Re: Some Packards and others Down-Under

Posted by Peter Hartmann On 2008/8/3 20:43:25

you didn't read my post carefully. Of course it is common knowledge that there were plenty of RIGHT hand drive Packards coming straight from the factory on East Grand Ave., and from the assembly facilities in Canada and England.

But they were all EIGHT cyl. cars. Converting an EIGHT cyl. Packard from left to right hand drive (one of my good friends in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles recently sold his beloved '34 Super Eight Formal Sedan to a guy in Australia, who was able to find all the authentic parts to convert it over) is no problem.

What I was asking, is whether there are any Packard V-12's in Australia or New Zealand, and if so, what did they do about the regulations down there. The reason I am curious, is the parts books do NOT show anything about right hand drive parts (called in the parts books "EXPORT" for the Twelve.

Here's the technical problem that makes me wonder about this. Again, my question has to do with Packard V-12's - NOT the much smaller engined eights and Super Eights, which, again, we KNOW were produced in both right and left hand drive versions.

The V-12, at approx. 480 cu. inches, was a MUCH larger engine than the biggest eight (the Packard Super Eight earlier called the Delux Eight) of 384 cu. in.

Thus there was much less room under the hood. To make matters even more difficult in the case of the V-12, the huge exhaust pipe comes down off the right rear side of the engine, right where the GEMMER steering gear column and box would have to go, to make the car right hand drive.

With the much larger exhaust pipe of the V-12 on the right side of the car, no room for all the "stuff" related to brake and clutch.