Dave Mitchell

large quantity of 32 - 42 Packard parts for sale, some for V12 and seniors, some for 37 - 42 juniors, some nos. Send wants to packard12s@hotmail.com Thanks!

HI, I hope you will enjoy the Pebble tour. I know that my whole group did. The whole Pebble experience is awesome. I look forward to seeing your car there too - that must be a really exciting drive. Someday I will beg a ride in that! I liked the photos from the Ferrari outing, but I have to agree that I like your Ford's lines better than the Enzo. I saw the Enzo at the Chicago auto show and I would have to get used to the angular "stealth fighter" lines. It definitely seems to be an F1 car with fenders (especially the nose), and as much as I like F1, I can't say that the current cars are beautiful. What body is on your Duesenberg? I would welcome you to join the CCCA - I know that you met up with a less than welcoming member here on the website, but it is a great club with some wonderful exotic cars and incredibly interesting people and we would like to have you involved. I like custom cars and have two one offs and 2 low production series customs. I also like multi cylinder cars and have some 12 cylinder Packards and a Cad V16. I've never owned a Ferrari (I like them a lot), but used to be into Porsches, and have found classics and the CCCA people more fun. I think it is great that you drive both the sports and classic cars - driving them is perhaps what I enjoy the most. Dave

Hi, Both those items are hard to find and pricey. The last Boa horn I saw was about $1500 and Woodlites about $2000 for a decent pair. I think that is a lot, but you don't see them very often. You can run ads looking for them, as there are probably people who have them in their collections and don't have the cars to put them on, and also sometimes you see them at swap meets. If you tell me approximately what you want to pay, I can keep my eyes open at swap meets. Good luck, Dave - packard12s@hotmail.com

HI, I am also glad to see you back. I stopped looking here for a long time as I couldn't stand some of the discussion, but now that things are back to normal... I hope to see you at Pebble. I went on the tour at Pebble in 98, which was the first year it was done. We had a great time. It was first class, like most everything at Pebble. I restored my car to drive as nice as it looks, so I thought this was the perfect place to drive it and demonstrate that. It was a little over 50 miles and was varied, some slow, particularly around 17 mile drive, and some highway and some up and down fairly decent hills to really make sure the cars were actually roadworthy under normal conditions and in real world traffic. You might want to keep well ahead of the two wheel brake cars on the downhills. That year Stirling Moss was driving a big vintage Ferrari and left before us and we didn't see him again until we stopped for lunch. He was gone! There was an awesome group of cars on the tour - just amazing, Bugatti, Duesenberg, Isotta, Pierce 66, Hudson Speedster, Ferrari... We spent all day on Saturday cleaning up the car afterwards, (and won our class on Sun - did it help? It didn't hurt!) but not everyone does that much cleaning. Dirt from the tour is excused by the judges. (I judge there now) But if you are going to show at Pebble, you probably want to do some cleaning for the appreciative crowds. If you complete the tour you get a very nice big green ribbon which you display on the car on show day. If driving the car doesn't make you uncomfortable, I would say do it. I have not been on the tour since then, but perhaps I can answer other questions you might have. Feel free to email me at packard12s@hotmail.com.

I'll agree with our friend from India and weigh in with the Lagonda, especially the V12 rapides, but also the 6 cylinder cars are very nice too, both with cabriolet, closed and sporting coachwork. I also agree that the Invicta seems to be superior to the average British sports car. Another car that looked very good, but I don't know much about is the big series mid 30s Triumph roadster owned by a member down in Dallas. I also must admit that although they aren't classics, I would really like to have a DB6 or DB7. I think that the Ian Callum designed DB7 is the best looking modern car on the road; it has lines that flow like the best classics.

HI, I really like the Lagondas, especially the V12 Rapides, but I don't know much about them. There is a CCCA member who has several Lagaondas and he might me able to help you. If you write to me at packard12s@hotmail.com I can give you contact info for him. I'd love to see a photo of yours. Take care and good luck! Dave

Hi Dave, I have both types of trunks and a set of tip out hinges for sale. You can email me at packard12s@hotmail.com Dave.

