Errett Lobban Cord was a builder, creator and innovator, a man who worked 18 hour days, seven days a week, and who took faltering enterprises and breathed new life into them. He is remembered most often for the Duesenberg, the Auburn and the Cord, but these automobiles are merely three of the stars crowning the varied mosaic of his life.

Born in Warrensburg, Missouri on July 20, 1894 to parents of modest means, the young Cord quickly became involved in numerous entrepreneurial activities, one of which was modifying Model T Fords and selling them at great profit.