Re: Individual Packard Historys

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2008/4/24 9:43:34

It does certainly add a lot to the enjoyment of an older car, and to the sense of preservation of a small piece of history, to know the history back to new. And I'm indeed fortunate to have that on both my Packards. My 34 Eight I bought from the original owner in 1964, and though I don't have the original invoice, I have some of the details surrounding the purchase. When bought, the car did contain some interesting documents, WW II gas ration card, some repair bills, a couple of hotel bills from various trips, original owners manual, prior registrations, etc. And I was fortunate to have a chance meeting years later with the nephew of the original family chauffeur who filled in some further details about the car's life from 1934 thru 1963.

My 56 Caribbean was purchased new by an early Packard collector and, with both of us active in the local PAC region at the time, I knew of the car as early as 1965 or so, and finally bought it from the family in 1996. I do have the build slip and shipping order, as well as an original shop manual with dozens of pencilled marginal notes in his handwriting.

Though not always easy in this era of almost constant "car flipping", it can be very rewarding to track down your car's history, and I'd encourage you all to take a crack at it.