Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

On display at the 2016 Keels & Wheels Concours d'Elegance was an absolutely beautiful rebodied 34 Super 8. According to the builder, it started life as a Club Sedan, but somewhere along the way the back part of the body was removed and it was used as a truck. The new body sits on the original chassis. The builder says he specializes in these re-body projects. Told me he brought a Rolls Royce to the concours last year and is looking forward to his next project an Isotta. His shop is in south central Tennessee near the Alabama border. His work is just as nice as it can be. Enjoy.

(o{}o)

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The rear fenders kind of defeat purpose of the rear bumper, but it looks like he's doing a great job on workmanship!

BDC, agreed, going for form instead of function - Lebaron style boat tail. He was a bit confused when I mentioned the body builder and style to him. He said his looked better because it was on the long wheelbase. That the originals were on the 110 and 120 chassis. I replied that he was probably thinking of the Darrins. Doesn't matter because the body is beautiful and he saved the chassis.

(o{}o)

He didn't know what he was talking about. The originals were on the Super Eight chassis, fitted with a 12 cylinder engine.

JW, do you have a picture of the whole car from the side so we can see the whole profile of the car?

Handsome colors instead of the circus wagon kolor so often seen today, and the blackwalls make it look serious. IMHO, the cars look cleaner, sleeker with grille shell and headlight pods painted body color, tho' sadly, the factory themselves didn't always adhere to this understatement.
Boat tails had their heyday in the '20s, and would prefer this with a conventional trunk and rear-mounted spare, the latter for the same reason the award-winning 1933 Chicago World's Fair Packard "Car of the Dome" had this; looks cleaner and emphasizes length. Agree that the rear fenders are also a distraction. At least he didn't louver the apron to cool the frame, a lunacy occasionally seen.
But bless this fellow for the adult hues and blackwalls, and thanks for posting this refreshment.

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Sorry, no full side view photo.

(o{}o)

I found an angled sideview. That car would really look long as the sidemounts were gone.

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Hi BDC

Thanks for this view, reserved my comments for the full side view. Its better than I thought, though misses the mark in several ways, however the workmanship looks great.

The windshield isn't nearly wide enough.

The front sweeping versus rear pontoon fender stylistic mismatch isn't pleasing.

The boat-tail section needs more surface development curvatures, compare to the '34 LeBaron Speedster and Auburn 851-852 Speedsters for how professional designers and coachbuilders did it then.

A wide door on a roadster is a telltale that its a recycled sedan.

Removing the sidemounts would help the sporty look, after all they bothered to extend the hood length over the cowl.

A bit more study of period design proportions and details and more time at the drawing board would have produced better results.

Steve

Kind of strange looking for all the reasons Steve mentioned. The mint-green accent color does it no favors, either.