1934 - Is it that rare?

[sam8white]

this site shows a 1934 Super 8 seven passenger Sedan

http://rmcars.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=AZ06&CarID=r126

and says 'one of three known to exist'

Is it really that rare?

I have 754-214. Is it one of those three? or would there be four known now?

Pretty sure its a seven passenger, the jump seats make it so, right?

Of course it's not anywhere near that nice, nor currently driveable.

[Owen_Dyneto]

Don't know the answer, but you could get a good idea by just checking the PAC roster.

[1935Packard]

I wonder if it depend on what "known to exist" means. Known to who?

I have a '35 Packard and there were somewhere between 51 and 54 of my model and style made, and I have come across several claims that there are only 4 or 5 of that original group left. The Mannheim Gold website is one such source; it says that there are 4 left. It's true that there are 4 or 5 in the Packard Club membership roster. But between checking auction sites and car show reports, I have come across references to at least 8 different cars that are out there. And those are just the cars that are readily findable from a simple google query; I assume there are more out there that just don't pop up on google.

[tbirdman]

The packard club roster may give you and idea but you always run into those who don't belong or those that don't list all of their cars with the packard club rosters.

[Guest imported_Speedster]

Yes, I've noticed that there many cars that have recently been brought out of barns, etc. (some recently restored, some not) that are Not on any List.

Example: the 645 Sport-Coupe, that I recently restored, from junk condition, (when brought out of the barn).

In fact I don't think there's one listed Anywhere (except on this website)?

[1935Packard]

Another example is my own car. By coincidence, the Packard Club 12 roster-keeper had heard rumors of the car because he had a friend who lived in the town where the car was located. But it wasn't on any lists or in the Packard Club roster until last year.

[sam8white]

Thanks Gentlemen for the info.

I will contact the PAC, though I have been around long enough to know that how rare/how few registered does not always translate into more value/price. It has to be desirable to be more valuable, not just rare. I was just surprised to see a claim of so few around.

1935Packard-- you mentioned how many were made of your model, versus how many are speculated to be left. Would it be the PAC registry that would tell me how many were made? or where could I find that info?

Do you gentlemen think this is a car that is significant enough, or desirable enough to warrant a complete restoration?

I know that a restoration is not only about the financial side, and not getting too upside down,(and never thinking you'll make a nickel) but about having a car that is enjoyable, interesting, and then possibly marketable, when the time comes.

[1935Packard]

sam8white,

I know those numbers because the Packard Club roster keeper for the V12's has done the research on this; the cars were numbered sequentially, so the highest serial number tells you the overall number of that body style for that year. For example, in 1935, the 12 Cylinder roadsters began at 839-201, then 839-202, 839-203, etc. The highest number known is 839-251, so the roster keeper believes that 51 of the cars were made. If the serial numbers for 34 are the same as 35, a serial # of 754-214 would mean that your car was the 14th made (or did the serial numbers begin at 754-001 in 1934? I don't know for sure, but I vaguely recall that). You might get a ball park sense of the numbers made if you have some info about when in the build year your car was made.

As for whether such a car is worth restoring, are you looking at it from the standpoint of hiring a shop to do a full restoration or from the standpoint of giving yourself a project for the next few years?

[1935Packard]

Oh, and I would add from the value side that (a) it's hard to predict the value question over the next decade or so, as the value of the full classics have been rather volatile recently and the market may be headed for a downturn, and ( the NADA guide is pretty accurate value-wise for these cars right now, and lists the following for values:

Low Retail Average Retail High Retail

$39,700 . . . . $77,500 . . . . . $128,900

[Rusty_OToole]

The key phrase is "KNOWN to exist". Known to whom? If it is in the records of an antique car club or some other database it is public knowledge. There may be others that are known only to their owners and a few other people.

Couple of years ago a friend of mine had a hard job selling a restored 1914 Indian motocycle (not motorcycle) on Ebay. They pulled the listing after getting complaints that the bike did not exist.

It existed all right. My friend had owned it for 40 years. I saw the bike, I know him and I know the man who restored it. But he never showed it and did not belong to any Indian club so to the so called experts it had to be a scam.

There must be thousands of similar stories out there. When they say only 3 examples are known to exist there might easily be twice that many.

[Guest airflowcoupe]

I just saw your post and I have a running 1914 Indian OHV single and a nice old 1934 Parkard 1101 4 door sed. with dual side mounts and a rebuilt motor I could let go my cell 530 305 6979

[sam8white]

Thanks again for the replies,

You're right, the serial #'s should give insight to how many produced,

The one I linked, 754-187

mine, 754-214

Would that have been 27 754 bodies made in between,

or would that be 27 1105 chassis ?

or, more simply put, does the serial # only go with the body number, or the next chassis # in line?

What I was really trying to get at was, not necessarily how many exactly are left (known or unknown), but whether it is a desirable or a significant car to have? I've never thought near as much of the body style of the sedans, vs a hardtop coupe of similar year. But based on the values, somebody must like them.

You asked 'hire out a full restoration'?

HA!, way way tooo many $$ for me.

And currently way too many other interests currently to jump into a major major restoration, especially since it isn't my favorite body style. (Not meant to be offensive to those that have the $ to hire everything done-thankfully there are people that do that,just not me)

This Sedan is waaaayyy below 'low retail' value now.

And it's been sitting around forever, started on a couple things once a few times, but have gotten no where.

RE: Values, do others agree that NADA is fairly accurate for middle of the road cars? But concerning Packards of this era, would you consider mid and high retail to similar to a real '3' and a '2+' ? And is that the general consensus that NADA is fairly accurate?

airflowcoupe: what body # is yours? 703? 713? 714?

[1935Packard]

All 1933 Super 8's are desirable and significant, in my view. The sedans are the least desirable of the 1933 Super 8's, but they're still desirable. But how desirable is desirable enough is a matter of opinion. As for the mid and high retail, I interpret mid as #3 and high as #2.

[Owen_Dyneto]

The starting production number for 1934 was 11, so vehicle number 754-187 would have been the 177th produced in that body style on that chassis.