Re: Towing capacity of a 1940 356

Posted by Joe Santana On 2013/10/3 13:37:29

The cautions about brakes took me back on top of the ridge at Big Sur, facing 2.8 miles down on a one-line road of several steep switchbacks and wondering if my brakes would hold. I made it, of course, but not asking to tempt fate.

I don't know how to calculate of the towing weight of a boat, but my friends' are buying one with 22,000 lbs displacement wt and 8,500 lbs ballast weight. It's 40 ft. yacht. Obviously a commitment, but if you live on it, you may be saving something. And it seems to be a more interesting way to live than what buying a $130k home offers. Airplanes are worse for maintenance because of safety regs.
You can't live on them. (I know you're thinking of posting an old fuselage made into a home. That won't fly.) So I'm going to explore this idea further, having the Packard and a boat residence.

One thing I learned having the Duchess out in her public and in everyday life. People are very respectful. They usually ask if they can take a photo. I wondered if my attitude about access would change after restoration from what it was before, when I drove her every day. It hasn't. The experience of leaving it in the grocery store parking lot and coming out to see a few people admiring it or taking pictures restored my confidence that this is okay for me to do. I can leave it on the street and see a movie without worrying. So I think around a harbor where people hang out because they have business there and, I imagine, form a sort of community there, the Duchess would be safe. Exposure might be a problem if there's no protected garage nearby.