packardsix1939 wrote:
Leedy: You are correct. The gentleman was C. Louis Ablelove, not Lewis. My mistake.

I do hope that at least some of these cars get saved. Unfortunately, many of the cars in the collection were extremely rough. I did not attend Phase 1 in person but know someone who did. He described standing inside the trunk area of one of the Caribbeans. There was no trunk pan left at all, so he was actually standing on the floor of the warehouse. I did go to Phase 2 in April of last year because I wanted to bid on the 1937 120 Convertible Coupe and did not want to risk bidding sight unseen. The car just needed too much work and had not run in years. I was surprised when it hammered for over $52K. With a 22% commission, I just didn't think it was worth this much, especially for a non-runner with obvious cosmetic issues like badly cracked paint and dull, oxidized chrome. In person, the car did not compare favorably to the auction catalog photos which had been taken in a dark warehouse. But it was quite an experience to see all those unrestored Packards in one place. Some of the cars were actually pretty nice. There was an exceptional original '54 Caribbean which looked stunning in Polaris Blue over Packard Ivory. This car, Lot #9 brought a winning bid of $20K. I think it was the best Caribbean in the collection. It would not take too much of an effort to restore this one.

Here are some photos I took of this car at the auction. Even though I prefer prewar Packards, I liked this one so much that I'd consider trading my '39 for it.