Re: Packard wins Best of Show at Pebble Beach

Posted by Craig the Clipper Man On 2013/8/20 17:57:22

Good God, am I going to be the only one to come out and say that those "pontoon" fenders ruin the lines of an otherwise elegant car and turn it into something a bunch of clowns would burst out of in the center ring between the dog and pony show and the famous high-wire act? I have attached a photo of a '34 Packard Twelve. Look at those fenders ... they mesh with the car and complement the lines. Now look at the picture of the Best of Show winner. I'm sorry, but those fenders make it look like crap.

I recognize that the restorers did a great job with this car and you can't blame them for what Dietrich did to an otherwise beautiful car. They worked well with what they had to work with. After all of the years that I have looked at photos of the fields at Pebble Beach and the winners, I have rarely seen a more bloated example of tinkering that this body maker did to that Packard. That the original owner actually accepted it, I can only think: To each his own.

I love Packards and believe that the company produced the finest automobiles in the world during the 1930s, at the pinacle of which were the Twelves. I know I am going to catch hell for this entry, but there just had to be at least one other car that was more attractive than this one.