Re: 34 1101 Touring on eBay

Posted by Dave Kenney On 2008/7/26 16:00:32

Owen, If I ever take my Super Clipper to a Packard show I will be sure to check to be certain you won't be there (just kidding!). My Clipper has several faults with its historical accuracy that I mentally struggled with when I restored the car as I am, like you, fussy about preserving antiques as correctly as possible. In my case I simply did not like the colour the factory painted the car and since it had already had two previous repaints I did not have to worry about preserving original finish so I chose a colour that I liked and had it painted car with base/clear coat . Similarly since the interior needed replacement I chose a modern fabric at about 1/3 the cost of correct pinstripe broadcloth which I also didn't much care for. I suppose that I should have done the right thing from a historic accuracy point of view but I chose to "restore" (maybe not the right word at this point)the Packard to my personal taste. I wanted the car as a driver for mostly local shows and pleasure trips and not to take to concours meets or Packard Club Nationals etc. With the exception of radial tires. relays in the wiring for the halogen headlight converions and the mentioned colour and interior mods the car is for all intents a fine example of a 1947 Packard Super Clipper. Did I do the right thing or should I have been more historically accurate despite my personal preferences and budget restraints? I did preserve swatches of fabric and purposely left a section of paint in the trunk intact for the next person to restore the car who may want it to be as accurately the same as Packard produced it.
The 1934 Packard touring car is a much more rare and valuable car and no doubt deserving of a more correct restoration by some professional restoration shop familiar with Packards of this era such as Hibernia or RM etc. but perhaps the owner didn't have the money to do so and had it restored within a budget by a less knowledgeable shop. It has it's faults as you listed but despite its shortcomings. it has been restored without damaging its possibility to be at some point brought to a higher level of historical accuracy and that is what is important. None of the faults are irreversible and some are just plain ignorance on the part of the restorer. Anyone with the disposable finances to purchase such a fine automobile should certainly do due diligence and have the car inspected by an expert such as yourself to uncover the historical inaccuracies before making an offer. I wish I had the money and garage space to own such a beautiful car even if it isn't 100% correct. I do appreciate what you wrote however and it is important that knowledgeable people like you document historic accuracy errors so that at least some examples of these cars can be preserved exactly as Packard produced them. Thanks for doing that here.