Re: Interesting 41 120 listed on Hemmings

Posted by 58L8134 On 2015/10/15 7:32:46

Hi Paul

That's an interesting concept, in line with the way that Chrysler created the spacious yet stylish 1941-42 Windsor Town & Country. It employed the roof stamping for the lwb sedans on the standard-length sedan body to fit the 121" wb.

Chauffeurs definitely influenced what make and model was purchased, many employers depended on their expertise when it came to new car selection. Hugo Pfau wrote that in the coach-built custom years, purveyors of luxury makes even kicked back some tribute to the chauffeur who delivered a sale for their car.

In general, the chauffeur preferred the shorter wheelbase luxury car for formal style town cars primarily for their maneuverability in congested urban traffic. Although the survival rate of such cars is low, period photos show a fairly high number of open-front town cars on the shortest wheelbase chassis.

To do these late town cars, they also would have had to raise the top shell height to allow wearing of top hats and applied more formal top styling i.e. blind quarters, perhaps even a steeper angle to the backlight. Although not a large market, appearance at the correct social function always burnished Packard's luxury car reputation.

Steve