Re: 51Packard's....51 Packard

Posted by Charles On 2010/8/9 20:11:14

History (as retold from one of my first posts here):

Why did I choose a Packard? Hmmm...well, I had always had a thing for old cars and never really got into the whole muscle car thing. I got a copy of a classic car auto trader type magazine and was thumbing through the pages. I didn't want something that I always saw at car shows. No boring '57 Chevys, 60's Mustangs or other common cars for me. I looked in the orphan car / independents section and came across an add for the Packard. Since I didn't have a lot of money, the $800 price seemed pretty good. I really liked the style of it and the chrome grill. It wasn't in the best shape, but I made my dad drive me all the way to Chicago to look at it. I knew I had to love it because he would have been pretty mad to go all that way and not get it.

I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it in person. It was the first time I had ever seen a Packard. The fact that it had this crazy straight 8 engine had me sold (never saw that either). How do you start this thing? Press the gas pedal down? How can you not want one? After we completed the deal (talked him down to $700) we went all over the place looking for someone who would tow it back to Mundelein, IL (about an hour away). Finally we found someone to do it (very questionable company). They towed it with a two wheel car dolly pulled by an early 80's Monte Carlo. When they got to our house and we paid them, they said "I think your car is on fire" and took off. The car was full of smoke. I don't know if they didn't put it all the way in neutral or what, but the smoke was coming from the transmission. It worked after that, but would not shift into high gear.

I lived in northern Illinois most of my life and in all that time, I have never seen a Packard at a car show. About 10 years ago, the Packards of Chicagoland started showing Packards, LaSalles and Porsches at Cuneo Mansion. It was awesome to see so many Packards in one place. Since then, I would see an occasional one at a show, but they were very rare.

My transmission problems didn't stop there. I wasn't too upset about the smoke because my plan was to have it rebuilt. About a year after owning her, I saved enough money to get it fixed. I found a company in Hemmings Motor News that would send you a rebuilt unit when you send in your core and $1800. I took the car to a local transmission shop. He removed the old one and shipped it. I never got a good feeling from this guy. My dad picked him out of the phone book and he didn't seem to know what he was doing. After about 3 weeks the new trans arrived and it took him another 2 weeks to install it. He called and said he was all done, but it wasn't working right. Great! I had to call the trans company and they figured it was the valve body and sent a new one free of charge. I really didn't trust this guy so I took the car back. On the way home, I noticed that the car was shifting fine and it just needed a tune up. At least I got an extra valve body for free! A week later, the guy's shop mysteriously burned down.
The car was working great for a couple of months and then it wouldn't go into low gear anymore. I dropped the pan and took out the valve body and found a metal plate that goes from the band to a hydraulic cylinder. That fixed it for a couple of weeks until the car stopped going in low gear again. By that time I was fed up having spent so much money and still had a car that didn't work. That was about the time I stopped working on the car.