Re: 11th series Packard on German Wikipedia

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2009/7/9 8:13:52

Based on the bumper end-caps it's neither a Twelve nor an Eight; vee'd headlamp lenses rule out an Eight. That plus the hubcaps says it's a Super Eight. It has the radiator shell/shutter treatment that was standard for a Twelve (painted shell/chrome shutters) but for a few $ any model could have any of the 3 different treatments. Standard treatment for the Eight was a chrome shell and painted shutters; Super Eight was chrome shell and shutters, and the Twelve was painted shell (to create the long hood illusion) and chrome shutters. The Twelve had the very large hydraulic dampeners at the bumper ends; the Eight had a small curl and decorate thru-bolt, and the Super Eight had a slightly larger but similar arrangement to the Eight. Hubcaps are the same size on all 3 series (except for the wood or steel disc wheel option) but the Twelve of course has cloisonne and not paint.

Twelve wheels are also different, spokes with threaded nipples instead of simple shrunk non-adjustable spokes, and the Twelve wheels also mount a larger tire (7:50 x 17 rather than 7:00 x 17) and have a rolled bead rather than a simple bead. Twelves also had "blue dot" tail light lenses.

There are other differences as well but these things should all help you to distinguish an Eight from a Super Eight from a Twelve without a tape measure or opening the hood.