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Hi Rich:

I have known people who did the movie thing too. I won't drop names because some are still doing it.

If you want to do movies the best approach is to contract to be onsite with the car for an hourly rate. This means you will also be in the shoot, but believe me there is nothing exciting about it. The work is really boring.

Here's a guy in Napa Valley that has converted his '46 and '47 Custom Super Clippers into convertible sedans for wine tours. I visited his garage a few years back to get inspiration for the '47 I'm converting.

I don't know how successful his business is, but its survived for at least 5 years that I'm aware of. If there is interest I'll post some of the close-up photo's I took on my visit. These cars all have modified drivetrains. Chrysler 440 with torqueflight transmissions.

http://www.ccwinetours.com/

Hi,

I have been making a living out of my cars for a number of years now.

I am away at the moment (NO, not travelling to Denver to meet 'The Boys'!), but on my return I will give you my take on the business.

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Napa Valley wine cars:
About how long ago were they converted to convertible and about how long ago were they converted to 440 and T'Flite???

Don't know when the Napa Valley wine car conversions happended (I assume sometime after 2000), but I visited the owner in 2008. At that time the owner had four or five in service, and one or two additional Custom Super Clippers in his back lot for future conversion.

Here are some close-ups from that 2008 visit:

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Thanks everyone for your responses so far. Fee free to keep the discussion going!

I guess my aim was more like the Guy Don mentioned. Not a true (long-distance) limo service, more like from wedding to reception, from reception to hotel type of thing. I guess for after-prom kids may want to cruise around but it looks like in the right market it could be a viable business.

As for films, I definitely would remain on-set at all times, snd no stunts, just as period background cars.

Many thanks Don Skotty for the pics of wine limos. Very nice cars. My only comment is that the large factory steering wheel would have been my preference.

Agree with PackardV8 about retaining the original steering wheel.

I think Tab Borge (Classic Convertible Wine Tours)has done a very tasteful conversion of his '46 and 47' Custom Super Clippers, and made them reliable and maintainable service drivers. He was inventive and did all the work himself. The convertible top is a modified boat top.

He was most gracious to open-up his garage to me and my restorer.

It would be very nice to have his cars in the Owner Registry. Imagine the additional thief-proof numbers for Dave and knowlege he could add to just this one topic.

Here's his company email address if someone wants to invite him to join/comment:

info@ccwinetours.com

Responding to PackardV8 about when the conversion occurred, this is from a business review-site for the classic convertible wine tour experience:

History
Established in 1989

The owners of Classic Convertible Wine Tours, Tab & Paula Borge, were both born and raised in Napa Valley. Tab became interested in classic cars at an early age. He was trying to find a way to join his education at UC Davis in viticulture with the cars he had restored. In 1988 & 1990 he restored two limousine sedans and by 1992 his first convertible limousine was complete. Paula had an idea to add gourmet picnic lunches at beautiful locations in the valley. The concept of taking people to the wineries in classic convertibles to enjoy great food was so popular that all his limousines are now convertibles and most tours include the picnic lunch.

Meet the Business Owner: Tab and Paula B.
Tab and Paula Borge love living in Napa Valley and enjoy finding new and exciting wineries to share.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/classic-convertible-wine-tours-napa

This link also contains 5 reviews from customers -- may be interesting reading for those considering service use for their packards.

They (Classic Convertable Wine Tours) have an excellent business model, further expanding on the wedding/special events theme. In my area, Chadds Ford/Brandywine, we also have beautiful countryside, wineries, etc. I'm liking it!