Re: '37 120 Sedan Convertible - Side Mirrors

Posted by DM37 On 2024/5/11 10:16:25

No argument about the POSSIBLE accessory, but YIKES!...would you want to drill irreversible holes in that pristine SS windshield molding vs. clipping a different POSSIBLE aftermarket assy. on the edge of the door (for removability?

Owner has a decision to make on mirror styles, leaks into the windshield frame, irreversibility and reparability.

One thing that is often overlooked on these accessories, even if they were Packard approved at the time (I was reminded of this 50 years ago in conversations with my father, Homer Fitterling, Don/Dale Lyons and Bob Turnquist)...Remember the Context of the Era (this coming from guys who actually lived it in the 30s/40s):

The buyers were just coming out of the depression and their precious funds were spent on a core machine with minimal accessories (even for the wealthy on senior packards the outlay was significant; there were a lot of people who bought Sr Packards that werent dripping in Rockefeller/Vanderbilt cash). As their cash flow improved, say by 1939, they often put the THEN-current Packard trunk (for example) on their 35-37...years after the original car purchase, so they werent always able to source 2-4 years ago "perfect period" accessories when they actually could afford them and, frankly, didnt care if their Packard accessory was from the model year if it fit properly.

As long as it was a Packard option within the basic era, many accessorized hybrids evolved, so its hard to say the original owner (who was actually there making the history and we weren't, trying to recreate it after the fact) was "less accurate" than we are 80-90 yrs later trying to accessorize within the model year as historically obsessive as many modern restorers try to be. I understand this is how Pebble Beach grades cars and that the model year Factory specs are the only easy thing to reference, but it does show a touch of naivete on the judges part about how a real car was actually configured in its day.

How would one of these hybrids I mention fare at Pebble Beach, if found in absolutely original mint condition with 0% touched over the years...yet it had proper Packard accessories spanning 5 years?