Re: 35/6 Phaeton TOP

Posted by Packardbarry On 2013/7/25 8:56:10

J - cant tell u who came up with the term in Body Work or Uph. but it means to HIDE or ELIMINATE the Surround. If u have any contact with custom cars of the 50s u might have heard FRENCHING THE HEADLIGHTS or TAILLIGHTS which means eliminating the Bezel (sheet metal to glass). In this case of the rear window it means hiding the Frame via wrapping the top material around the frame. As far as i can piece it together production open PACKARDs started doing it in '32 thru '34; TWELVES got it on the inside as well using another panel. U see a few other manufactures doing it also as well as Custom Bodies. DIETRICH like to do it on his stuff. Up until a few weeks ago i never thought about '35 up Ph. With the one photo of a 35 conv sed. i figured they got FRENCHED and a photo of a 35 Conv Coupe i figured they did NOT. After taking a good look at the photo i have of the 35 CS im thinking its a Proto so now im having second thoughts about production CS getting FRENCHED.

Just helped an Uph. with info on a 734 so pretty sure they all had exposed window frames.

See u at PEBBLE. Taking a '39 FORMAL.

Give me a yell if any questions - BARRY 801 971 1934