My next project? 1921 Packard Coupe.

[Guest donald ellis]

Roger: Sorry, my French is almost non-existent. Donald

[Guest donald ellis]

I owe Bernie an apology for usurpation of his thread! I got carried away at the prospect of making contact with contributors to the thread not understanding that private messages can be sent to other than the thread sponsor. Won't happen again!

[oldcar]

Hello Donald & Roger.

I have sent you both private e-mails. I may be an old grump but I believe that the people who look at this thread are primarily interested in reading about the progress that I may or may not have made on the Restoration of my 1923 Packard Coupe.

I am always ready to help other enthusiasts with any problem they may have, often to my own detriment.

If it happens to be a major problem or one that may have universal interest, their best policy would be to start a thread related to their individual interests/requirements.

For instance if Donald is really interested in tracking down the BMW he owned and then abandoned all those years ago, I am sure that if he looked he would find a pre-war BMW related forum on which to start his search. I am equally certain that with all his experience Roger could direct him to a suitable BMW specific, German/French speaking, European web-site. Unfortunately my own French is extremely limited and my German non-existant.

Keep on keeping on

Bj

Edited February 14, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[oldcar]

One is tempted to say "The End" but as anybody who has done a major restoration will tell you, you are never quite finished.

Keep on keeping on

Bj

[Landman]

That's the cherry on the cake Bernie. Nice plate and an even nicer feeling of accpmplishment I bet. Next, a vacation to Canada to help me with the completion of mine. You could help sort the mechanicals out while Chris Hobbs completes the upholstery. LOL

[oldcar]

In reply to my advertisement on the 'Prewar Car' website originating out of Belgium an American collector requested that I send him these additional photographs. I thought that I should share them with you.

The car is currently advertised at 85.000. Euros To save you rushing for your calculator that is near enough to $110.000

Bj

Edited February 23, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[Ozstatman]

Looking good Bernie! Looking very good!

[Roger Zimmermann]

Very nice, Bernie. The reflexions in the paint are showing that the body is perfect. I hope for you that you will find a buyer!

[oldcar]

I am not sure what went wrong in downloading the photo of the interior but I can assure you that the seats are NOT two tone.

Keep on keeping on

Bj

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Very nice job and great photos Bernie.

I might pop over this weekend and collect my hubcap if you'll be around.

How did you get the number 568 for the club registration ?

Cheers

Ian

[dalef62]

Great pictures and hope you sell it soon so you can start on the next project!

[oldcar]

A new experience for both the Packard and I. Having been asked to display the car at the Victorian Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market Traders Assn's Annual awards night and dinner dance, we both now know our way around the labyrinth of service passages and even up a couple of floors in the lift at Melbourne's posh (5 star) Crown Towers Hotel. Despite crawling along and making what seemed like about a dozen three point turns the new radiator core has proven its worth. Even after about half an hours creeping past stacks of chairs, edging along at walking pace (a slow tick over) and squeezing through impossibly narrow gaps, the car never looked like overheating and the water level this morning is exactly where it should be. It was a long day for us both. We had a move in time scheduled for 6.45 a.m. Saturday morning and we were last out at almost 2.00 a.m. Sunday morning.

Keep on keeping on

Bj.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

An honor well deserved!!

Ben

[oldcar]

Well! having just checked the level in the petrol tank all I can say is that I probably had about five minutes running left after I escaped the maze that is the service corridors at the Crown Towers Hotel. I am certainly glad that I did not end up having to push it by hand. All 3,200 + lbs of it.

Keep on keeping on

Bj.

[oldcar]

Hi all

This could well be the cherry on the icing on the cake. Having temporarily fitted a modern suction cup interior rear view mirror to meet the requirements of the pre-registration "Road-worthy" inspection, I have now located the long lost original one hidden in a box of "stuff to take to a swap meet". This cleaned up nicely and with a fresh coat of paint and a new bevelled edge glass it is safely installed. Unless something remarkable turns up this has to be the final thing to be done. I have had two enquiries from my advert on the Prewar Car website but nothing positive as yet. In case anyone is interested but is too shy to ask, the price is Aust $95,000 that is US $ 97,500.

