Re: 1941 paint scheme for Convertible Coupe

Posted by packardsix1939 On 2022/11/17 20:12:28

I am very familiar with the original 1941 Packard 120 convertible Coupe from Connecticut referenced by Owen_Dyneto. This car was owned for many years by the late John Orientas of Waterbury, Connecticut. I knew John when we were both members of the former Eastern Packard Club and frequently saw him and the car at area car shows and club events. It was perhaps one of the best, if not the best preserved original '41 Packard in existence and was stunningly beautiful in that two-tone green paint scheme. The car had a very interesting back story. The original owner was Dorothea Chase, heir to the Chase Brass Company fortune. Chase Brass was once one of the nation's largest brass mills and operated a huge plant in the city of Waterbury. In fact, Waterbury was once known as the "Brass City" because of this. This made the Chase family one of the wealthiest in the state. In 1941, Dorothea bought three Packards from the Waterbury agency (Packard-Waterbury); the convertible, a woody wagon and a 180 Formal Sedan. John worked for the Chase family as a chauffeur for many years and was with Dorothea on the day the cars were first delivered. As I recall, John told me that Dorothea used the convertible and the woody as her personal cars, with the convertible only being driven in nice weather during the spring and summer. For official events, the 180 Formal Sedan was used, with John doing the driving. All three cars were owned by the Chase family until 1971, when Dorothea passed away. She willed the convertible to John and that is how he obtained it. The other two cars were sold at auction. The 180 Formal Sedan was purchased by Jack Behn, a fellow Eastern Packard Club member, who owned it until his passing in 2009. The woody seems to have disappeared after the 1971 auction.

John Orientas owned the 1941 convertible until his passing in the 1990's. His son Bob inherited it and kept it for a number of years, but eventually he had to sell it for health reasons. I'm not sure where it is now, but it has been years since I have seen it.

The color scheme was Scheme P, Chicory Green Metallic over Grove Green Metallic. If you go onto the Packard Club website (www.packardclub.org) and click on the Reference section, you can scroll down the Paint Chips section. This section lists all of the color schemes by year for 1929 through 1958. The section also includes scans of the actual color chips used for the particular year. It is a very useful reference source for anyone restoring a Packard and desiring to use an original color scheme. I just wish that more people would use this source and not make up their own colors. I've seen some pretty awful paint jobs on Packards over the years.

I was unable to locate a photo of John's old car in my collection but was able to locate another '41 convertible in the same color scheme. I think that the two-tone green Scheme P looks especially attractive. John's car had a green leather interior that beautifully matched the exterior colors. I loved this car for years, but when John's son Bob finally put it up for sale, I was not in a position at the time to purchase it. I hope it is in a good home now, wherever it is.

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