Re: Message from the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio
Posted by Leeedy On 2020/5/11 17:28:48
Quote:
Speaking of losing interest in the hobby, please don't. The hobby needs all the interest it can muster these days. This could never be more relevant than my situation.
How would you like to buy a 1956 Caribbean in Florida in the early 1970s (after putting yourself in deep hock while in college)... tow-bar it all the way to California... work on it for several years... only to have someone break into your barn and steal the car and all of your spare parts and tools...? I have reason to believe my car was sold in Arizona at a big car auction about 10 years ago. YES.
Here is what MY Caribbean looked like in the early 1970s when I tow-barred it coast to coast! You can see I even paid for a temporary transport license from Florida. By the time it was stolen in 2002 I had accumulated every item that needed replacement (mostly new old stock) and had all of the plating DONE. A new correct top custom-made for me by Robbins Auto Top company was in a box in the back seat. I had a nice set of original wire wheels on the car complete with brand-new wide-whitewall tires. I rebuilt the transmission. I rebuilt the engine. I rebuilt the carburetors. Fixed the gas tank and fuel line. the only thing it needed was a dent removed and a paint job. (See the photo below with the front clip removed and lots of the work done). Want a reason to lose interest in the hobby? I've sure had it.
And knowing that SOMEBODY out there TODAY has a 1956 Caribbean convertible... with the VIN plate missing... with part of the factory A/C missing... with the dash and engine compartment painted the wrong colors... auctioned for a lot of money by a big auction company that lied and said the car spent all of its life in California, but you can see that's not true!
Of course nobody knows anything. Nobody knows "nuthin'"... THAT's enough to make me lose interest. SOMEBODY knows this is a stolen Caribbean, but they'll have excuses... everyone along the chain of thieves. And whoever has it today will claim they didn't know-in spite of all the odd things about the car. It IS out there... somewhere. IN THIS HOBBY.
But... I go on. WHY? Because Packard is arguably the greatest automobile this country ever made...
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BH wrote:
Thanks for the clarification on that Caribbean's fuel system, Leeedy.
I only went Googling to find out about the Warren Museum's acquisition, but was confused by some of the (mis)statements about the car in that Tribune Chronicle article.
I probably have that issue of the TPC, but it's boxed up in offsite storage, and I wasn't interested in digging that deep into the matter. I've lost a lot of interest in the hobby, but do hope to check out the Hughes car in person, someday.
Speaking of losing interest in the hobby, please don't. The hobby needs all the interest it can muster these days. This could never be more relevant than my situation.
How would you like to buy a 1956 Caribbean in Florida in the early 1970s (after putting yourself in deep hock while in college)... tow-bar it all the way to California... work on it for several years... only to have someone break into your barn and steal the car and all of your spare parts and tools...? I have reason to believe my car was sold in Arizona at a big car auction about 10 years ago. YES.
Here is what MY Caribbean looked like in the early 1970s when I tow-barred it coast to coast! You can see I even paid for a temporary transport license from Florida. By the time it was stolen in 2002 I had accumulated every item that needed replacement (mostly new old stock) and had all of the plating DONE. A new correct top custom-made for me by Robbins Auto Top company was in a box in the back seat. I had a nice set of original wire wheels on the car complete with brand-new wide-whitewall tires. I rebuilt the transmission. I rebuilt the engine. I rebuilt the carburetors. Fixed the gas tank and fuel line. the only thing it needed was a dent removed and a paint job. (See the photo below with the front clip removed and lots of the work done). Want a reason to lose interest in the hobby? I've sure had it.
And knowing that SOMEBODY out there TODAY has a 1956 Caribbean convertible... with the VIN plate missing... with part of the factory A/C missing... with the dash and engine compartment painted the wrong colors... auctioned for a lot of money by a big auction company that lied and said the car spent all of its life in California, but you can see that's not true!
Of course nobody knows anything. Nobody knows "nuthin'"... THAT's enough to make me lose interest. SOMEBODY knows this is a stolen Caribbean, but they'll have excuses... everyone along the chain of thieves. And whoever has it today will claim they didn't know-in spite of all the odd things about the car. It IS out there... somewhere. IN THIS HOBBY.
But... I go on. WHY? Because Packard is arguably the greatest automobile this country ever made...
Attach file:
(248.85 KB)
(168.18 KB)
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