Re: The Duchess Project: 1940 Super 8 Convertible Sedan
Posted by Joe Santana On 2013/8/26 23:49:44
Prelude to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was an overnight at daughter Kieley's in-laws in Woodside where the Duchess was stored for a couple of weeks after the drive down Hwy 1.
Thursday the 15th headed down to Carmel. I got a primo parking space at Mission San Carlos (Carmel) . The place is steeped in key elements that form California's culture.
I then zoomed down Hwy 1 through the wind and fog of Hurricane Point to the River Inn at Big Sur. The road up to the retreat where I stayed was most frightening ride of my life in the Packard. Over 2.5 miles of the steepest, narrowest road I've ever driven, with half a dozen or more switchbacks where you come straight up into a curve as tight as the Duchess could turn followed by another steep curve in the opposite direction. By the time I reached the top, the temperature gauge was as far right past HOT as it could go. I spent the night fretting about the drive back down. Would the brakes hold? I was thinking headlines like Man Fulfilling Bucket List Kicks Bucket Over Big Sur Cliff in Old Car. I packed everything back in the car the next morning and headed down the road, knowing I could never drive back up that road in the Packard again.
I negotiated transportation up and down with Michael, the caretaker there and parked the Packard overnight away from the highway behind the coded gate for the remaining 4 days.
Heading back to Carmel on Friday morning I stopped to dust off the car. Soon many vacationers stopped, too. One, Tina Anjozian, a photographer from Orange County, took shots of the car and me. The color is incredible. You can see her photos athttp://www.anjozianart.com
In Carmel I parked on Ocean Ave to admiring crowds. It was a little embarrassing, so went browsing. Then I couldn't believe my eyes. There was one, if not The, most famous Packard guys in the country, Robert Escalante of Custom Auto Service, Santa Ana, This was his 20-something-th Concours. We chatted and laughed and rang his wife GeGe who was shopping across the street. They took me under wing for the balance of events, taking me to invitation-only events and introducing me to major collectors, people I've seen featured in Packard classic automobile magazines. I had the time of my life thanks to them.
Saturday after going through the maze of Pebble Beach streets, now set up as one way or closed roads, to pick up my ticket, I was starving. I went back to Ocean Avenue and tried a new place, The Grill. I struck up a conversation with a woman also eating at the bar. She and her husband are from Florida and entered a special Rolls Royce dubbed the "Honeymoon Express" by the press. Huge car. Two seats. Bar behind the seats.
Sunday morning I was down the hill by 5:30 and drove to the Escalante's hotel in Carmel. My voltage regulator quit and I was driving with lights on and off because the battery wasn't charging. We took a cab to Concours and saw all the cars coming on to the field. Just a thrill.
I managed to spark the voltage regulator into charging, but it wanted to charge all the way, so, with no units in Monterey, I drove to San Jose with my lights on high beam, fog lights on, and heater on, as much as I could stand moving inland. In San Jose attorney Jack Perkins, a club member, sent me to Matthew Pumphrey in Campbell CA. I was so impressed. These guys are young and into classics in a big way. Very high end cars being restored there.
He set my VR to spec, but it still didn't function, so he replaced it was a used one that got me home.
Many more adventures during that week remain to be related. The drive home was hot and rigorous, mostly at 70 mph except up long hills. The Duchess still passed every truck. I'm waiting for a photo being emailed to me, by a couple on a Harley I caught up to at a gas station, of the Duchess climbing one of the longest, hottest hills of the trip.
More pix to come.
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Thursday the 15th headed down to Carmel. I got a primo parking space at Mission San Carlos (Carmel) . The place is steeped in key elements that form California's culture.
I then zoomed down Hwy 1 through the wind and fog of Hurricane Point to the River Inn at Big Sur. The road up to the retreat where I stayed was most frightening ride of my life in the Packard. Over 2.5 miles of the steepest, narrowest road I've ever driven, with half a dozen or more switchbacks where you come straight up into a curve as tight as the Duchess could turn followed by another steep curve in the opposite direction. By the time I reached the top, the temperature gauge was as far right past HOT as it could go. I spent the night fretting about the drive back down. Would the brakes hold? I was thinking headlines like Man Fulfilling Bucket List Kicks Bucket Over Big Sur Cliff in Old Car. I packed everything back in the car the next morning and headed down the road, knowing I could never drive back up that road in the Packard again.
I negotiated transportation up and down with Michael, the caretaker there and parked the Packard overnight away from the highway behind the coded gate for the remaining 4 days.
Heading back to Carmel on Friday morning I stopped to dust off the car. Soon many vacationers stopped, too. One, Tina Anjozian, a photographer from Orange County, took shots of the car and me. The color is incredible. You can see her photos athttp://www.anjozianart.com
In Carmel I parked on Ocean Ave to admiring crowds. It was a little embarrassing, so went browsing. Then I couldn't believe my eyes. There was one, if not The, most famous Packard guys in the country, Robert Escalante of Custom Auto Service, Santa Ana, This was his 20-something-th Concours. We chatted and laughed and rang his wife GeGe who was shopping across the street. They took me under wing for the balance of events, taking me to invitation-only events and introducing me to major collectors, people I've seen featured in Packard classic automobile magazines. I had the time of my life thanks to them.
Saturday after going through the maze of Pebble Beach streets, now set up as one way or closed roads, to pick up my ticket, I was starving. I went back to Ocean Avenue and tried a new place, The Grill. I struck up a conversation with a woman also eating at the bar. She and her husband are from Florida and entered a special Rolls Royce dubbed the "Honeymoon Express" by the press. Huge car. Two seats. Bar behind the seats.
Sunday morning I was down the hill by 5:30 and drove to the Escalante's hotel in Carmel. My voltage regulator quit and I was driving with lights on and off because the battery wasn't charging. We took a cab to Concours and saw all the cars coming on to the field. Just a thrill.
I managed to spark the voltage regulator into charging, but it wanted to charge all the way, so, with no units in Monterey, I drove to San Jose with my lights on high beam, fog lights on, and heater on, as much as I could stand moving inland. In San Jose attorney Jack Perkins, a club member, sent me to Matthew Pumphrey in Campbell CA. I was so impressed. These guys are young and into classics in a big way. Very high end cars being restored there.
He set my VR to spec, but it still didn't function, so he replaced it was a used one that got me home.
Many more adventures during that week remain to be related. The drive home was hot and rigorous, mostly at 70 mph except up long hills. The Duchess still passed every truck. I'm waiting for a photo being emailed to me, by a couple on a Harley I caught up to at a gas station, of the Duchess climbing one of the longest, hottest hills of the trip.
More pix to come.
Attach file:
(79.02 KB)
(108.71 KB)
(37.08 KB)
(65.56 KB)
(149.42 KB)
(47.62 KB)
(38.80 KB)
(42.58 KB)
(48.08 KB)
(41.87 KB)
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