Re: 1934 Pittsburgh Auto Show?

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2009/4/16 12:42:51

Very informative letter indeed, and thanks for sharing. I've read more than once that these bodies were completed in 1932 and stored in the white and I likewise believe that to be correct, but here's what I find interesting. The thief-proof number is in the 1934 range, well above the highest number for 1932 or even 1933. Thus this tends to confirm a suspicion I've had for a while that the thief-proof numbers were (sometimes) stamped after the body was assembled, perhaps using the triangles at each end for locating the stamping dies. I know this would seem awkward if not overly difficult, but if the numbers were stamped in 1932, they'd be in an entirely different bracket and Packard would have no way of knowing how many cars would be built between then and 1934. Think I've learned something to include in my upcoming article on the thief-proof numbers.

PS - still mulling this over and wonder if I might have reached a wrong conclusion. It would have taken a pretty big press to stamp the body dash number, perhaps making it unlikely that it wasn't done at the same time the cowl was formed. But then that would tend to say the bodies weren't all made in 1932, or at least completed at that time, as 32-33-34 have different cowls. Perhaps more likely is that not all the bodies were made in 1932, or if they were, they were incomplete at least to the extent of being minus the cowl stamping.