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Custom bodied Packards


Dave Mitchell

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Seems logical to me, Al. I wonder if most of the professional type cars are on Jr. or in non Packard-specific terms non Classic chassis.

I do not think I have ever read about a Classic professional car in The Classic Car, but only get my copies here and there as I need to finally pony up the $35 to join yet another club...

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Steve, I'm a member of a dozen or so clubs and I can say the CCCA is a tremendous value for 35 bucks. Well worth joining.

Seems logical to me, Al. I wonder if most of the professional type cars are on Jr. or in non Packard-specific terms non Classic chassis.

I do not think I have ever read about a Classic professional car in The Classic Car, but only get my copies here and there as I need to finally pony up the $35 to join yet another club...

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1930 745 convertible victoria by Norrmalm of Stockholm, photos courtesy of my friend author and first class historian Jan Stroman from his book "Swedish Coachbuilders". It is a great book and I highly recommend it if you like coachbuilt cars, not just Packards, but Buicks, Cads, MBs, Ford, Hudson, Minerva, Rolls Royce, Chevrolet, Horch, and of course Volvo among others. The photo from above was taken when the original owner took the car to London. It seems to be attracting some attention. The car was black with a red leather top.

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The 900 hearse was parted out by a shop in Irwin, PA to further the restoration of a Conv Coupe. The frame was still there in the early '90s. To be fair I do not know if the body had maybe been scrapped years before and of course at that time there was very little interest in such vehicles. I am looking for a picture of the hearse, it was very fancy indeed and it's the only custom bodied 900 I am aware of. The late Ed Blend told me the story of Fred's last ride. I have seen a picture but darned if I can recollect where.

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How do you join the CCCA for $35.00? What am I missing? Am I a rube, or missing the joke. If Duesey was carted off in a Packard hearse, he wasn't the only one. Henry Ford went to his grave in a 1942 Packard. I never heard the story about the Packard hearse from Freds ride lasting until the 70's only to be destroyed. Were short sided political policies of AACA and CCCA responsible doe the distruction of this hearse?

Sorry, I just sent another club's check in and it was 35 and confused them. Given the level of the publications, 60 is still a bargain in my mind.

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I've lost some of the details on several of these. All photos but the big maroon Rollston were taken at the 1999 Centennial at Warren OH. One of the two early town cars was bodied by Kimball for Gen. Jack Pershing, though I don't recall which one. The maroon Rollston was photographed about a decade ago at the Burn Foundation Concours at Lehigh Univ. And though not a custom in the usual sense, the 1932 front-wheel drive V12 prototype is truly unique, owned then and still now (as far as I know) by Bob Bahre.

Hopefully some of you will be able to fill in the details I've forgotten.

This one has a Kimball body. It was aiso at Warren. It was said to have cost $4550 in 1916. I wonder what that is today?

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Thus far we've focused just on the prewar Packard customs and generally the postwar customs tend to be just mildly reworked factory bodies by the likes of Henney & Derham, but here's a pair that were far more ambitious. Two 47 Super Clippers, both by Derham, one for the King of Lebanon and one for the Sheik of Kuwait. One of the two survives though I forget at the moment just which one. These photos from the Derham archives which are packed with interesting details about these vehicles.

I believe one of those belonged to someone in Georgia for a while.

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I was at the auction at the restoration shop in Irwin, PA back in about 1999 or 2000. The engine & wheels from that 900 series were there & were sold. I think Shotwell was the guys name who owned the shop. They specialized in K Lincolns. Anyone know if they are still in business? Ed Blend was at the auction and told me the same story about the ambulance being used to transport Fred. I believe it was an ambulance and not a hearse. I've seen a picture of it too, but don't remember where.

Edited by K8096 (see edit history)
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Shotwell took over the shop from Rick Kriss who ran the shop for many years for Ernie Stern. No idea where Shotwell is but Rick Kriss is still in biz and was selling a Classic Lincoln at Hershey. I believe the 900 in question was in fact a hearse. Many hearses served double duty as ambulances. I will find a picture and report back.

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Oops, yes, New Zealand. There is an active Packard club there and some really nice guys. A group comes to Hershey at least every other year. They have several nice cars including Super 8s, Twin Sixes, and Twelves, not just juniors. BTW I hope you will post some more photos soon, you have some interesting photos. DM

Edited by Dave Mitchell (see edit history)
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BTW I hope you will post some more photos soon, you have some interesting photos. DM<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

Seems like I'm like the rest of us, I'm nearly at the end of my own photos and we're down to just copying photos from old books and magazines. Here's one more though, a 236 coupe by Holbrook. Not my photo, believe the car was in Switzerland when the photo was taken.

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Dave, as long as you've asked me to keep looking, a couple more, the well-known Gordon family 37 Twelve with earlier Pierce Arrow body fitted photo by me while it was in the Petit Jean museum and well before Quinn or O'Quinn bought it and painted it baby blue. Also a period photo of it from Life. And a photo, courtesy of the Eastern Packard Club, of a 33 Twelve LeBaron laundaulet.

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Edited by Owen_Dyneto (see edit history)
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I like the 34 phaeton with the "Body by Packard". Mozart brought it to the CCCA annual meeting in San Jose and I saw it earlier at one of his buildings and both times thought it was really striking. I like unusual cars though and this one with the Vee windshield, streamlined fenders and low narrow body looks good to me. I wonder what color it was originally - obviously not the dark blue it is now, but I think the blue looks good.

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The 1947 Limo Phaeton customs look like recent jobs to me. There are several on the link. One wonders if a 350/AT drivetrain lurks under that white paint with rollbar. Looks like the work being done on late model Cadillacs & Chrysler 300s? (That is not to say the car looks bad, though.)

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The 1947 Limo Phaeton customs look like recent jobs to me. There are several on the link. One wonders if a 350/AT drivetrain lurks under that white paint with rollbar. Looks like the work being done on late model Cadillacs & Chrysler 300s? (That is not to say the car looks bad, though.)

I agree. Minus the roll bar it would actually look pretty good. The give away to most later custom jobs is the windshield frame. The easiest path is to use the sedan frame which most do.

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