Dave Mitchell
-
Posts
1,207 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Gallery
Events
Posts posted by Dave Mitchell
-
-
Jim, if you ever want anything special scanned from the data book, just let me know. I know West hates all lights, but I like lights and have a large collection of them - all sorts of Trippes - bullet back and round back seniors with and without levels, chrome and painted, as well as juniors, including the three types of special brackets, then there are the Super Rays and all sort of other lights, not to mention spot lights. My next big project is a 38 12 Derham which had senior Trippe bullet backs on from new. I have a 41 160 sedan which has Packard Road and Fog lights on it, and they look a little small to me, but they were on the car when sold new. I will see if I can find a good photo of the 39 Six with the juniors on it for you.
Dave
-
Dave, come on down and we will go for a ride in the 30 speedster phaeton - you will love it! (And maybe a ride in the 35 12 just for old times sake.) I converted my 39 Six to Bosch halogens too - what a difference. The 37 I left the original lenses and put in 6V halogen bulbs and that worked well too.
-
No longer for sale.
-
Looks like a 40 - 41 rear compartment light to me - probably junior, but maybe 41 160 sedan also. I would have to go look at my 160 sedan to be sure. As Brian says, would go over the rear window, maybe in the quarters of a 7 pass sedan.
-
A part number like that would be from the 30s probably, however, Packard didn't put the part number on their parts that often, so what you may have is a casting number. If you can put on a photo and/or some dimensions we might be able to help you.
-
Speedster, sometimes we all make mistakes, and 39 is the only year Packard thought this was strikingly beautiful. With the price of chroming, it is one thing that helps on a 39.
-
The Data book for 1939 states on page 39 of the Super 8 section: "Radiator shutters extend in unbroken lines from top to bottom, and the impression of depth - of massiveness is increased by the painting of alternate shutters in body color. The remaining shutters are finished in chrome and the whole effect is strikingly beautiful." The 12 section says the same thing, with less drama.
-
I bought the silver car that way, but I think that they are body color. The silver car was originally dark green metallic and there was evidence of that color on the louvers. Also I have worked on two original 39 12s, one that I own and those louvers were body color (dark green and dark blue). I will look in my 39 data book and see if that says anything about this topic. It could be that if the car is a dark color they used body color. Packard did things like that at times - like painting the top insert to match on certain colors but not on others. Most of the restored cars I have seen have had body color, including lighter cars. If you had a Packard Ivory or Silver French Grey car, I think black louvers would odd.
In defense of the lights, I will say that I did put junior Trippes on my 39 6. It may not have been true to the purest form of the design, but I drove the car at night and the original headlights were not much good. The Trippes helped a lot, so I can see why people installed them. I met a guy who worked on cars in Sweden in the 30s and 40s - and he said we Americans made great cars, really good heaters and terrific spotlights, but our headlights were the worst of all cars. He did a lot of business switching American headlights over to Bosch, who made kits with bulbs, lenses, reflectors and bezels to fit lots of different US vehicles.
-
Brian, You are correct, it is a Fernandez & Darrin. The stepped beltline is one clue, I believe that they used it on at least one Duesenberg and a Hispano or two. The magazine article was the last thing that I found on the car and it confirmed the coachbuilder. I love the super low windshield. I don't know if the car exists or not, but I would think that if it did someone would have had it at Pebble Beach by now, where they would probably love the very French chrome trim, since people seem to add it to cars that never had it when new.
The roadster design is indeed Murphy, done by Frank Hershey, built by Bohman & Schwartz after Murphy went under, I doubt that it exists either, but I hope so.
-
39 Super 8, sorry West, the whites, lights and guards may offend you, but most likely won't be there when it is done.
-
Jim,
The 39s have every bit as much right to be a classic as the 40 - 42s, all share the junior body shells, and the production of the 39s was lower I believe. There are probably more differences from junior to Super 8 in 39 than in 41 for instance. The Super has nicer seats - with the Marshall individually bagged coil springs and wool used in the 12s as well as the 12 type carpet. There is a lot of outside trim that is different also - one thing I especially like are the headlights on the Super - they are the only model and year to use that light, and once you have compared them to a 39 junior, you will see how much better they are. You are right, it seems to be love or hate, but I think that the hate is because of old stereotypes and lack of exposure to the Supers. I have a 39 Six and that is a really good car too - I put 50,000+ miles on mine - but the Super is even better.
-
West, Very good guesses, but the only one you are right about is Paris - the one photo is from the Paris concours. I found two photos in Europe, one in the US, and I have a fourth which I also found in Europe from a English magazine report on the Paris concours, giving the name of the woman who owned the car, and I think also who designed her dress - and yes, she won a prize!
-
Hi Jim,
I was hoping you would come in with something nice to say about the 39s!! They are great to drive with the venerable three piece engine in its final form mated with an overdrive and retaining the wide grill and long headlight buckets. I know I am in the minority, but having driven 39 Supers as well as 38/39 12s they are really good cars and I like them a lot. I have driven every year of 12 from 32 - 39 and the 38/9s are the best, and most comfortable too. The 39 Super is great as it is such a nimble car, yet retains the old style.
The 900 roadsters are great cars too - the black one that Bill Buddig had and the gray one of Don Zerth's are super cars. Both guys stepped up to the plate and had terrific restorations done on cars most people wouldn't think deserved them. Don's car in particular was really bad and was destined to be rodded, but his brother talked him out of it. It cost him a lot of money, but he didn't only save a Packard, it is one of the best now. I don't know who owns the Buddig car now. Bill was a real gentleman and I miss seeing him at meets. Maybe someone has photos of these they can post.
