Re: I have just struck gold...in my own backyard.

Posted by JWL On 2008/5/4 11:20:52

I too struck gold in my backyard. I moved back to Santa Fe, NM from Walnut Creek, CA in 2005. I decided to start looking for a Packard after getting settled, and having a bit of money left over from the generous Bay Area real estate market. My father was the Packard dealer in Santa Fe from the mid-30s to the mid-50s, and I had to have one. I found a 1939 120 Convertible Coupe advertised in Hemmings. This looked like just the car for me; however, it was in Connecticut. I wanted to look at one of these cars to assure myself that this was the type I wanted. I recalled seeing a similar car in Santa Fe a few years earlier. I looked-up the owner in the PAC directory, and it turned out he lived just around the corner from me. I talked with him about the Connecticut Packard looking at his car. He said he would give me a call when they got it out of the garage from its winter storage. He gave me a call a few days later,and I went over to see the car. It was a gorgeous 1937 115C Convertilbe Coupe in Packard Cream. I described the Connecticut 120 and said that his car seemed to be much nicer. He then told me that there was another car, just like his, for sale in Santa Fe. The owner was in bad health and needed to move to a lower altitude. I was surprised to hear this, two almost identical 1937 Packards in a town like Santa Fe. Then he said that the owner and car were just around the corner from him. This was even more surprising. I contacted the owner and bought it after a few days of looking at the car, and going back and forth on the price. Gold in my own backyard.