Oldest ridden in - 1903 "Old Pacific II", driven by Terry Martin at a Perrysburg, Ohio Meet in the 1990s.

Oldest driven - Circa 1917 Twin Six at an auction in Los Angeles in the 1980s. (It was in 98% perfect shape and sold for about $18,000.)

Be sure to stop by the PAC tent next year on the Green Field (under the yellow "Packard" balloon), for coffee, soft drinks, snacks and a private port-a-john (PAC members only).

Also available are back issues of The Packard Cormorant magazine, the Cormorant News Bulletin, club projects and various tee-shirts, hats, etc.

Here's a shot of the KFI / KECA studios at 141 S. Vermont, circa 1940. It was torn down by the local school district in the dead of night - without permission - as they wanted a new parking lot.

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The late Ken Chapman compiled a listing of all known Packard dealers. In his 2006 listing it shows three dealers in Ironton, Ohio:

Adams-Sayre Motor Co., 317 Lawrence Street (1925)
Albert Keyes - no address listed - (1938)
Ironton Studebaker-Packard - no address listed - (1955)

Melvin & Dilley Auto Sales was not listed.

By the way, James J. Nance, Packard's last president, was born in Ironton in 1900.

The Packard Club's booth will be located at GAD 23-28 and GAE 24-28, right underneath the big yellow "Packard" balloon.

Hopefully, more details will be given at the PAC Board Meeting in Hershey on October 5. The registration form should be published at the end of the year in The Cormorant News Bulletin, and on the PAC website.

Next year's PAC National Meet will be headquartered at the Columbus Marriott Northwest, 5605 Blazer Pkwy, Dublin, OH 43017.

The first production A/C car was Packard's 18th Series (1940 model year), introduced in early 1940. I've read (somewhere -- Popular Mechanics?) that in the late 1920s, someone installed a compressor in the rear floor of a car to power the A/C.

Here's Macauley at his home with a 1938 Super Eight. Don't know if it had A/C.

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Had it not been for the Korean War, Packard might well have set up body production back at East Grand Boulevard in time for the 26th Series, in late 1952. According to Robert Neal's "Packard - 1951 to 1954" book (Chapter 3), a sub-committee had been set up on April 12, 1950 for just such a purpose. However, the $2 million cost to accomplish this was, by August 17, 1950, deemed too high a cost. The August 17, 1950 minutes of the sub-committee state: "The present situation which has developed with this trouble in Korea, which indicates that the procurement of materials will become increasingly difficult and may end in their allocation, that it is not an appropriate time to consider the project further."

As to the discussion about the new V-8 engine - Nance's team did not authorize production of the engine until March of 1953. Serious discussions were taking place before then, however. Robert Neal quoted the minutes of the Operating Committee meeting of January 2, 1951 in his book "Master Motor Builders" (Chapter 7): "A preliminary cost study of the V-8 engine for use in the 26th Series [1953] has been completed by the Manufacturing Division, and Mr. Reifel reported that it indicated a tool cost of approximately $13 million with a slight increase in piece cost." "By January of 1952," Neal wrote, "the committee had approved spending $1.2 million for the development of the necessary machine tools to set up a modern new engine production facility. By the end of 1953, $3 million had been spent on design, tooling and prototype production of a new V-8 engine, and the company was contemplating further outlay of some $14 million before complete production facilities would be in place. Necessary funds to complete this process were not committed until 1954... There is ample evidence that the engine was designed and prototypes built by early 1953."

The 2020 PAC National Meet will be in northern California.