Packard 733 wheels

[John Bloom]

I'm sure there is a resource that shows what wheel options are available for a 733, but I haven't found one.  I'm looking at a 733 Club Sedan and it has wooden wheels.  They look in nice shape in the pictures, but when I look at images for 733's I don't see any with wooden wheels.  I do see a couple 740's and 745's with wooden wheels that look identical to the 733 club sedan wheels.  All I've seen on 733's are steel or wires.  Does anyone know if all three were an option for the 733?  Perhaps they were and the wooden wheels were rarely chosen or typically changed out through the years?  Maybe they were only offered on the longer wheelbase cars and somewhere along the line they got swapped out?  The current owner doesn't have any knowledge if wooden wheels are correct for the model or if they were installed at some point in the history of the car.  Any help or input to a source on this would be appreciated.  

[Restorer32]

Packard offered wood wheels thru 1936.

[John Bloom]

Thanks for that quick reply.  I wonder if it was rarely chosen back in 1930 on that wheelbase (or all wheelbases), or if they were switched out through the years.  If you look at 100 images of 700 series cars, maybe one has wooden wheels.  It is good to know that it was an option and correct for that series.  Thanks again.

 

 

[West Peterson]

Keep in mind that 733 wheels are 20-inch 7-lug wheels and 740 and 745 wheels are 19-inch 8-lug, so first find out what size they are and count the number of lugs. It's possible it is fitted with the wrong type of wheel.

 

Is this the car? If so, I suspect that it is correct, as I only count 7 lugs. While 1929 wheels were also 20-inch, they used 8 lugs. So, the 7-lug 20-inch wheels would only have been used for the 1930 model year.

 

[West Peterson]

Here are two more standard eight 1930 Packards that I found with the artillery wheels. They appear to have 7-lug hubs, so I suspect they are correct.

 

[John Bloom]

West, thanks so much for explaining the difference on the 733 vice the longer wheelbases.  I have looked at a ton of 700 series, and the wooden artillery wheels seem to be only 1-2% of the examples I’ve looked at. Here is the car I’m looking at and it appears to be seven lugs and correct.

[edinmass]

Wooden wheels were just about done by 1931. A few customers still wanted the look a bit later on. By 1932 steel artillery wheels became dominant, wires second, and wood wheels a long distant third. Drop center wheels were prevalent in 1932......and marked the end of hickory in wheels for the majority. 

[John Bloom]

Thanks West and Ed, if they are maintained, what is their reputation relative to steel and wires as far as trouble free motoring?

[edinmass]

Stronger than steel, and by then they tend to be trouble free.........I ran my 1933 Pierce 12 one off LaBaron on them and that thing was almost 7000 pounds.........never a problem. I would give them a detailed inspection after purchase just for safety...........it’s the early wood wheels that were problems........

[West Peterson]

12 hours ago, edinmass said:

Wooden wheels were just about done by 1931. A few customers still wanted the look a bit later on. By 1932 steel artillery wheels became dominant, wires second, and wood wheels a long distant third. Drop center wheels were prevalent in 1932......and marked the end of hickory in wheels for the majority. 

 

As Jeff said above, tho, Packard offered wooden artillery wheels through 1936 on the Senior models. The Junior models had an option of metal artillery wheels starting in 1935 and running through 1942. Both are extremely rare, more so on the senior models.

[West Peterson]

12 hours ago, John Bloom said:

West, thanks so much for explaining the difference on the 733 vice the longer wheelbases.  I have looked at a ton of 700 series, and the wooden artillery wheels seem to be only 1-2% of the examples I’ve looked at. Here is the car I’m looking at and it appears to be seven lugs and correct.

 

NICE!! A much better color than the one I posted. I'm assuming that when you said you were "looking at," you meant you were thinking of buying it. Good luck. Let us see more photos. The club sedans are great looking cars.