I am a Packard nut, and have driven my 39 110 sedan over 50,000 miles. I have found it to be a wonderfully fun and reliable car with classic styling cues and at least hints of the senior heritage. I think that it was a very good value in its time and in fact a little nicer than most of its direct competitors - for instance the Buick Special of which I own a low mileage 38 example. I also own a pretty nice 37 120CD, so I appreciate the juniors, and many people claim that they saved Packard in the late '30s depression days - that I can't verify, but it could be so as many were sold. However, I feel that the juniors are not really close to the seniors, particularly up to 1939. I have had both apart and worked on various components and you can often tell a junior from a senior part without knowing the part number. The Super 8s and 12s are not just physically a lot bigger and somewhat more luxurious, the engineering and build specifications are just on a different scale - which was not possible at the price of the juniors. The frames, steering and suspension components, engines, transmissions and rear axles are just bigger, stronger and better. Would I rather drive my 37 12 or 41 Super 8s or 46 2106 Clipper than my juniors? Yes; do I look down my nose at the junior, no! They are just different cars built to to a different price and market. The juniors like my 37 sedan reflect the styling of my 37 12 sedan, and the wood grained dash and steering wheel look like the same people designed them too. Sure the 12 has real walnut and carpathian elm wood around the windows and more expensive wool used in the interior, but new it cost thousands more than the 120. It also has more horsepower and a lot more torque. The 12 rides and drives nicer than the 120. I don't mean that the 120 isn't a really nice car, it absolutely is, but there is a real difference between a junior and a senior, my friend from Canada is correct. That said, you can have a lot of fun and enjoyment with both, they all have some measure of that Packard "mystique" of a car built and sold by gentlemen for gentlemen. Sure, they were conservative and not noisy and ostentacious like some other cars of the era, and were more likely to be the car of a businessman or old money than a Hollywood star, but they were solid, overengineered, dependable cars that didn't go out of style quickly and had an image that endured. People knew it was a Packard. That is something that I miss in modern cars - I love cars but I can't tell most of them apart on the road today. Not so in the classic era. Dave

Hi, The 120 sidemount fenders are pretty hard to find. What body style is your car? I have probably got most of the trunk rack and a metal Jr trunk also and mechanical parts. You may have stuck valves as this is a common problem with the 120 engine if it has been sitting for a while. If it is any help to you, I have an almost completely original 37 120CD sedan with 27000 miles, and photos of it might help you in your restoration. Not to scare you off, but the 120 isn't a recognized classic in the CCCA unless it has a custom body. You are still welcome here and a lot of us who own classics also own junior Packards and like them very much - my 120 sits in the garage with 4 classic Packards including a 37 1508 which looks like its big brother! So we will help you all we can, but the site isn't really oriented to the 120s. Good Luck with the restoration! Dave (packard12s@hotmail.com)

For sale - leather, custom embossed black leather of the highest quality done to match the original top leather on my 34 Cad town car. I couldn't find the correct long grain with a slight crosshatch and had to buy 10 hides to get this custom made. This is very high quality and large hides for use on big cars to cover large areas without seams. This is a perfect match for the Cad/Fleetwood top leather and also for Packard town cars and formal sedans. Contact me at packard12s@hotmail.com Thanks!

Wanted: For 1934 Cadillac Town Car, Fleetwood V windshield - front license bracket for biplane bumper, inside rear view mirror for open or town car (mounts on windshield casting), lower air vent for generator, covers for exterior door locks, retaining latches for front door top wood trim, large spinner hub caps. Thanks!

Wanted: 2 1934 Cadillac V16 hub caps, spinner type, used through 1937. Also need running board moldings and any literature for this car. Thanks! please contact packard@netexpress.net

Hi, I am looking for a EE3, do you know which type it is? They were used on several different cars with slight or more major variations and at least two different venturi sizes. If it is one that will work for me, I would like to buy it. My email is packard@netexpress.net Thanks, Dave

I have a 41 sport brogham with air and used to have a 40 180 with air which I got working well. Will be glad to help you all I can. I have some literature which I can copy for you if you need it. It is a pretty good system. Good luck!<P>Dave

Hi, The largest and best supplier of hood ornaments and mascots is American Arrow Corp in a Detroit suburb, owned by Don Summer and his son Dan - they do very nice work and if a reproduction one will fill the bill, reply and I can get you their phone #. You can say that I told you to call. I don't recall if that is one which is in their catalog, but they make many Cad ornaments. Good luck with your restoration!

