Re: How old are you?

Posted by Loyd Smith On 2009/4/15 17:28:43

65 in March. Parents and grandparents owned Packards. Packard service garage was enroute from my grandparents home to movie theatres and drugstores in small west Texas oilfield town where born. Became nuisance there well before age of 10. Always liked cars but couldn't get enough of Packards. Company gone before I acquired first car ('39 Chevy Master Deluxe, 2 door coach w/54,000 miles). Went into service at 17 and, as someone else stated, "life got in the way," of my love-affair with Packards. Fell in with wrong crowd in early '60s in N.E. Arkansas and started hanging out at George Ray's outlaw dragstrip in Paragould, AR. Too many junk cars converted to 1/4 mile purpose to enumerate. Drivers (as best I can recall) were '39 Chevy, '58 Hillman Minx, '66 Caprice Classic (396 w/350TH), '69 Plymouth Roadrunner, '67 Caddy Fleetwood, 70 Impala, '71 Caddy Fleetwood, '73 Pylymouth Satellite Sebring +, '73 Coupe DeVille, '74 Coupe DeVille, '75 Chrysler NY Brougham, '74 (maybe '75) El Dorado, '78 Fleetwood Brougham, '82 Fleetwood Brougham, '87 Isuzu I-Mark, '92 Dodge Spirit, '93 Dodge Stealth ES, '95 Infiniti J-30, '97 Infiniti J-30, 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis and FINALLY (never having forgotten), in early 2004, a 1955 Packard Patrician. I drive it and it was undergoing (before I retired and ran out of money) what started out to be a restoration. I have since modified it a little and continue to refurbish and work on it as time, money and downtime (it is presently the only car I own) permit. With their oiling problems seen to and proper care and feeding these cars make GREAT daily drivers, both in town and on the road.