. the long-experienced distributor for whom —Mr. Cord used to work in Chicago, calls him "the greatest automobile man in the country today for he knows what the people want and the dealer needs, and he gives it to them." This superlative, commonplace enough in the automobile business, is less banal in Errett Cord's case than in most because it has, especially to Distributor Quinlan, a very tangible meaning. John Quinlan remembers how Errett Cord, who worked for him in 1919 on a $35 drawing account, became president of Auburn six years later.
The Cord family lived in Missouri, the father shifting from business to business (groceries, jewelry) and from town to town (Warrensburg, Marshall, Joliet, Los Angeles). Mr. & Mrs. Cord named their son Errett for a Rev. Isaac Errett who married them. Lobban was Mrs. Cord's maiden name. The names bothered the boy except when Swedes in Joliet got the first one wrong and called him "Eric," which he liked. His schooling was spasmodic and in Los Angeles in his 'teens his fun began—painting and reselling old Fords. He raced cars professionally, ran a bus line into Arizona, went broke three times after thrice building his stake up to $50,000. He had $20 in his pocket when he got his job with John Quinlan selling Moon cars.
So many Moons did young Cord help sell that the Quinlan agency became largest in the land and Cord's commissions were running about $30,000 per year. In 1924 he told John Quinlan something which the latter suspected: The cream was off Moon, he wanted to quit. He had about $100,000 saved up and he wanted to get into the production end of the business. Mr. Quinlan introduced him to Ralph Austin Bard (now president of Chicago Investors Inc.) whose firm controlled a hobbling little company with a factory at Auburn, Ind. Mr. Bard was warned that here was a cocky, footloose youngster who feared and respected nothing in the auto game, but who was interested in the Auburn plant. When they went to look over the layout, young Cord laughed derisively at all he saw—and asked permission to "hang around" the place for a month or so.
The Auburn people had tried everything, cut costs to the bone, pushed hopelessly at a mounting inventory of cars. Young Cord went back to Chicago full of ideas and with a design for a new model for which (says legend) he had paid $50. He offered to sell the 700 stagnant Auburns immediately and have a new model in production in time for the next show. His terms: No salary, just a free hand, discuss money later.
With an advertising campaign that he still describes as "a goddam wow." most of the old cars were disposed of. The new model went into production without a cent having to be borrowed. Vice President & General Manager Cord then made his terms: 20% of the profits and options on the stock at $20. There were no profits then—but in the next six months Auburn made half a million dollars. In ensuing months, President Cord acquired 70% (21,000 shares) of the stock, which last year with 195,234 shares outstanding went as high as $295}.