Dear 50s, 60s and muscle car enthusiast,<P>I am sorry to hear that you find our defintion of classic as arrogant and feel that our cars should be scraped. I would politely disagree. I have been in the CCCA for over 10 years and have just turned 40. I have found that the members of the CCCA are very accepting of other cars and the people who own them. In fact, most CCCA members also own other collector cars, some of which you would define as classic. The definition that we use is defining for our club purposes only and not meant to belittle anyone. Most of the cars you mention had not yet been built when this definition was set forth. This is a friendly and helpful club with members who seek greater enjoyment and preservation of a particular group of cars, and to make friends with others who own them. It is a great deal harder for us to meet people who own similar cars and to get parts and information than it is for cars mass produced in the 50s or later, so we need this network. Please, take some time to look at our cars and you will find the roots of the cars that you like in the big displacement engines and cutting edge engineering and clean styling. As far as being less than efficient engines, you are right, but I think you will find most muscle cars are just as bad, so give us a break. Your vehicles are eligeble for all the same programs and we need to protect all of them from senseless destruction for the greater good of automotive history.<P>Sincerely, an open minded CCCA member,<P>Dave Mitchell

I'd like to invite all Buick enthusiasts to join us for the Classic Car Club Of America Museum Concours June 2 & 3, 2001. All Buicks up to 1948 can be judged along with 53 and 54 Skylarks. If you would like more info please go to the CCCA website (classiccarclub.org) and click on the museum link. or go directly to <A HREF="http://www.classiccarclub.org/Experience%202001.htm" TARGET=_blank>www.classiccarclub.org/Experience%202001.htm</A>

Hi, The Michigan region of the CCCA sells the kit to adapt the L8 filter to a spin on.<P>Dave Mitchell packard@netexpress.net

Do you have any parts for a 29 65 series?<BR>thanks, Dave packard@netexpress.net

1946 Packard 2106 Super Custom Clipper club sedan, 2 door fastback, great driver, black with tan wool, original interior, 356, radio, heaters, overdrive reliable and fun to drive, original car with only necessary maintenance through the years, never rusty, always cared for. One of only two 46 big series club sedans known to Pacakrd club.

Wanted: 34 Cadillac V-16 2 spinner hub caps and one disk cover for wire wheels, goddess, any literature

For sale - 1946 Packard Super Custom Clipper club sedan (2dr fastback) 2106, black w/ tan wool, 356 cu in 8 w/ overdrive, radio, clock, heaters, new tires, brakes, etc, fast and very reliable, great driver, largely original in excellent condition. Never rusty, always well cared for, very easy to drive and very sporty, full classic, top of the line. 309 944 0774 <P>------------------<BR>

For sale - 1946 Packard Super Custom Clipper club sedan (2dr fastback) 2106, black w/ tan wool, 356 cu in 8 w/ overdrive, radio, clock, heaters, new tires, brakes, etc, fast and very reliable, great driver, largely original in excellent condition. Never rusty, always well cared for, very easy to drive and very sporty, full classic, top of the line. 309 944 0774 <P>------------------<BR>

1946 Packard 2106 Super Custom Clipper Club sedan (2 dr fastback), very nice, largely original, great driver, never rusty or abused, 356 W/ OD, radio, heaters, new tires, brakes, etc. fun classic.

I can't say so much about the Lincolns or Pierces, except to say that of course each have their own following, who think that they are the best for one reason or another. The Pierces enjoy a great reputation for quality of construction, especially in their early days. They don't enjoy the popularity of the Packards probably because there just aren't as many around and also some people like the syling of the Packards and Cads better. It might not be fair to compare the Pierce 8 with the Packard 356, as it is a much newer design. I can comment on the two Packards as I own and drive examples of each - a 41 and a 46. The engine/trans is basically the same on both units, but the 46 is lighter, has a shorter wheelbase, standard highspeed gears and is overall the easiest old car to drive that I have ever been in. (mine is a swb club sedan vs a lwb 41) In the 46 you sit lower and feel like you are in a more modern car, it also has electric wipers and turnsignals and other modern conviences. The 41 is a totally different experience, you sit up high and things are a little more mechanical/positive. The power is about the same but the 46 accelerates faster due to it's light weight. I still prefer the 41 by far due to it's styling and interior. For the same reasons I really prefer the 35 - 39 V12s. I love the dash on the 41. Both are great road cars that you could take on long trips, but I would have to admit that the 46 is little more relaxed and easier to drive. The engines are great; quiet, powerful and very, very smooth with lots of torque and easy to work on and excellent parts availability. The optional overdrive is very nice if you are going to take long trips. I would recommend them highly as some of the best cars of their time, particularly from an engineering standpoint. <P>------------------<BR>