My next project? 1921 Packard Coupe.

[oldcar]

As I mentioned in an e-mail to Earl. This will be my last post on this forum for some time if not ever. The Packard will definitely be for sale on completion in the next 12 to 18 months. As is my usual practice, the selling price will be the total amount that I have expended on the restoration of the car excluding the cost of any labour or effort contributed by myself. I do keep meticulous records of every cent spent and my only interest is in recovering this amount.

Thank you all for your interest.

Bernie J.

oldcar.

Edited April 25, 2012 by oldcar (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

Bernie, you will not even show us pictures from the car once definitively completed?

Anyway, you had an interesting story to tell, thank you for it; who knows, maybe another lost cause will knock on the door!

[unimogjohn]

Bernie, I for one will be very sorry to see you stop posting. I have been following you every day with much anticipation ever since I joined the forum group with the Avanti. You will be missed. All the best, and do come back from time to time to check on us.

[Landman]

Same feeling here. Please stay Bernie.

[KenHupp20]

Amen.

[Scotts_DG8]

Bernie,

I too am on this list of interested observers that look forward to your posts and seeing what you've managed to accomplish next. I ask myself often while viewing your posts if I will be fortunate enough to be able to perform down the road as well as you.

You have a solid fan base here and the number of views of your posts prove that out. There have been a number of posts here on the AACA since I joined that probably doesn't hold 100 percent true to what the AACA represents, but these posts generally fall by the wayside in short order. The core posts in my opinion, like yours, are the type of posts that draw my, and obviously others, long term interest and inspire us in this hobby. In the end, I too hope to see your posts come back and see this project through to the end. You can only be true to yourself and I for one liked that about you and your projects. Hope to see you return.

With my fingers crossed, Scott...

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Scott said it well. Bernie will be missed. He is one man I would be honored to meet and be called his friend.

Ben

[MCHinson]

Bernie,

It was nice following your Dixie Flyer restoration. It was even better meeting you in Louisville. I have enjoyed following your Packard restoration also. I am not sure what is prompting your decision to stop posting on the Discussion Forum, but you may rest assured you have a lot of fans and friends here. I hope that all is well with you and hope you will keep us updated. In any case, best wishes and I hope to get the opportunity to talk to you again in the future.

[oldcar]

In Jazz terms I could be and have been described as a "Mouldy Fig", especially when it comes to motor cars, not that I can claim to be an absolute purist as is evidenced by my disinclination to rebuild the Packard as a fixed head coupe and by the fact that my Lagonda has a "replica" body. In fact it has over the 77 years had three bodies, the last fitted by me in 1978, replacing the one built, out of scrap aircraft material including thousands of pop rivets, at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in England in the early post WW2 era.... Not an attractive sight!

At the time many people castigated me, saying that "I had destroyed a historic car." The present body is so close to an original Eagle two seater that the body has developed cracks in the aluminium panels is all the same places as the original.

If you have not noticed, I have a very complex personality. Some people would go as far as saying that I have two, as in the best Jykll and Hyde tradition.

Having said that, I am confident that no one who has met me would ever describe me as a "joyless nark". Unlike so many uneducated people who are prepared to accept "counterfeit cars", I am not.

As I said in my letter to the VSCC (UK) Bulletin. I doubt that the club (or for that matter anyone else) would be anywhere near as ready to unquestioningly accept payment for their goods or services in counterfeit money!

I am flattered and at the same time humbled by the number of people who have sent me e-mails, made "posts" etc, protesting my decision to abandon my Thread and on the basis of these I will continue on with it but possibly not on a daily basis.

Bernie J.

Edited April 26, 2012 by oldcar (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

Hi Bernie

I'm glad I was not alone to ask you to continue your reports. Regarding originality: it was not unusual in the thirties that a body from a car was exchanged or replaced by another one; at that time nobody was upset!

A daily report? I wish I could do it with the construction of my model. It would quickly bored the readers as I just could show the same part with hardly some progress or just write: "today, I cutted a bit of brass, don't know yet if the part will be good..." However, according to the number of people looking at what I'm doing, it must not be that bad to be silent for one week!