-
Just to switch it up a little - one of my favorites from Packard color catalogs - the 35 and 36 12 sport phaeton. These are big formidible cars, but still sporty, and very rare, only a handfull (that aren't body swaps) survive and they are the last production sport phaetons. I love the clean flowing lines of these. Werner Gubitz and his staff were in top form with these designs in my opinion.
-
A couple more blackwall photos for West. A 32 coupe roadster at the Paris Salon when new and a 32 Deluxe 8 custom coupe - can anyone name the coachbuilder or the location where the photo was taken? How about the coachbuilder of the roadster in the design drawing and the name of the designer?
-
Denny, That color really suits the Clipper, and you know that small tooth grill isn't bad either.
-
We have given the 734 a new interior and top boot - forgot and grabbed an old photo...
-
Tom, I really like the coupes also - especially the 34 12. I recently finished restoring a 36 5 pass coupe and I was not too fond of it when we started, but by the time we finished it, I rather liked the look of it, it is unusual. I won't put it as one of my top 10, but an interesting car that you seldom see. Tom, of course you own and drive a fabulously restored car that is at the top of the Packard wish list for most people, and done very tastefully.
Restorer 32, I see your point about the folding windshield roadster with the 32 kit.
tbirdman, You are lucky enough to own one of your favorites, and 32 for me is the highwater mark of the 32 - 34 coupe roadsters. I love the open fenders.
35Packard, You too own one of my favorites - I prefer the 35/36 coupe roadster to the earlier version. I may be the lone ranger there, but hey this is just my opinion.
No one has mentioned an early Twin Six, so I have to say that after driving the 1-35 a fair amount, this climbed rapidly into my top ten. I love the Twin Six - what an awesome machine!
I love the 734 phaeton for the low and very sporty look, and it is so much better to drive than anything else from 1930 that I have been in that it is amazing. Outside of West, most of you haven't had the chance, but driving one of these is a real eye opener - they want to roll down the highway.
-
Thanks for the replies, keep them coming. Just for West, I will post photos of a couple of my favorites with blackwalls, including one with the setup he likes.
-
I thought we needed a fun topic, and maybe this will broaden some horizons. Photos would be very nice, (being a prewar guy I am going to have to look up the Pacific to refresh my memory), but if you don't have a photo that is ok by me. Although I am from Illinois, I believe that you have to register and show ID to vote and unlike others from my state, I think you should be alive, but I am less restrictive here.
Speedster, I see your point. Given your handle, I thought you might say 734s.
Thanks for kicking things off nicely HH56! Very thoughtful -and interesting that you like the postwar cars, but bridge back to the 41s. Your comments make me think that I used to prefer the 40s and back because of the headlights, but now I have 4 41s! I used to have a 46 2106 club sedan and it was the easiest driving vintage car I have ever been in - and it was fast and comfortable, and I agree, I liked the grill too.
-
Just curious what people like - doesn't have to be the most popular or most expensive or what you own, and you can list your top 6 or whatever you want.
-
No offense, but I think you might be about 30 years late asking this question, particularly for a 36 Cad.
-
-
Keep in mind that since the giant insurance companies - like AIG for instance - have a lot of power in Washington and in state capitals, most of the laws don't favor the little guy in the end, the insurance contract that you have with them is written by them and favors them, not you. They are in business to make money, like any other company. Even with the investment side of AIG losing billions, they are still making billions on insurance. The formula for totalling a car, new or old, will be how much the value is (agreed or not) vs how much it costs to fix it + the salvage value. If they don't have a contracted person to buy the salvage, they will get bids on it. It all comes down to how much they have to spend, and they will pay out the least possible. Sure you can negotiate with them, but they have teams of people who negotiate every day and they can usually wait you out, again, they won't go broke, but you have suffered the loss and are more anxious to settle, and the burden of proof is on you. As far as them taking your car, read your policy. They pay for it, they own it. Also if you do keep it, the company and the law may require that it has a salvage title, which may be permanent - most laws are written with new cars in mind, not collector cars. There are companies like Hagerty and Grundy and others who support the events we go to - we can go there and meet representatives or even owners of these agencies and you have a pretty good idea that they will be a lot more interested in being fair when they settle claims. Other mainstream companies may not feel that way. I think Ken and West's point is that if you can afford it, you are a lot better off to insure to a reasonable value and you will have less problems. If you can't afford it, then do the best you can, lots of people are "self insured". In my state, if you have plates on your car, even if aren't driving it, you have to have insurance, and you may get a random letter in the mail asking for proof, if you don't provide it quickly, they will take your driver's license away and fine you. Also every major show you take a car to wants to have your insurance info. No insurance is cheap, but we are lucky that they don't charge us the same rates as modern cars.
What is your favorite Packard and why?
in Packard
Posted
Well as far as I know there were two different versions, an early one with a lens and buld and a later one that was a sealed unit. I am pretty sure that the early version was used as far back as 37, and up to 39. I suspect that the sealed version came out at about the same time as the sealed beam headlight - or 1940. I will go and look at my accessory catalogs when I get a chance and see if I can give you a better answer. By 48 I think they were a smaller light with a thinner shell.