Here is the 1948 Custom Station Sedan, pictured at the PAC National Meet in Oakland in 1983.

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A few facts - not a rant...

The Packards International meet was cancelled last week, NOT the PAC National Meet (at least not yet - stay tuned, as this will be evaluated).

While PI sent emails informing members of the upcoming meet weeks and months ago, they did NOT inform any member that the meet was canceled (unless you were signed up to attend a tour, show a car, or sell parts). The phone calls went out Thursday, March 12 about the cancellation. Several members had already flown to California by this time. The website stated that the meet was canceled due to "Heavy Rain" - a few hours later it was changed to "With the concerns of the Corona Virus..."

As to "No planning," this virus hit the USA back in January. Certain federal officials did NOTHING to prepare.

Kanter Auto has the plain nuts (3/8" x 24 thread) and 3/8" palnuts. The nuts #338631 are $5 each. The palnuts are $1.20 each. The 8-cylinder set (16 nuts and 16 palnuts) is $50.

KECA, Anthony's "other" radio station in Los Angeles, was sold to what later became the ABC Network (American Broadcasting Company), when the FCC ordered NBC to split their NBC-Blue and NBC-Red stations in the 1940s. (KECA is now the radio station KABC.) So, the later ECA dash board plates would mention only KFI.

ECA, Inc. in Los Angeles took on Ford's M-E-L lineup in 1958 (Mercury, Edsel and Lincoln). By the time the dealership, located at 10th and Hope, closed in 1962 only Lincolns and Mercurys were being sold. Up in San Francisco, the Chrysler lineup was being sold into the 1960s. Around 1975, it became British Motors.

According to Robert J. Neal's book "Packard, 1951 to 1954" (pages 107-108) 250 units were installed in 1953 models, and 250 in 1954 models.

As at past PAC National Meets, there should not be a fee to visit (and buy) at the indoor swap meet. The Packards will be in the hotel's parking lot.

1936 120, based on the bumper guards.

Below please find the obituary for Art James, who died on June 17, 2019.

For The Packard Club, Art was Chairman of the Roster Keepers Committee from 1993-2002, when he became Chairman Emeritus. Art collected data on the 1938 Super Eights. In addition, Art was the general chairman of "The Magnum Opus," at the 1999 Packard Centennial Celebration in Warren, Ohio.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestar/obituary.aspx?n=arthur-james&pid=193273126&fhid=3173

I never heard of an "engineering number." You should tell the BMV that the numbers DO match (the door tag and the engine numbers). Maybe the "22" was a typo way back when...

I received these photos today from Tim Stuart in Texas, as well as his permission to post them here, along with his comments. Enjoy!

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I've been reading things lately about a possible Richard Arbib custom called the Monte Carlo that has been brought to light. I think I may have seen the car about 1995 at an IRS/Federal Marshall auction in Houston, Texas. There were lots of nice cars there, Italian sports cars, modern luxury cars, and some vintage cars. All vehicles were in one large dimly-lit warehouse. None of the cars were run - you purchased them based on observable-condition only.
I was new to the Packard Club back then but I thought this convertible seemed different with the Monte Carlo script on each front fender. It had a plaid Western Auto type interior and needed everything. Somebody in the Houston area bought it for around $7,500 I recall. I took three pictures with a Fotomat cardboard camera of the car and shared them with Haden Vandiver, Jim Hollingsworth, and Mike Franco, the most knowledgeable Packard people I knew. I think Mike may have shared the photos with some others, but I'm not sure.
Wish I'd taken more photos, I think my box camera held 24 frames. It was an interesting auction, only about 100 cars, seized from drug dealers and tax scofflaws. Everything was cash money, as-is, where-is. I had hoped to see that car at a Salado meet someday. I thought it was an odd Super Eight with the Monte Carlo script. I thought perhaps someone had transplanted the actual Arbib Monte Carlo script onto a Super Eight. The script appears as though Packard made them. They are of fine quality. But the only Monte Carlo we saw references for at the time was a hardtop. So, we were stumped. But that's why we love playing with Packards.
I always thought that this car was odd. But it didn't have any body modifications that you might expect from Arbib. Maybe extra sets of scripts were made, and someone close to the project put them on his Super Eight?

Best Regards,
Tim Stuart
Austin, Texas

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