Re: Which cars were comparable to pre-War Packs?

Posted by Dave Brownell On 2014/12/30 10:16:04

My paternal grandmother was a wealthy woman who employed a chauffer and maid up until WW II, including all of the Depression. Unlike one of her sons (my Chevrolet-driving father), all of her offspring drove Buicks while waiting for her cast-off Packards. From the late Teens, she'd have a Packard for four or five years, then go back (with chauffer...she did not drive, herself) to the same sales person at the same Packard dealership and get another to her liking. Since I was decades from being around, all of this was retold by my father and uncles. Grandma would return from the dealer with both the new and old Packards, and depending on which of the six children was currently most favored, give the keys to the older Packard to that favored adult child. My father refused to play this game and touted his practical Chevies as superior in the value category. Grandma also was somewhat unpredictable as to what the newer Packard would be. Once she returned with a yellow four door convertible sedan (possibly a 1936-37 120?) to replace an older black formal sedan.

My point is that brand loyalty, both in make of car, dealership involved, down to trusted salesperson was common in persons of means. This was also true with butchers, grocery stores (you'd never buy meat at a grocery store; only at a butcher shop), shoe stores and finally, undertakers. Shopping around for price was unheard of...trusted sources were valued in themselves.

All of this changed for my grandmother. With the war, the servants and chauffers went, and ultimately so did the Packards. Then, in her seventies, she got around in a cast-off Packard sedan (I don't know where that yellow convertible sedan ended up), driven by one of her children or their own succession of Buicks. The era ended by my father moving up to his own Buicks after she died.

One other story, per my father, was that she preferred going to the dealer to view and pick her new Packard from their selection. Many of her friends would just have something brought to their home by the dealer "for approval." Of course, all of this was done by cash or check, and in Grandma's game plan, any negotiations over a traded-in Packard was eliminated.