Re: Great Packards at Auction, PLEASE READ

Posted by packardsix1939 On 2022/4/16 9:32:53

I was surprised by the prices most of the vehicles brought, especially when factoring in the 22% buyer's premium. I was interested in the 1937 120 Convertible Coupe and drove over 7 hours to see the collection. This car was definitely not as advertised. I don't know who Eugene Cohen is, but for a supposedly expert restoration, I found a lot of issues. Going over the car with a magnet, I detected large areas of body filler in the lower doors, quarter panels and rear pan below the rumble seat. Body filler was visibly bubbling up around the front fender strut on the passenger side. The paint was cracking in large areas around the rumble seat area. The underside of the car was crudely painted with POR-15 over sheet metal that was visibly pitted. I could see brush marks. POR-15 is pretty nasty stuff. Once it dries, it is virtually impossible to remove. It should not be used on an authentic restoration as it is much too glossy for chassis parts. I also found rust in the inner rocker panels between the door and rear fenders and was actually able to stick my hand inside and pull out a handful of rust. Much of the chrome was either poorly plated or had not been replated at all. The comorant hood ornament looked like it had been sandblasted. The headlight trim spears were badly pitted, and they had just chromed over the pits. The hubcaps were not restored and had numerous dings and small cracks. None of the rubber components had been replaced and were all dried out and cracked, especially the running board covers. The wiring looked original to the car, and I saw sections of modern PVC coated spliced in as crude repairs. Inside, the dash was not wood grained, the glove compartment box and the cigarette lighter were missing, none of the interior trim pieces had been rechromed and paint was flaking off of the instruments. The tires were shot, and it looked like the entire exhaust system will need to be replaced. I could go on. At a hammer price of $52,250, plus 22%, this was way over the mark. I was much more impressed with some of the other cars in the collection. The 1939 Rollson town car and the 1938 Super 8 Limo were outstanding original cars. I could not believe how nice the interiors were. Sitting in the back of the Rollson, I felt like royalty. I also really liked the 1926 Pierce. A very beautiful original car. These three were probably the best deals of the day. Not so much on the others.