[JustDave]

hello bernie

this is the first time ive replied to your posts,i watched the restoration of the dixie flyer daily

and now i watch every post on the packard,my mentor in the automotive trade once told me theres people that can and will find something wrong with everything,the hell with those people,its people like you that give us all motivation to do the impossible,as far as the cars go

if it wasnt for you some cars would never get restored,i commend you for your energy , abilities and the driven spirit that we all should have,please keep up the tasks at hand,and keep restoring the impossible,your saving the would be scrapped projects and showing us all that the impossible is not so impossible, bernie if im ever lucky enought to come to australia i will make a point of meeting you just to shake your hand, dave

[Guest BobD735]

Hi Bernie,

Welcome back. I need your inspirational updates to allow me to continue with the restoration of my 1920 Chalmers.

Hang in there. You're doing a great job.

Regards,

Bob

[Landman]

Bob, is your restoration of the Chalmers on this site?

[Col Wright]

Hey Bernie,

I am up here in Queensland and have been following your thread daily. This is my first post. Dont you dare give up. My theory is you only have to please one person YOU. This is a hoby afterall. Also my experience is the critics are the GONNAS who never do anything. get going and keep us posted I am retired and you epotimise what I hope I will still be doing at your age. I saw your Packard at Ballarat swap for sale before you bought it. Cant wait to see it finished.

Best Wishes Col in Queensland

[Guest BobD735]

Hi Pat,

The restoration of my Chalmers hasn't been posted on any site. I've made/restored a lot of pieces, but not much assembly to show. I've been working primarily on the wooden body structure, and have been able to salvage only few pieces of the wooden parts so far. I'm fortunate, that in most instances, the remains can be used as patterns.

Regards,

Bob

[oldcar]

Hello All

I have not been slacking off it is just that I am waiting for the Packard Wheels to be painted and the pin stripe put on them. Next week I hope to start in earnest on the windscreen frame. Meanwhile this morning I put the finishing touches on a 1,000+ word article on the sole surviving example of the 1934 Crossley Three Litre Sports. You will have to wait a couple of months and then buy a copy of the Automobile magazine from the UK to read it.

Bernie J.

[Guest donald ellis]

Hello Bernie! I have enjoyed following the saga of the Packard restoration, especially as I was finishing the restoration of my 126 Sedan during the same time. I have now moved from Kentucky (can't stand any more of those 7-month-long Summers in the sunny South. I am waiting to have the Packard brought up here to Rochester. You did a great job and I hope you're off and running on a new project.

P,S. Is the Crosseley have that rear mounted engine with dual overhead cams. If so could you explain how you could drive it and live to tell the story with weight distribution being worse than Tatraplan. I've always been curious about that car of which how many were built? regards, Donald (Ellis)

[TexRiv_63]

Bernie,

I am one of the very many who have eagerly followed your Packard restoration and the Dixie flyer before that. My wife and I just returned from a week's vacation in which we were off the grid and did not look at a computer, so when I tuned in today the first post I saw was that you were leaving! When I continued to read I was very glad to see you had reconsidered. I have the utmost respect for your commitment to originality and the lengths you have gone to maintain it, "to thine own self be true". Thanks for staying with us.

[oldcar]

Hello Donald & Don

Thank you for staying with me.

Donald

With your move do you still have the same e-mail I seem to have two addresses for you can you please send me an e-mail so I know which one to use.

Bernie J.

[Larry Schramm]

Bernie,

I am also one of the guys that followed the Dixie Flyer and now the Packard. Also enjoyed talking with you in Louisville. Don't let your large fan club down. We are all watching your current project.

Larry

[oldcar]

Hello Larry et al

Please rest assured that I am not abandoning either the rebuild of the Packard or this thread. I simply need to take a break. While the wheels are away and being painted I cannot move the car. I am still working on it currently finishing the seat frames prior to taking then to be upholstered. Then I have to do some work on the Lagonda following the Alpine Rally I have a problem with the ENV Preslector gearbox which means that it will have to come out and be dismantled before I can fix it. This is the first time in over twenty years of competitive events and long distance touring that I have had a problem with the car.

Don't go away

Bernie J.

[old car fan]

Followed your post for years-Your updates are spot on,your ability is well over fabulous,Bernie, let us know what you are doing,so much with so little,hats off.I am a great fan

[oldcar]

Hi OCF

Right now I am wrestling with the Packard windscreen frame. As soon as I have something to report you will be first to hear. Problem is that my impatience has got me into difficulties yet again. Fear not, challenges are made to be met and overcome!

Bernie J.

