NewOldWood Posted December 16, 2017 Posted December 16, 2017 One of a kind 1934 Packard Super Eight converted at some time early in its life to a hunting car. It will be undergoing a total restoration, my contribution will be primarily woodwork. I'm only a few days into the disassembly so far and it will be a few more before I get to where I can start building anything. As restoration projects go this one is a pretty good starting point in terms of condition, but being that it was custom coachwork and built in place as opposed to an assembly line process like most others, the process will be slightly different. Should be an interesting project, i'll post pictures and updates as I go. 3
trimacar Posted December 16, 2017 Posted December 16, 2017 Wow, nice car. Personally, I'd go through it mechanically and show/tour it like it is for a few years, a lot of character there that will be lost in a restoration.... 2
alsancle Posted December 16, 2017 Posted December 16, 2017 Woods and Son's body, correct? I remember when Tom owned this, I thought it was really cool and sold cheap at Hershey.
NewOldWood Posted December 17, 2017 Author Posted December 17, 2017 2 hours ago, trimacar said: Wow, nice car. Personally, I'd go through it mechanically and show/tour it like it is for a few years, a lot of character there that will be lost in a restoration.... On the other hand, a lot of wildlife nesting will get lost in the restoration too. It's been like this for quite a while, time to spruce it up a bit.
NewOldWood Posted December 17, 2017 Author Posted December 17, 2017 32 minutes ago, alsancle said: Woods and Son's body, correct? I remember when Tom owned this, I thought it was really cool and sold cheap at Hershey. Peter McAvoy and Sons Commercial Auto Bodies, New Rochelle NY did the conversion.
edinmass Posted December 17, 2017 Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) I really liked this car the first time I layed eyes on it at Tom’s house. It’s realy a unique vehicle. Built on the Packard Individual Custom LeBaron chassis, and cut down from a full custom coachbuilt car, fantastic workmanship, and a true and correct repurposing of an automobile by what I am sure is the original owner. If my life wasn’t so crazy at the time Tom was selling it, I would have purchased it myself. I helped out in a small way to get it running. It’s probably the best converted woody on the planet. I look forward to seeing it’s restoration Good luck, Ed. PS- if I knew it was going to sell for what it did, I would have taken it home myself. Edited December 17, 2017 by edinmass (see edit history)
NewOldWood Posted January 5, 2018 Author Posted January 5, 2018 The front half of the car is stripped down to the frame. The wood in the cowl needs to be replaced, the drivers side is particularly bad as the pictures show. This wood was not only intended to support the windshield bracket but also hold the latch for the suicide hinged door. The drivers floor is quite rotten as well. The passenger side has some rot too but not nearly as bad. 1
Tom Boehm Posted January 7, 2018 Posted January 7, 2018 Thank you for posting about your Packard. I am restoring a 1940 Lasalle woodie. I'm excited about seeing pictures of another custom bodied woodie being restored. All that rotten wood looks so familiar. There is no other car to compare to so you have to decide what the replacements look like based on splinters. I hope you post more pictures as you make progress. I'll post some pictures of mine on a new thread. Tom Boehm
mercer09 Posted May 30, 2018 Posted May 30, 2018 More rot then the original photos showed.......... yes, it needed to be redone.
trimacar Posted May 31, 2018 Posted May 31, 2018 11 hours ago, mercer09 said: More rot then the original photos showed.......... yes, it needed to be redone. I agree, now that the innards are seen....what a fun car it will be though....
edinmass Posted June 1, 2018 Posted June 1, 2018 The only thing wrong with the car is I don't own it. When Tom had it in Rhode Island I stopped by to play with it, and fell in love...........
NewOldWood Posted June 3, 2018 Author Posted June 3, 2018 Coming into the home stretch on the old girl, might be time for some pictures. I had to do some repair work to the doors too, but not as extensive as this.
alsancle Posted June 3, 2018 Posted June 3, 2018 Has Pebble ever done a hunting/shooting brake class?
one tree Posted June 3, 2018 Posted June 3, 2018 DAVE, YOU ALWAYS DO GREAT WORK, YOU ARE THE BEST AT WOOD WORK
A. Ballard 35R Posted June 3, 2018 Posted June 3, 2018 Looks as though this unique car ended up at the right home.
Tom Boehm Posted June 3, 2018 Posted June 3, 2018 Thank you for posting these pictures! I really enjoyed them. I did not know you were re wooding the entire body. Was there rot throughout that was not visible in the pictures? I like the nice grain in the wood selected for the panels in the quarterpanel. Great work. I am building the roof of my 1940 Lasalle woodie now. Tom
edinmass Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 Very well done, was it necessary to replace the rear body? It didn’t look too bad when I inspected the car. Where are you located? I have a car that needs wood. Thanks, Ed
trimacar Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 Wow, nice work, but sure a lot of character in that original wood that's been lost. If it was rotten, I understand, but now it's just a rebodied woodie.... Don't mean for that to sound derogatory, but it sure had penache that's gone now.......
