Abstract: Efficient content distribution is one of the emerging applications in vehicular networks. To provide scalable content distribution in vehicular networks, Chord peer-to-peer overlay could be applied. Most P2P protocols, including Chord, are designed for wired-line network, and might perform poorly in mobile networks. Mobile Chord (MChord) is proposed to enhance the P2P performance over vehicular ad hoc network (VANET). In addition, cross-layer design to improve MChord performance in VANET is also investigated. Extensive NS-2 simulations with vehicular mobility traces are conducted to evaluate the P2P overlay performance in VANET. Mobile Chord and its cross-layer design outperforms the original Chord in various aspects, including application layer forwarding steps, query response ratio, correct query response ratio, and application delay.