[oldcar]

Hello again

Things are progressing again, the wheels have now been painted and I spent some time with the local pinstripe wizzard, deciding where and how many stripes are to go on the wheels. As I tend to err on the side of conservatism I have decide that just the one stripe will be sufficient. The wheels are beige, the lock rims, hubs and the stripe are all to be the body colour (dark brown). When we get around to doing the pinstripes on the body and hood these will be the wheel colour (beige). The seat frames are now finished and have been delivered to the upholsterer who already has the hide and is ready to go.

Bernie J.

Edited May 2, 2012 by oldcar (see edit history)

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Bernie,

Are you using Dave to do your pin striping on the wheels or do you have another contact I can steel off you ?

[oldcar]

Hi Ian

I still have your hub cap but will try to get it back to you. Re the pin striping man he (Simon) is a friend of Dave. He has been here this afternoon and will be coming back to do the stripes on the body in about ten days. You may like to come and see his work when he has finished. I am about to start re-fitting the tyres over the weekend.

Bernie J,

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Bernie,

No hurry with the hubcap. I'm in the throws of landscaping the entire front yard so I have a deadline each week when different trades start. Catch up soon.

Ian

[oldcar]

Another small step forward. I can now remove the jack stands from under the Packard having re-fitted the tires and put the wheels back on. The aluminium hub caps still require some more time on the buff but there will be time for that later. My next task is to jack up the Lagonda and remove the gearbox so that I can sort out a small problem that showed up during the Alpine Rally. Nothing serious, it just refuses to engage any gear. Preselector gearboxes have a mind of their own. Unfortunately to fix what is essentially a relatively minor fault requires the box the be totally dismantled. This is the first problem we have had with the car in 20 years of competitive motoring.

Bernie J.

Edited May 6, 2012 by oldcar (see edit history)

[Landman]

Beautiful wherel Bernie! That opposite color scheme to that of the car will set them off nicely.

[oldcar]

Hi Pat

Once the seats, interior trim and top are finished it should all come together.

Bernie J.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Good looking wheel!

[oldcar]

I tend to err on the conservative side. I have seen photographs of wheels with four and six pinstripes. I debated with myself whether to have one or two. As you can see I have opted to start with just one. I believe that considering the contrast colours on the hub and the lock rim together with the nickel plated lug ring and lugs there is enough "going on".

It is my supposition that particularly during the 1920s, Packard were ultra conservative with most of their models and particularly with the "Doctor's Coupe"! Other than ministers of religion I doubt that there would have been a more conservative segment of the market at that time.

Bernie J.

Edited May 6, 2012 by oldcar (see edit history)

[36 D2 Coupe]

Bernie - Your choice of colour and understated striping is going to make the car look positively elegant when you get it done. You get an A+ from us!

Jim

[Scotts_DG8]

Bernie,

You are such a tease and that is something else we all really like about you. Leave it to you more often then not to take just the right picture to peak out interest. One could guess that this wheel might be on something much more than just a Packard. But then again most Packards are not just a Packard, especially using yours as an example.

Look great and as always we will all remain quiet awaiting the larger reveals to come. Scott...

[oldcar]

Thanks you Scott & Jim

Sadly you will have to be patient for a little while. I have the Lagonda Rapier's preselector gearbox in bits all over my bench at the moment. Anyone who has looked inside one of these will tell you that they require nerves of steel. Having put up with an incredibly noisy first & second gear for some years the time has come, sadly it is not going to be a quick fix.

Bernie J.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Do you still find parts for such transmissions? As I don't know them, a picture or two would be nice, even if it's not Packard related!

[oldcar]

Good Morning Roger

You may not be aware of it but I do have another thread "Lagonda Rapiers" on the International Makes & Models:- British Cars section of this Forum. I hope to post some photographs of the internals of the ENV Preselector transmission there later today. You may find them interesting.

Bernie J.

Edited May 7, 2012 by oldcar (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

Oh! I never go there but I will have a look at your thread. Thank you Bernie!

[oldcar]

Hello Roger

It will help you broaden your horizons........ You may even end up trading all your Cadillacs on a V12 Lagonda. Look up LMB Belgium on Google they have some really nice cars at bargain prices.

Bernie J.

[oldcar]

I have just dragged the Dixie Flyer thread up out of the archives. For those unfamiliar with it, it makes interesting reading and a nice comparison. I have to ask myself why do I do it?

Bernie J.