It’s amazing how one TV show can change a person’s life.
    A few years ago, former dentist, developer and now mayor of Huntsville Claude Doughty was watching a televised special on the Meadow Brook Concours D’Elegance, a car show to end all car shows held each year in Rochester Hills, Michigan.
    “I listened to it and I was absolutely intrigued by it, so I Googled it,” he said.
The internet search led to a trip to the show itself, which led to another trip to an auto museum in Indiana, eventually pointing him right to the soft curves and sleek lines of his new love: a 1930 L-29 Cord.
    Purchased about a year and a half ago at the Rochester Hills auction that accompanies the annual Concours, Doughty’s Cord has become a staple in the local car scene.
    From the annual Trillium Tour in support of Chrysalis to the occasional weeknight show ‘n shine, the 18-foot fi ve-seater is now as familiar around town as the mayor himself.
    The Cord was produced by the Auburn Cord Duesenberg car company out of Auburn, Indiana.
    Today a museum is run out of the company’s old offi ce building, showcasing over 100 cars, as well as the preserved workspace of the auto engineers.
    Before purchasing his car, Doughty took a trip to Auburn to see the museum.
    “I was just fascinated by it all. Three times that day I left and now I was heading… to see my buddy in North Carolina, I turned around and went back (to the museum). Three times. I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
    A self-professed woodworker, Doughty says he has never been a car guy, but the sleek lines of the Cord caught his attention and never let go.
    Now nicknamed “the girlfriend” by Claude’s wife Kim, the Cord, a rare sight anywhere, has had visitors from Canada and the U.S. make the trip to Huntsville to catch a glimpse.
    “When you look at the workmanship on that car, it would blow you away,” says Doughty. “I was really smitten by it, so that’s how I got the bug.”
    The first production front-wheel drive vehicle, the Cord is the namesake of Errett Lobban Cord, owner of the Auburn Automobile Company.
    The car, which Doughty suggests would have been marketed to the “affl uent, but not ultra-rich,” was only in production for a couple of years, since it was introduced to the market about two months before the stock market crashed in the United States in 1929.
    “It’s a world class car. There’s probably only, of that gauge, there’s maybe three or four left,” said Doughty.
    Although he has no plans to sell his Cord anytime in the near future, Doughty said “never is a long time” and continues to peruse U.S. car auctions and shows for the next great find.
    He came very close to adding to his collection in January at an auction in Scottsdale, Arizona when a 1931 Auburn Boat Tail Speedster caught his eye.
    “I get the book (of cars to be auctioned) in advance. I wasn’t going to go. . . (but) when I saw that one was in there (I was drooling and) the saliva wouldn’t stop,” he said.
    Unfortunately, Francis Ford Coppola had his eyes on the same prize and Doughty was outbid by the legendary filmmaker.
    Doughty says he’s not actively looking to add to his collection, but he does keep an eye on the market.
    “I’d really like to get a Boat Tail Speedster at some point but it doesn’t have to happen right away,” he said.
    For now he’s happy doting on his Cord, something that’s become an after-supper routine at the Doughty household.
    Although it takes a physical feat to drive — Doughty calls it arm-strong steering — he was able to put about 500 miles on it last year, taking it to a car show in Orillia, as well as puttering around the region, including a summer’s eve trip to Dorset with Kim for ice cream.
    “Quite a few people (have) said, ‘It’s criminal you’re driving that car.’ Well, the next owner can fi x it,” he said with a laugh.
    Doughty says he’d like to get a trailer for the Cord and take it down to the U.S. for some car shows.
    “In the States there’s more interest and appreciation for it than there is here. Here it’s a bit of an unknown, it’s so rare,” he said.
    Although caring for such a rare antique can be quite a serious matter, Doughty has fun with his car, saying his blood pressure instantly starts to drop once he’s asked a question about it.
    “People always ask me what colour (it is),” he says, laughing, “I tell them it’s ‘old mayor’ grey.”