1935Packard

I’ve long figured that, over time, differences in classic car values based on engine output/size/cylinders would diminish. No one is driving old cars today to be fast when you can get a new car that goes 0-60 in 3 seconds.

Somewhat similar car -- albeit originally about 1/2 the price, and not a CCCA car — for comparison purposes. (Not my car, but I saw the advertisement in Packard Club publications.)

I try not to overpay when I buy a car, as I worry it will rankle me (and interfere with the joy) if I do. But this is golden advice.

Horrible. Just glad no one was hurt, and I hope the insurance company makes the owner whole in the dollar sense (even if they can't in terms of emotional attachment).

And that wasn't even a monthly invoice. The $180,000 bill only covered 2 weeks! I had the engine rebuilt for my 12 from that particular shop, around that same time, and just seeing that invoice format again gave me flashbacks. My 12 is a driver that has peeling 70s paint and 70s vinyl seats, and 90% of what they did for me was only the rebuild. But still, I was always super nervous opening that envelope. I think my highest monthly invoice was $20k, which for me was like, um, ohhhh boy. That shop does great work, and the engine on my 12 has been perfect since the rebuilt (including today, when I was out for a drive). But man, it's not cheap.

The way costs are going, classic car restoration standards over time will look something like this for all but the very deepest pockets: 1970s, standards were low; 2010s, standards were high; 2050s, standards will be low (as no one will be able to afford it otherwise).

1948 Packard accessories brochure is here: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/48 Accessories.pdf

Agreed. I'd add that the Bay Area Horseless Carriage Club is doing it right: They're active, drive their cars, have events, and are really supportive. I joined a few years ago and I don't have an HCCA-era car, but it's a great group of people. And I figure I'll get one of those cars eventually....

Maybe she was referring to steam cars and electrics with no transmission? Ok, ok, seems unlikely.

It was added by the time of the 2018 auction, although since made a one-color car (as it was in the latest auction). Agree with you, though, it looks better in one color.

My dad was a remarkable man who led a pretty remarkable ilfe, but he was not in any way a car guy. My grandfather did have an influence on my interest in cars, and I have his '35 Packard (which i drove just yesterday). But even he wasn't so much a car guy as he was someone who lived in an age when some amazing cars were around and were dirt cheap; he bought his 1935 Packard Twelve for $500. On the other hand, there's a picture of me in a little toy car when I was about 5 yers old and I am smiling ear to ear. I asked my mom about that picture and she said, "you always were happy around cars."

Aj, I agree as to (1) and (3). Although having followed the 1101 market pretty closely for a few years, I disagree as to (2). Those were pretty typical numbers for a nice open Eight.

Bob Woolfit's very nice 1934 Packard Eight Coupe Roadster, three auction results over 9 years. I don't know if the car has been not well taken care of, or maybe these numbers are quirky, but the results seemed worth noting. 2015: $195,000 https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/22205/lot/142/1934-packard-eight-1101-coupe-roadster-chassis-no-71919-engine-no-374108/ 2018: $173,600 https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/am18/amelia-island/lots/r0014-1934-packard-eight-coupe-roadster/602482 2024: $134,400 https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/mi24/miami/lots/r0036-1934-packard-eight-coupe-roadster/1433627

A lot of really unique car for the dollar, for those wondering: https://bid.goodingco.com/lots/view/1-8MNOGQ/1935-avions-voisin-type-c28-clairire-berline

The sales brochure for the 1939 Plymouth offered this explanation of why Plymouth had switched to a column shift.

If you're trying to research the originality of a LaSalle, get the build sheet. It has all the original numbers and options as it left the factory.

I've always understood the "I can only pay $, I have to pay for shipping" as just an excuse to offer less —as if an excuse were needed, which it isn't. I mean, if I'm buying a car and I think a seller will accept less, I would be inclined to offer less no matter if the excuse is good or bad.

Two more Delahayes at BAT. This '38 coupe by Chapron outside Paris was up last week but didn't sell. And the blue '46 Guillore coupe that sold for $98K at Monterey in 2022 is now up at BAT. I wouldn't think BAT is a good place to sell these cars. But maybe it's easy enough to try that sellers figure it's worth a shot, even if only to advertise the car? UPDATE: The '46 Guillore has sold on BAT for $92K, plus I assume the 5% buyer's premium, so that's a total of $96.6, almost exactly what it sold for two years ago.

We all have to decide how we feel about being moderated. To some, it’s no big deal. To others, it’s a pretty major problem and it requires a lot of due process, care, and thorough vetting of all the relevant factors. If you’re going to post on an online forum, though, it’s better to take the former approach. That’s my take having spent a few thousand hours moderating online forums, at least; it’s the ultimate in thankless jobs.

It used to be a heck of a lot worse. In those days, a car was worth around 10 cents on the original dollar by the time it was 6 or 7 years old.

For reasons I won't bore you with (at least yet), I have been looking through archives of the New York Times at the automobile classified ads that appeared in 1942. The Times used to run a car classified ads feature every day called "Automobile Exchange." It was always in the sports section, usually on the last page of the sports section, perhaps on the thinking that it was men reading the sports pages and men who made the decisions of whether to buy a car. Here's what the Automobile Exchange typically looked like, taking March 31 as a pretty typical one: As you might guess, there were some ads for some pretty fantastic cars. A few that stood out to me, like this from George C. Rand, Bugatti's New York agent and a noted race car driver: And I'll take pretty much any of these, thank you: In 1942, with the war on, it was very hard to get good tires. So a lot of the advertisements emphasized that the cars came with good tires. It's a little funny today, though: Packard 12 Phaeton, with 6 good tires, and here are the sizes of the tires! "Hodich," at 1116 1st Avenue, the name in the Duesenberg advertisement, refers to Louis Hodich, described here as a "well-known New York dealer in used Duesenbergs." A few dealers were repeat advertisers, especially J.S. Inskip, Rolls-Royce's dealer in the U.S. who offered a lot of European high-end cars. Probably not too easy selling German cars in 1942, though. Anyway, some pretty cool stuff, I thought.

Lots of big changes. For example, as you know, automatic transmission came at the end of pre-war, but it was rare; it was quickly the norm post-war. Especially if you focus on the new designs and technology that arrived around 1948 and 1949, it was a really big change from pre-war. My '49 Cadillac has an OHV engine, an automatic transmission, power windows and seats, and a power top. It feels vastly more modern than my '35 Packard, which has sidemounts, a rumble seat, wood framing, etc.

The real reason to change the "antique" definition is that cars stay on the road much longer than they used to. Decades ago, cars, didn't last long; a car was used up after a few years. So a 25-year-old car was several generations old, the kind of thing you rarely saw on the road anymore. Today is different: The average car on the road today is 13 years old. And 10% of cars on the road are 25 years old or older. So a 25-year-old car today is just a somewhat older car, the kind of thing you see all the time, not some sort of ancient means of transportation.

Thanks, all. To be clear, I don't care if it leaks in the garage. My 1930s cars do that, it's fine. My concern is leaking oil while driving, on the driveway and on the road. Anyway, thanks for the replies!

Thanks for the reply! I guess I should ask a different question: Are there any early brass cars that leak less than others? I get that they all leak some, but it's not going to work if the car leaves a trail of oil in the driveway.