NewOldWood Posted December 9, 2018 Author Posted December 9, 2018 The woodwork has been done for a while now. I started packing up the shop as soon as I finished, so the move has kept me pretty busy. Will be a while before the rest of the work is finished, but this is what it looked like when it left me. 1
one tree Posted December 10, 2018 Posted December 10, 2018 DAVE, THE WOOD WORK LOOKS GREAT, LIKE TO SEE IT WHEN ITS DONE
alsancle Posted December 10, 2018 Posted December 10, 2018 (edited) What a cool car. This should be on the lawn at Pebble when they do a "hunting car" class. On the flip side, looking at the pictures reminds me of how overwhelming some of our restorations are. Edited December 10, 2018 by alsancle (see edit history)
edinmass Posted December 12, 2018 Posted December 12, 2018 Very well done.....impressive craftsmanship.
md murray Posted August 13, 2019 Posted August 13, 2019 Quote has anybody seen this car? would love to see how it came out
edinmass Posted October 30, 2021 Posted October 30, 2021 Any more updates to this Packard? Would like to know what has happened to it.....thanks, Ed.
blind pew Posted October 31, 2021 Posted October 31, 2021 On 12/9/2018 at 5:24 PM, NewOldWood said: The woodwork has been done for a while now. I started packing up the shop as soon as I finished, so the move has kept me pretty busy. Will be a while before the rest of the work is finished, but this is what it looked like when it left me. Cool indeed! Is it done?
NewOldWood Posted November 1, 2021 Author Posted November 1, 2021 Well...............It is done, and I've seen it, and it is very nice. The owner does not want any (more) pictures of the car to be made public. Unfortunately I got the person working beween me and the owner in a little hot water over this thread, for which I issued my sincere apologies. Whatever the owners reasons are for that are none of my business and I don't fault them for it. I should have checked first.
trimacar Posted November 1, 2021 Posted November 1, 2021 Well, not knowing anything about the owner, my guess is that he wanted to present the car as all original with a sympathetic restoration, when in fact your pictures show it to be a somewhat total recreation of body. Not that there’s anything intrinsically wrong with that, but as was commented early on, saving original wood is, in some cases, preferable. Beautiful workmanship on your part, but I’d prefer patched original wood over all new wood….even if doors didn’t close correctly and worm holes evident…
edinmass Posted November 1, 2021 Posted November 1, 2021 I totally understand the privacy issue...........The car was very publicly for sale, and I have actually worked on it a little bit. With the total remake of the wood........which is absolutely fine, I was expecting to see it on the show circuit. You did a fantastic job on it. Was hoping to see it now that the shows are back in full swing. Certainly not your average collector taking on that size of a project on such an unusually modified car. Being wired into the Packard world of 1934 Individual Custom cars........if I asked around I would probably find it quickly.......but I don’t want to push for details if the owner prefers to keep below the radar. 👍 1
alsancle Posted November 1, 2021 Posted November 1, 2021 My rule of thumb is that if the car is out in public, like a show, then fair game. But anything else I assume we are under strict NDA and ask permission to take photos. Some guys don't care and some guys will shoot you. I thought this car was really cool when Tom had it and I as surprised it didn't do better at Hershey.
mikewest Posted November 3, 2021 Posted November 3, 2021 On 10/31/2021 at 6:35 PM, blind pew said: Cool indeed! Is it done? Who's wood shop is this??? Where is it?? Mike
NewOldWood Posted November 3, 2021 Author Posted November 3, 2021 10 hours ago, mikewest said: Who's wood shop is this??? Where is it?? Mike Mine. Was in Wisconsin when I built this, have moved to Alabama since. Bigger shop and bettter weather. I have documented a few other projects on here if you like that sort of thing. Building a wood boat at the moment, haven't posted anything on that. Not because the owner would object, more for the lack of wheels.
edinmass Posted November 3, 2021 Posted November 3, 2021 Your wood work looks fantastic.........please post any wood projects, as boat wood relates to talent and craftsmanship for wood working on cars.
Porsche 68 Posted November 9, 2021 Posted November 9, 2021 My health problem has slowed me down on working on my 25 Dodge Brothers not going to restore it but I really do like the way it is Beautiful Packard love seeing custom bodied wood cars. John
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