Orin

These are great pictures, and a great story. Thanks for posting.

Well, the relist bids went up to $46,500 -- apparently a bidder who had bid $49k before -- before the seller pulled the auction. Auction details <a href="http://offer.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=190157621791"here</a>.

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks, West! I don't have a lot in the way of scratches, but there's a lot of oxidation, especially on the hood. There are also a bunch of chips, ranging from tiny gnat-sized ones to quarter-sized ones, but I was figuring that the easiest thing to do was go to to an auto detailing shop that does chips and paint touch up and have them do it after I have polished up what I can. Do you think that makes sense?

Congrats. What products did you use? I recently purchased a '35 Packard with a 30 year-old very worn out lacquer paint job, and that's one of the projects I have ahead of me. I bought a book on the topic, and it said to start with a good wax job, see if it works; if not, then try a deoxidizer, see if it works; if not, then rubbing compound.

There will always be a crowd that collects 20th Century cars. The crowd will get smaller, as the people won't actually remember seeing any of these cars on the road, but there will be a dedicated group that loves them. Over time being part of the group of owners will probably require more resources -- parts will become more scarce and expensive, for example -- but there will always be a dedicated group.

I don't think there is anything really "wrong" with the 36 Coupe-Roadster, although it has a patina that suggests it isn't a show car. It's a lovely car, but the interior looks original and shows its age. Look at the picture of the wire wheels -- looks like paint over some old rust, not uncommon. None of these things are "bad," at all -- in fact, I personally prefer a good driver and it looks just right to me. But I still think of that as a #3, at least based on the pictures. In my (modest) experience, the tough part about valuing these cars seems to me that so much of the market consists of freshly restored show cars. I've found that valuing a driver is hard because there aren't many of them around that are still drivers and the price of a restoration is through the roof. You end up with a very small supply and a pretty narrowly defined demand, making prices hard to figure out. Tbirdman, I'll look for that in the open cars. What do you make of the price for the 39 Sedan, though? I have found that price guides for 30s classic cars are often way off, but these prices seemed a bit high for the market to me. Granted, I've generally thought that the market for 30s cars is flat, and probably will be flat for a while (if not forever, in real terms).

I thought these recent auction results were interesting: a 1936 Standard 8 Coupe Roadster that looks to be in #3 condition (maybe 3-) that went for $95,000, and a 1939 V12 Formal Sedan in #4 condition that went for $52,100. In both cases, the sale price was about 25% higher than I expected. Although maybe that's just me.

Absolutely beautiful. I also like the color, as it's very different. On the other hand, with a car that beautiful I think any color would be fantastic.

Here's the page for parts at the Hydro-El website: http://hydroe.com/Window_Parts_9743.html

UBB45-ML-463076-ML- Moved to Packard Forum1 Thanks, AL RWB

Calling all sleuths! I'm trying to trace the history of a 1935 Packard Twelve that my late grandfather bought in 1942 in New York City. I know from the data plate on the car that it was purchased at the Packard dealer at 61st and Broadway in New York City on November 16, 1935. I also have a possible name of the person my late grandfather bought the car from in 1942. However, I'd really like to know the original owner and the car's ownership history until my grandfather bought it. Any ideas on how I might find that out? I tried requesting a copy of the original title and registration from the New York State DMV, but their records don't go that far back. Then I tried the New York City archives, but they don't keep motor vehicle records. Any other ideas? Does New York state keep archived DMV records somewhere? Does anyone know? Thanks in advance for any help.