Guest dave327 Posted November 20, 2003 Share Posted November 20, 2003 I just borrowed a best of Old Cars Weekly book from a friend and it contains about a 30 year old article about the 56 Patrician used in the crime spree. It listed the then owner and location of the car. I'll check and see what I can come up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55PackardGuy Posted November 21, 2003 Share Posted November 21, 2003 Thanks Craig and Dave,Maybe I'm kind of morbid, but I am really fascinated by that car and the "dark side" of the Packard mystique. The '55s and '56s have some menacing aspects. I'll definitely be renting or buying "Badlands" (which has a starring debut by Martin Sheen, costarring Sissy Spacek--and maybe a Packard) and I hope to find and tape that Lifetime show Craig mentioned. That much footage must be a record for a last generation Packard, expecially in action. Maybe I can make some VHS copies if folks are intersted?A question: Has there ever been a sexier vehicle/star combination from Hollywood than Faye Dunaway and her creamy Packard convertible in Chinatown?? Just wondering... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55PackardGuy Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Well, I looked for "Murder in the Heartland" at Amazon... don't have it. "Terror in the Heartland" is about a tornado chaser. I also checked Lifetime's movies schedule--not on in the next two months. What's that show doing on Lifetime anyway? Oh, yeah, the romance thing. Anxiously awaiting any more info on THE car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_PackardV8 Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Last known owner of Charles Starkweathers car circa 1978: Alvin Vieselmeyer of Gothenberg. Neb. who supposedly owned a body shop there in the mid 70's. The ORIGINAL owners were Mr & mrs C. Ward Lauer of (Lincoln?) Nebraska. Starkweathers girl friends name was Caril Ann Fugate and she was 17 in 1958 and reportedly still in prison as of the mid 1970's. Starkweather went to the electric chair.Someone with alot of entusiasm about this might try to contact some of the above people and report back to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55PackardGuy Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 I guess I fit the description of someone with a lot of enthusiasm. Luckily, there are not a host of Vieselmeyers out there, and an on-line search turned up only one living in Nebraska. I might drop her a line. Talk about enthusiasm, how the heck did you get the name of the last known owner? I don't think Caril Ann or the survivors of the original owners would want to talk about it... The original owners' LAST name was Ward-- C. Lauer Ward did live in Lincoln Nebraska with his wife Clara. I've seen the car referred to as the Ward Packard. The couple and their housekeeper were all victims. I'll try to place a link here to a site that gives more info, for Enquiring Minds. This should take you right to the page on the Wards, go to the next chapter for "the chase".http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/starkweather/finale_7.html?sect=8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_PackardV8 Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 Vieselmeyer was actually the third owner of the car in and about the mid-70's.The second owner, Blaine Peterson of Gothenburg purchased the car from the Lauer estate after their deaths. Apparently Blains father drove the car back to Gothenburg from Wyoming where the car had made its final stop when Charlie and Caril were captured. I am interested in the car and its performance and details during the chase but not really interested in the people involved per-se. However, i think after 45 years you could propbably contact any of them involved or related to the crime and probably glean some info from them. Best thing to do is ask as few questions as possible and let them do the talking with a bit of sympathetic awe on your part. Keep us poted on your findings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55PackardGuy Posted November 23, 2003 Share Posted November 23, 2003 PackardV8,I'm sending out a few letters and will let you know if I hear anything. According to the Starkweather article linked to my last post, the original owner's last name was Ward, not Lauer. Do you have any info on Lauer? Possibly from Ward's maternal side? You sure have a lot of good details on the car's history. If you click on the "Chase" chapter on the story linked to my last post, the only performance data given is "speeds in excess of 100 mph," but not who was winning when Charlie quit. Apparently, the police were following close enough to shoot out his back window. Check out the pathetic end to the chase. There's certainly nothing admirable about what this fellow (and probably his girlfriend) did, but it is a very interesting piece of Packard lore. My local video store did not haved "Badlands" but I will get it eventually and report back on its automotive accuracy. (After all, that's what this thread is about). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_PackardV8 Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 i have the same article as Dave327 that posted above on 11/17/2003. So i went to cheque it. The article specifies that the "Patrician belonged to Mr & Mrs C Ward Lauer and that the car was driven by Mrs Lauer" Since the incident involved Nebraska residents i doubt that the 'Ward' nor 'Lauer' name refects any maiden names. The habit of using a mothers maiden name as a middle name tends to be a more south-eastern tradition than that which is practiced in the rest of the nation altho i have heard such nameing in other regions.Quite possibly the entire name is ficticious or deliberatly altered due to the social prominence of the victims??????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 25, 2003 Share Posted November 25, 2003 Additional Packards in movies include:"Back to the Future" mid 1980's starring Michael J Fox has a cream 1948 custom convertible."The Great Gatsby" 1974 starring Robert Redford, his love interest drove a white 1926 - 1928 Packard roadster with rear mounted spare. It was a brief scene with the car. "Lost in Yonkers" early 1990's has a cream 1938 Twelve convertible coupe."The Cats Meow" 2003 Movie about Randolph Hearst & a murder on his yacht. Has a brief scene when they are boarding the boat with about a 1927 Packard Six sedan in the background. "The Adams Family" about 1992, has a couple scenes with a 1931 Dietrich convertible sedan. Dark blue with cream wheels.Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JT Posted November 25, 2003 Share Posted November 25, 2003 'In Harms Way" a John Wayne WWII movie has a 41 in a few scenes.Seems like in one they are maneuvering around some bombing while driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwassenaar Posted December 2, 2003 Share Posted December 2, 2003 For what it is worth: in the movie "the rock" , half hour from start thereappears to come into the scene a dismantled Packard 48/49 in a greyish color.Can any ony out there confirm ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2004 Share Posted February 22, 2004 Just watched the movie "Empire of the Sun" a couple of nights ago and a big late 30's Packard Limosine places an important part in the film. It is the model with a divided front window and a chrome strip following this divider from the cowel up onto the roof. A gorgeous car that in the film was owned by the father of the little boy who is the main character. The film is set in Shanghai right as the Japanese are invading and there are many early shots of the car and the boy riding in it. And late in the movie he finds it again where it has been stored by the Japanese.And Craig in Nevada. After Empire of the sun I watched "Mars Attacks" and the Martians first landed and attacked the U.S. Forces in Pahrump Nevada, so when you're out scouring the desert for old Packards, be careful one could be hiding a Martian just ready to attack you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCraigH Posted February 23, 2004 Share Posted February 23, 2004 <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">(snip) And Craig in Nevada. After Empire of the sun I watched "Mars Attacks" and the Martians first landed and attacked the U.S. Forces in Pahrump Nevada, so when you're out scouring the desert for old Packards, be careful one could be hiding a Martian just ready to attack you. </div></div>Hey tfred: There are more weirdos out here than just Martians. They even have a TV show on the local channel 41 called "Out There TV", which comes on at about 5am a couple times a week...don't ask why I'm up and maybe watching it! Also, Pahrump, NV is known as "Art Bell's hometown." If you don't know who Art Bell is, then you don't listen to late night talk radio about weird stuff. Also "Area 51", which the USAF denies exists is right over the mountains to the east. There are sometimes weird colored, moving lights to the east, but hey, they're just lights, right?On the other hand, Pahrump is very much a "car" town. Lots of older cars (no running Packards, except for mine) and plenty of car enthusiasts. Pahrump only has two stop lights, but the Nye County Sheriff office is at one of them, so you don't want to be speeding anywhere near there. However, the biggest crime reported on the local TV was shoplifting and some minor vandalism. That's a lot better than Las Vegas, where there's a murder about every two days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlK Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Another one just came accross. "Accidents will Happen". Saw a bit of it his morning on TCM. It stars our former president Ronald Reagan and a late 20's roadster. Only saw the quick drive by, maybe I can catch the whole thng sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillP Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Just saw a rerun last night of Paper Moon, a great movie. Since seeing originally, I had forgotten most of it but there are a lot of old cars mainly model A Fords also a 36 Ford 4 door convertible sedan. The local police have what looks like a 33 Packard Eight sedan, solid wheels (not spoke) and they chase the 36 Ford all over dirt roads. They do not baby those cars! At one point they slide the Packard in a hand brake U-turn and if it tipped any more it'd likely go over. No stunt double available there. It makes you nostalgic for the old days of simpler cars and simpler driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicagoPack Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Just watching a bit of "The Mummy Returns" until the Barrett Jackson auction comes on. A terrible movie, but the villains are driving a matched pair of '33 (?) silver Packard limosines, so the car chases are lots of fun. Really great cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.Milke Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 There is a fairly new Mexican movie "La ley de Herodes", on which the car "star" is a 1940 120 sedan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.Milke Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 And there is another old mexican movie, dating from the 50's called "La sombra del Caudillo". I have never been able to see the movie, but I saw a picture out of it that shows a 1934 V12 town car (a car I have been after for quite some time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 In Portugal last month I saw "Bullit" on a British TV station. In one scene when Steve McQueen is walking across a street to his apartment there is what looks to be a 38-39 junior Packard grille and hood with a cormorant ornament showing on the left side of the screen. Don't recall thinking much about that in 1969 when I saw the movie for the first time! The big Packard in Empire of the Sun is a, I think, 1938 Super Eight not a 12 but I may be wrong. I recall seeing a photo of it recently in a Packard Club publication identified as a Super Eight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kevin AZ Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Gone in Sixty Seconds was on cable over the weekend with Nicolas Cage & Angelina Jolie (huba-huba). Throughout the garage scenes in the film, a 48-50 Packard needing restoration is used as a back-drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwassenaar Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 in the " godfather 2 " , there is a flash forward scene of a parking lot.In it there a Packard 48-50 and a 53 standing together.This scene is at the beginning of the movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlK Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 KevinCalm down, This thread is Packards in the movies, not Bimbos in the movies.I saw that film and never picked up on the background, but I saw that movie before I started the roster. I am more attentive to the background now. Missed the one on the godfather other than the limo in the first one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kevin AZ Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 Al.......I know we are having fun here , so CHEERS! I'm lifting one for you! Yes, after the week from hell at work, I'm half-way into a picther of Emril's Magarita's (with Jose Cuervo tequila) and enjoying an absolutly beautiful Tucson Arizona summer evening around the pool & computer.So in support of Angelina Jolie, Pamela Anderson and her Serius Satelite Radio commericials, and other bombshells too numerous to list that appear in film or TV, long live the 'hot-ladies' that love to be around the cars we men enjoy! CHEERS! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />Dagmar Rules!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCraigH Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 KevinAZ: That was definitely a marguerita-induced posting! Enjoy, guy!BTW, Angelina Jolie is one of my favorites too. Coincidently, one of her early movies, "Gia", with lots of skin is playing right now on HBO-S. Sad story, but great eye candy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlK Posted May 30, 2004 Share Posted May 30, 2004 What really gets my goat is when they put these deformed women all over the cover and inside of my car books. he he he he he Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCraigH Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 I just watched "Arrow" on TRUE channel (DirecTV). In the scene near the beginning of the 2nd episode (1.6 of 3 hrs) on the Arrow's maiden flight is a nice nose-on shot of a 1955 Clipper. For those of you not familar with this aircraft, see: Avro Arrow or do a Google search for it. Pretty amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlK Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 what was that? a movie, a documentary,or ???????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCraigH Posted August 5, 2004 Share Posted August 5, 2004 "The Arrow", is a docu-drama mini-series by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) and the Film board of Canada. It stars Dan Ackroyd (in a non-comedic role) and Kate Bosworth. By 1958, the A.V. Roe (Avro Aircraft) company of Canada built six prototypes of the CF-105 "Arrow", the last of which was capable of mach 2.5 at 85K-ft!!! The story is a sad one, of brilliant technical work overcome by politics, culminating with the cancelling of the project a few weeks before a record-setting flight by #6 and then the firing of all 14,000 employees and the TOTAL destruction of all airframes, blueprints, engineering components, etc. as ordered by the Prime Minister and carried out by the RCAF. It was a situation analagous to Jack Northrop's B-49, Preston Tucker's "Torpedo" and somewhat like John Delorean's car built in N.Ireland.The "Arrow" is a beautiful delta-wing airplane which looks more like the ill-fated North American F-108 "Rapier" mach 3 escort fighter than the Convair F-102/F-106 and to a lesser degree (no delta wing) North American's A3-J/A5-B Vigilante. Apparently, the "Arrows" air-inlet design was ripped off for use on the McDonnel F4-B "Phantom" and it's area-rule ("coke bottle" shape) fuselage was ripped off to fix the malperformance of the F-102 when it evolved into the F-106. Lots of interesting stuff in this story!This is a movie well worth seeing, but the current DirecTV listings don't show another showing in the near future. I recorded it on my TiVo and viewed it later because it was on from 4AM-7AM PDT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_Packards1 Posted August 6, 2004 Share Posted August 6, 2004 Don't forget the Godfather movie with the 1954 Patrician or Limo. Look closely at the Banachek shows, he had two different Darrins. And we cannot forget a drunk Arthur driving the pre war Packard conv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlK Posted August 8, 2004 Share Posted August 8, 2004 Packard1: I already had the 1st 2 you mentioned but i don't think I had Arthur, that was the one wth Dudley Moore?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_Packards1 Posted August 8, 2004 Share Posted August 8, 2004 Yes, the one with Dudley Moore when he was going to see Lisa M. in the middle of the knight. He balanced a drink on the front fender of the Packard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55PackardGuy Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Here's the old "Packards in Movies" Roster. Just posting to bring it to the top. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigKev Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 My kids watch that cartoon, and in a couple episodes he refers to "taking the Packard out for a drive" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigKev Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 They have taped serveal episodes of Junk Yard wars at Memory Lane in Sunland, CA. They place has nothing but old & muscle cars. But no '54 stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay and Pat Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 After reading the PACKARDS IN MOVIES roster I would never clean the seats of that beautiful '33 1001 convertible to which V.Milke refers in his post of 5/27/03 and even though it has been thirty four years since Brigette <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> drove it I would be sleeping in that Packard every other night and wouldn't need my Viagra the next night!!!!!!!! LeRaysville Dude. Jay P.S. Pat doesn't know about this. ssshhhh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bkazmer Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Also in the Godfather, Clemenza has a 41 180, I believe a LeBaron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy Berger Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 "The Casino Murder Case" - 1935, Paul Lukas and Rosalind Russell. A gorgeous 1935 or 34 roadster with sidemounts and, i think, Woodlights. The grille looked like a 37 or 38 but couldn't be later than 35. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlK Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Thanks Randy:Added and sent to CNB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy Berger Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 After getting a better look at the car's front fenders, it looks more like a 1933.I think you can get this on a DVD. Ros Russell drives it through a hell of a big puddle. It also (supposedly) has a radio in it that sounds like a symphony orchestra(lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dave327 Posted November 25, 2005 Share Posted November 25, 2005 Just saw "Walk the Line" and there is a light blue and white 55 400 parked in front of a motel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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