Dave Mitchell
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Posts posted by Dave Mitchell
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Thanks for posting the photo of the 37 parade car - that is a view that I have never seen. It is really a shame that it burned.
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The replicas, even very nicely done usually leave me cold. I got in trouble once judging one of the above phaetons - it was flawless and I gave the nod to the flawed real Le Baron phaeton sitting next to it. I have seen several Special Roadsters and other made up cars, and they are good looking and usually well done, and some recreate great cars that are lost except in photos, but to me, they are cars with no history, and that history is something that I really like. I can sit in a car or drive it or just look at it and wonder where it has been and who has been in it, what it looked like new...
I guess the other thing that bothers me is the cars that are lost to these recreations - 1108 sedans and limos, Cad 16 and Duesenberg town cars, sedans and limos, even MB Cab Bs - open cars made into roadsters. Usually, especially with the American cars, this was done to make money in the 80s and 90s. Hopefully that won't happen as much now, as these cars have dropped like a stone. The funny thing is that they are getting enough age on them that some need to be restored.
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A 37 Super 8 town car - photo courtesy of Warner Neill
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Is the 320 a combinations coupe? What is the asking price of that one?
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AJ, great photo of the special roadster at the 36 auto show. I think Jan told me that it was silver grey.
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The Holbrook is a clean, simple design that was undoubtedly expensive in its day, authentically restored and the blackwalls look good. Were the appointments inside unusual?
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William Lyon owns the Bouchard car, which was dark red. The other restored coupe is dark blue. I've never seen the third one, but have heard about it. I think the third one is the car Rudolf Carraciola owned, with plaid seats and all.
The Caracciola car that I posted a photo above of is a 500K special coupe and didn't have plaid interior when new or when I last saw it, but maybe did somewhere inbetween. Maybe he had another one that you are thinking of. The rear treatment of this car is very nice - better in person than in photos.
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In Vol 1 Jan lists 33 500K Cab As, and 83 540K Cab As, and a note in the 540 section lists 32 built of the first version. There were subtle changes even after that. I like them all a lot - they are each in the top end of their stying eras. The low windshield and long hood on the 500s is really something. I especially like them with leather tops, they look just that much sleeker with the top up. If you compare them with other cars of the same year, they are just stunning. I also like the 2 door offener tourenwagens shown on page 85 with the disappearing tops.
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Ed, have you been to India and seen any of these cars?
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Note the chrome shell on the 38 Super Graber. I just wish they would put on a prewar cormorant.
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Thanks for posting the photos of the 37 Glaser. I was going to put some up of that one, but I don't have any this recent. I would like to see that car in person. I rather like it with the top down, ready for a tour in the Danish countryside on a sunny afternoon. The original owner of the 36 Norrmalm had a house in Denmark and I have wondered if the cars ever crossed paths when new.
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Thanks for the photo of the 34 Rollston town car - it looks similar to bodies they put on Duesenberg chassis. Interesting that the Vanderbilts put it on a Standard 8. It would probably look pretty good cleaned up. Do you think that the shutters were originally black? This is another car that would most likely look better with blackwalls. If they opted for black shutters, I doubt they went for whites.
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I can't answer that off the top of my head. I can ask Jan though. I think there were two in Detroit - Connie Bouchard and another guy whose name I can't recall. I talked to him and he was restoring a bus (!) and the special coupe was locked away waiting to be restored. He was pretty excited about the bus. People will talk to me just because I know Jan and also show me cars that I wouldn't see otherwise, which is nice. I think the Bouchard car ended up with IP and I am not sure where it is now. A lot of their stuff went to Europe. Maybe Gen. Lyon has a coupe too, but I have lost track of which one - maybe dark red. I will go back through past years photos from Pebble when I have some time.
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The two tone green one isn't a 38/39 120, look at the cast flat windshield and the early bumper with wrap around ends, and narrower grill. It is hard to tell from this angle, but it could be the same "Dietrich" badged conv sedan body that is on the 37 120. I think it is a 35/36 120.
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A 540K Special Coupe
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:confused: And another try.......
37 120 sedan, not sure - 31 or 32 phaeton?, 34 Std 8 phaeton or 7 pass touring
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OK, here we go, a bunch of Packards that probably have never been seen before. ID as many as you can. After all. I am a Pierce guy.
Ok, correct me if I am wrong, but from left to right from the top - 36 120 Dietrich convertible sedan, 32 Std 8 7 pass touring, 34 Std 8 7 pass touring, 41 110 with factory air, 37 120 Dietrich convertible sedan, 41 120 conv sedan
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This next photo confirms that they were popular. You should see some of the colors they painted the cars going to India. It still continues today. They love wild colors. Can you ID these cars?
The two Packards in the foreground are 37 Super 8s - do you know what the original colors were? The first one must be the Rollston phaeton and the second a standard Packard body, probably a 1502 lwb 7 pass sedan. The only possible standard factory colors would be Packard ivory or Iridium gray that would show up that light.
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A 34 Dietrich at Pebble this year
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Special roadster from the National Auto History Collection in Reno
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Here are some pictures of the first series 540k Carbriolet "A". My favorite of all the factory bodies. There were roughly 30 of these made in 1936 - 37 before the second series production began.
These are great cars - terrific lines.
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A 770 limo at the Gooding auction 2010
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The way he made the fenders flow into the running boards and continue into the rear fenders is flawless. The rear treatments of both the roadsters and coupes are wonderful too. The rear of the Caracciola car is terrific.
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The Cab C looks great. I like the Cab Cs and you seldom see them.
Rebodied Packards
in Packard
Posted
I used to go to a plater in Chicagoland who was in a big warehouse and there was a beautiful limo body there from a Model J - which was the donor for an open body. It would have been an easy restoration and a great car - at least they didn't scrap it, but I doubt it will ever be put back on a J chassis. It would be fun to see those bodies in an exhibit somewhere. Unfortunately I bet a lot of them are gone to hide the evidence or because the guys who built these for profit didn't care about the history anyway.