Keep on keeping on

Bj.

Edited March 1, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[oldcar]

It seems that you are all too shy to make any further comment. May I respectfully ask what any of you would think is the right price for what is arguably, the best early Single Six Packard in the World.

May I aslo be permitted to make one other observation. Having worked on the Single Six and studied the engine drawings of the Eight, apart from the actual horsepower output (capacity), from an engineering point of view the Six is a vastly superior engine in every way.

Keep on keeping on

Bj

Edited March 4, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[1939_Buick]

Looks good on the prewar site. Better value than the Dr G's car

So what is the next project ?

[Roger Zimmermann]

As that wonderful Packard is ready, it's normal that people have less comments. As I have no idea about the price range for such vehicles, I cannot add a comment either. However, I believe most readers of your thread are searching for you the next car to rescue. I may have found one; maybe it's just a little bit too late to make a gem from it, but who knows...

[MCHinson]

Bernie,

I admire your work. I hesitate to discuss anything about the price of a car that anybody has for sale. In this case, the price has one too many zeros on the end of it for it to be in my price range, so I have no idea if it is the right price or not. If I had a spare $100,000 available, I would certainly consider it.

[aussiecowboy]

We're all out working second and third jobs Bernie, trying to raise $95,000.

[keiser31]

As that wonderful Packard is ready, it's normal that people have less comments. As I have no idea about the price range for such vehicles, I cannot add a comment either. However, I believe most readers of your thread are searching for you the next car to rescue. I may have found one; maybe it's just a little bit too late to make a gem from it, but who knows...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]180968[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]180969[/ATTACH]

Roger....is that Hupmobile sitting in a zoo?

[oldcar]

Hello Roger

The Hup looks perfect. It looks far more complete than many of my previous projects. It even still has the glasses in the headlamps. All its fenders and even the crank handle. The man on the site next to mine at a swap meet just last weekend had split rims for $1.00 each and another site had about fifty wood spoke wheels. Borrow a chainsaw and that tree growing through the chassis would be no problem. I just cannot understand why you have not snapped it up already. My friends at Cars UK Ltd would be happy to collect it, transport it to the England, pack it into a container and ship it to Australia. Just one problem......

Keep on keeping on

Bj

In case anyone is wondering about the alarm clock attached to the dash. It actually houses a tachometer.

Edited March 4, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[unimogjohn]

Bernie, I think that folks are very hesitant to offer a price. We all would be afraid to put out a price and perhaps hinder negotiations.

And, besides the Dixie Flyer and the Packard, what cars have you restored? Could you post the make and model, and a picture or two of each? We would all be interested for sure.

[oldcar]

Hello John

I hate to be a spoil sport but honestly I cannot remember every one and as far as having photographs, the quality of 127 Box Brownies really does not reproduce all that well. If I could remember, the AACA would have to start a new Forum as there would not be sufficient space here.

The teenage young lady in the black fur coat is now the mother of three. This was the third Citroen 5CV that I have restored over a space of almost 50 years. The coil and Delco distributor indicate that it was among the first 50 to be built. Subsequent cars had magneto ignition. A very long time ago I drove one as a daily driver. Just to give you a little background I have taken the attached photographs of the space around my desk. The trophies from our various expeditions to Europe with the Lagonda Rapier are in a different room.

Edited March 5, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

Roger....is that Hupmobile sitting in a zoo?

I assume, I found the pictures in the Mark II forum: This sad relic is in the Raccoon Enclosure

Maybe you know that name.

[Roger Zimmermann]

Hello Roger

The Hup looks perfect. It looks far more complete than many of my previous projects. It even still has the glasses in the headlamps. All its fenders and even the crank handle.

Always optimistic, Bernie! Compared the the remnants from the Citroën, I must agree! I did not jump at it; maybe when the Mark II model is over!

[Guest oldcar_jr]

And, besides the Dixie Flyer and the Packard, what cars have you restored? Could you post the make and model, and a picture or two of each? We would all be interested for sure.

