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Unless you are as wild and as crazy a driver as I am, you should not notice any - again ANY difference in how a 1938 Super Eight and Twelve handle. At least at sane speeds.

And assuming correct "front-end" alignment. Obviously, at extreme speeds, the greater weight & power of the Twelve comes into play.

Your description of front tire wear tells me your former owner most certainly did NOT get what he thought he was getting. No late news there - incompetent servicing down thru the years has reduced so many "big" Packards to under-performing, even dangerous junk, it does not surprise me that few have ANY idea how a properly maintained Senior Packard should behave.

As for alignment, the provisions for toe-in adjustment have not changed down thru the years, thus are obvious.

As to the caster, and the camber adjustment, while quite different from modern practice, any half-way competent "front end" man should be able to figure it out. Adding or removing "shims" is how it is done.

The copy of the manual you posted shows a "bare bones" dash.

The one "Andi" posted is from a car with factory-installed options. On "Andi"s, the center two knobs are for the factory-installed radio (that's the center dial). The two center main knobs are - left knob is "on/of" and volume. The little lever on that knob is the "bass-treble" control. The right knob turns the station selector. The little lever is the "range/sensitivity" switch.

Of course there is no radio in the dash - what you see in the center is just the control head. "Bowden style" cables connect what I have discussed above, to the actual radio cabinet bolted to the firewall.

A review of Packard technical and sales literature confirms a buyer was offered an extensive assortment of accessories. Prior to the creation of the "Junior Division" (for the 1935 model year) factory literature did promote dealer's efforts to sell accessories.

Of course in theory a Packard dealer would install pretty much whatever a buyer wanted to make the sale.

After 1934, there was a separation. For the "Junior" Division, Packard had quite a set-up display it sold to dealers, to helped push "add-ons".

The Senior Division sales program (again, concurrent with the creation of the "Junior Division" was quite another matter.

To put it delicately, factory people correctly recognized there were...shall we say..."cultural differences" between the buyers of the Junior and Senior Packards...!

A review of the Senior Divison's "SALESMAN'S DATA BOOK FOR 1938" has several pages with photographs of what could be ordered with the car before it left the factory. Unlike the "Junior Division" literature, it is silent about the possibility, if any, of dealer participation.

Once the big change took place, if there were any provisions for the Senior Division sales folks to do what was acceptable in the "Junior" Division, I am not aware of it.

option - factory-installed heater & defroster

how sad - the guy has TWO incidences of connecting rod bearing failure, and STILL hasn't figured out why Packard went to copper-lead "insert" type rod bearings for 1935 & later production.....!