1931 Packard FWD

Posted by James Butcher On 2011/11/8 18:11:04

Today, with the help of West Peterson, was able to get the pictures I was seeking of the 1931 Packard FWD prototype in the Bahre Collection courtesy of Jeff Orwig, the curator.

I can say that it does have a X-frame chassis BUT it is totally unique and does not look like any production Packard chassis of 1932 or 1933. It is based on the 1929-1931 frame but the X member was fabricated and doesn't look to even connect directly to the side rails but onto cross members. And of course doesn't have a tunnel for a driveshaft since there was none. Even the center plate of the X is proprietary.

There is a Patent 2,098,265 submitted in 1932 and issued in 1937 for a Front Wheel Drive Packard by C.W. Van Ranst but I am not sure if the front part of the framework represents the real car? The center section X doesn't.

So, that opens up the question as to why the 1932 production Super 8 and V12 Packards used the small X for one year only and why the prototype chassis incorporated the X it did?

Any takers on this round of questions?

Eric