No need to be so modest, Bernie. This is why you need to write a memoir about all the cars that you have own/restored/rebuilt not to mention the "specials". I've suggesting you do this for years now. There would be a lot to write about because you have been at it for years. There was the Jaguar, the Fiat, several Singers and many more as far back as I can remember.

[old car fan]

Bernie deserves to be modest,Fantastic work.Bernie ,when is J.R Going to start?Can not wait till the next restoration.We are doing an 47lincoln cabriole,and started it about the same time,still not complete.

Edited March 6, 2013 by old car fan (see edit history)

[oldcar]

[oldcar]

If I can speak on behalf of OC jr

SHE has far more important things to do.

I

Keep on keeping on

Bj.

Edited March 6, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[oldcar]

I am amazed no one has mentioned the "R" word. I have probably owned more of these than any other marque. A sure sign of a mis-spent youth. This one a 1924 Side valve 11hp. Again rebuilt from a pile of absolute junk that no one with any brains would want to touch.

Keep on keeping on

Bj.

Edited March 6, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[oldcar]

This one is for Unimogjohn.

I did warn about the quality of early 1950s Box Brownie photographs. In this collection you see first, appropriately, my very first car, a badly retouched shot of a 16 year old Bj in his 1918 Austin 4 cyl 20 hp. Next my first daily driver a 1924 Austin 7hp "Chummy" tourer (note: Six inch brake drums. Foot brake worked on the rear wheels, the hand brake on the front.) and then the next car a 1928 Austin 7hp "Sports". This is followed by my first successful "Special" a 1938 Morris 8 hp. This too was used as a daily driver. At first it was driven as a bare chassis fitted with one seat. This caused many a raised eyebrow when travelling in what was then "peak hour" traffic.

Keep on keeping on

Bj

Edited March 6, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[oldcar]

I know a lot of people will not like this but that is their bad luck. The following is an extract of an e-mailed reply to a well known Classic and "Collector" car dealer. "I cannot understand the average American "Collector" who consign their cars to a morgue (a place for storing dead bodies) My own attitude is that of a Life Saver breathing new LIFE into cars that have been given up as dead. You need to remind your customers that "God gave us automobiles so that we could drive them. not just polish them". The first task in any of my restorations is to totally recondition the engine. Note not just fix it up a bit and paint it. How many early 1920s car owners among your customers can honestly put their hand on their heart and say that their car Is totally original? Show me one and I will prove them a liar! My biggest problem is that I am old fashioned enough to believe in telling the truth. For some strange reason some people find that offensive."

Keep on keeping on

Bj.

For instance, my engines have NEW pistons NEW rings NEW valves NEW gaskets NEW seals NEW timing chains etc NEW Oil NEW Spark plugs NEW points (AND condenser) in the distributor NEW spark-plug leads I could go on but I am sure that you get the idea. I would think that it would be nigh on impossible to drive a TOTALLY ORIGINAL (early 1920s) CAR around the block under its own power. Especially one that has been kept in a Museum or "Collection" for the last 25 years.

Some years ago I was given the opportunity to drive an exceptionally rare and powerful racing car said to be in "mint" condition, taken straight out of an "Important" Museum. It would have almost certainly killed me if I had not tried the brakes at about two to three mph BEFORE taking it out onto the track. I did not drive it any further.

Edited March 7, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[oldcar]

Regarding that rare and powerful racing car, It was one of the prototype British Connaught's, when I did eventually get to drive it I only managed two or three laps before the "ORIGINAL" return hose from the scavenge pump for the dry sump engine lubrication fractured (fell apart) spraying oil all over the place. Luckily I realised that something was amiss and stopped before the engine was totally wrecked.

Keep on keep on keeping on

Bj.

[oldcar]

Regarding that rare and powerful racing car, It was one of the prototype British Connaught's, when I did eventually get to drive it I only managed two or three laps before the "ORIGINAL" return hose from the scavenge pump for the dry sump engine lubrication fractured (fell apart) spraying oil all over the place. Luckily I realised that something was amiss and stopped before the engine was totally wrecked.

Keep on keep on keeping on

Bj.

[oldcar]

ATTENTION ALL.

