Packard Structural Wood

[31 LaSalle]

When did packard stop using structural wood in the car bodys

For example did 1937 super 8   use wood

[kar3516]

Yes 37 Super 8 used wood

[37PackardMan]

I believe the '39 Seniors were the last. Their bodies were very similar to the '37.

[Packard enthus.]

"wood" Packards?    Well...depends on which Packard products you are interested in.   In late 1934, Packard, needing a lower-priced product to sell, started producing for the 1935 model year, the "Junior" Packards.   Except for still having fabric-covered roofs (Packard was behind the industry in adopting the so called "turret" or one-piece top for closed cars)  the "Junior" Packards were built using essentially modern product methods - steel stampings spot-welded together.

 

As others have noted, over at the "Senior Division" factory and production facilities,  these much larger, heavier, and more powerful "traditional" Packards were still using the by then obsolete method of mounting what was essentially a stage-coach on auto chassis.   The last wood-body-frame "Senior Division" Packard rolled out of 1580 East Grand Avenue in June of '39, at which time the entire facility was "gutted",  the tooling liquidated,  to confirm Packard's abandoning the "super-luxury" field.

[BlueDevil]

My '38 12 has wood in the roof and door pillars.

 

 

[Packard enthus.]

On 6/14/2024 at 12:07 PM, BlueDevil said:

My '38 12 has wood in the roof and door pillars.

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POOR GUY..!  You mean it HAD wood......looks to me like you need the services of a particularly talented carpenter, who understands how complex some of those curved shapes are, and how accurate they are for the doors to fit properly.

 

 

 

 

[BlueDevil]

I practice on this and Morgans, so I can work on those easy jobs like the door posts