Please disregard everything referred to in the previous 66 pages! I have a completely new story (and Sales pitch). I have only just discovered that the Packard is "hand on heart" in fact totally original! It was actually a one off special customer order for a convertible based on the four passenger coupe body. My clairvoyant has only just managed to make contact with the original owner, who if he can only materialise for a moment will swear on a stack of Bibles, Korans or what ever you want, that this correct. It may take a week or two the get the story sorted out but as soon as it is ready I will start a new thread.

Bj.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

ATTENTION ALL.

Please disregard everything referred to in the previous 66 pages! I have a completely new story (and Sales pitch). I have only just discovered that the Packard is "hand on heart" in fact totally original! It was actually a one off special customer order for a convertible based on the four passenger coupe body. My clairvoyant has only just managed to make contact with the original owner, who if he can only materialise for a moment will swear on a stack of Bibles, Korans or what ever you want, that this correct. It may take a week or two the get the story sorted out but as soon as it is ready I will start a new thread.

Bj.[/quote

LMAO!!!!

Ben

[West Peterson]

I know a lot of people will not like this but that is their bad luck. The following is an extract of an e-mailed reply to a well known Classic and "Collector" car dealer. "I cannot understand the average American "Collector" who consign their cars to a morgue (a place for storing dead bodies) My own attitude is that of a Life Saver breathing new LIFE into cars that have been given up as dead. You need to remind your customers that "God gave us automobiles so that we could drive them. not just polish them". The first task in any of my restorations is to totally recondition the engine. Note not just fix it up a bit and paint it. How many early 1920s car owners among your customers can honestly put their hand on their heart and say that their car Is totally original? Show me one and I will prove them a liar! My biggest problem is that I am old fashioned enough to believe in telling the truth. For some strange reason some people find that offensive."

Keep on keeping on

Bj.

For instance, my engines have NEW pistons NEW rings NEW valves NEW gaskets NEW seals NEW timing chains etc NEW Oil NEW Spark plugs NEW points (AND condenser) in the distributor NEW spark-plug leads I could go on but I am sure that you get the idea. I would think that it would be nigh on impossible to drive a TOTALLY ORIGINAL (early 1920s) CAR around the block under its own power. Especially one that has been kept in a Museum or "Collection" for the last 25 years.

Some years ago I was given the opportunity to drive an exceptionally rare and powerful racing car said to be in "mint" condition, taken straight out of an "Important" Museum. It would have almost certainly killed me if I had not tried the brakes at about two to three mph BEFORE taking it out onto the track. I did not drive it any further.

Bernie

It would be interesting to know what provoked this post, but perhaps it has something to do with different ideas as to what "original" means. It is one of the most frequently misused words in the collector car hobby. Many people [incorrectly] use the word to imply that their car has not been modified in the "street rod" sense, when they actually mean to use the word "authentic."

[oldcar]

Dear West et al.

Perhaps I should start by drawing your attention to your quotation from G.B. Shaw. My entire life has been spent adapting to situations outside my control. Only now have I become extremely frustrated by the inflexible nature of a great percentage of the people I have recently come into contact with. In particular with the mind boggling attitude of some of these people regarding the question of what constitutes "Originality" or perhaps what is REALLY authentic. In the past, almost certainly to my own detriment, I have been completely "UP-FRONT" regarding my every action, in particular within this thread, with regard to the Packard. I have never attempted to "pull the wool over anyones eyes". I find that I am now being made to feel a fool for even attempting to restore the Packard, with people laughing at me behind their backs because I have been so silly as to tell the entire truth. As of now this thread is ended! At some time in the near future I will start a new thread in which the Packard will be fully authenticated and shown to be absolutely as originally sold new in 1923. Even the readers of the Antique Automobile would love this thrilling and some times remarkable story, the only thing that it will not contain is pornographic sex. As I said in my previous post, "Please disregard everything in the previous 66 pages".

Bernard A. Jacobson.

Edited March 7, 2013 by oldcar (see edit history)

[whtbaron]

Love your work, and you document it well. I wish you luck in selling the Packard and look forward to your next project.