Ride- For the 53 model year it was decided to offer a limited number of Derham Formals. According to a handwritten response from Enos Derham to the second owner (the Packard relation) twenty five were made for the US market and several went overseas. Turns out this was a one year marketing attempt to regain a part of the luxury market. I believe the cars were randomly sent to Derham for modification. They were given the designation 2653 although they are 2652s . My paint is black ,code X,and interior is 801 tan. 802 light green and 803 gray were also available. A drivers compartment divider window was also available for an additional $245. It could be had as power or roll up window. The cost of a Derham was around $6700.

I am also assuming the purchaser could have a certain amount of customization done. eg the divider window, the body and top color. At least one other car had the cream colored top- a photograph of that car at Zell Motors in Baltimore is here on the website. All others that I am aware of had the black top with black paint except for the yellow one in the Neal book. By randomly I mean if you wanted black and tan they pulled a black and tan, black and gray or black and light green. I don't know if the cars had to be ordered by a certain date in 1952 and sent as a group to Derham or did this continue through 53. A question Robert Neal never answered for me.

I have all the original delivery info to the original owner who picked the car up on Feb 28, 1953 from Ostendorf Motor Car Co, the Buffalo Packard dealership. The second owner (Packard relation) purchased the car from his estate.

And yes, the car does have rust. Arrangements are being made to get southern fenders for it, have already gotten a complete trunk floor from Ross Miller.

I supplied information to Mr. Neal for the 51-54 book including scans of Derham correspondence and received my copy of the book when it was first available.

Steve- Where did you see it on Transit? I think you mention several years ago it was toward the Southtowns.

Thanks, looks like an interesting read. When I start looking through the letters I will post any mention of James and William.

Thanks 55PackConv, the tow company came highly recommended, they didn't even scuff the right side white walls on curbing next to the garage door.

FredKanter Thanks very much.

PTV It is a rubberized canvas that I believe was made by Goodyear.

O_D All four covers are the same. I remember you sending me info several years ago this car was built late Nov 52, so using left over 52 parts or something else to differentiate the Formal offering for 53 from the regular Senior?

Thanks 51. Will need to finish getting my space into shape and a new chimney pipe out the roof. The old brick one came down when new roof went on barn. The plan for this year is to start soaking every nut and bolt I plan on touching with the acetone and ATF mix.

Thanks for all the kind words and I would like to thank everyone who has been posting about their projects and cars over the last five years I have been looking at this great resource/site. It has given me a great deal of insight to Packard engineering design that will help me make intelligent (I hope) decisions and choices as I work on the car. My plan is to keep it completely original.

Unfortunately the woman I bought the car from has gone into assisted living. She is the wife of the second owner and had told me his mother was a sister to the Packard brothers. Her daughter had put a number of cartons of family documents to the curb after an estate sale so my GF called her to see if that was what she wanted done with them. Short story is there is a lot of Packard family correspondence here. I haven't had a chance to go through it yet but it looks like I will be taking a drive to Warren O to give to the Packard Museum. Found the obit from late owner's mother and I quote "James W. Packard, the inventor of the Packard automobile, was her cousin". Goes on to say that her family had a summer home on Chautauqua Lake NY where the inventor also lived. So that is finally straightened out and corrected.

I am happy to report some news on my Derham Formal. I was finally able to get things in line to get the car moved from the former owners garage across the street and into my barn last Friday. I had made the appointment over three weeks ago with the tow service to get it flat-bedded into my barn. They sent out a truck that was too big to fit between the houses and then had to send a wrecker and a smaller tilt bed. I had to remove the garage doors by popping the pins as the panel doors swung in from the end frames. The wrecker paid out the cable to get the car out of garage. It rolled free and easy and came down driveway very nicely. It was then pulled up on to the tilt bed and backed right into my space. Friday was a beautiful WNY day and I swear the Derham's grille had turned into a big smile being outdoors for the first time in 35 years (1982). Several people including both the tow car drivers told me that it was the year they were born.

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The article is definitely wrong about the 29 being built in Detroit. Boeing built them in Renton WA and Wichita, Martin in Omaha and Bell in GA. Below is an excerpt of what I wrote several years ago for the Geneseo Air Show program spotlighting the Curtiss Wright P40. It traces GM's ownership of North American and Curtiss.
"Orville Wright, the surviving Wright brother sold his interest of the Wright Co to a group of NY investors. This became The Wright Aeronautical Corporation, which lead in the development of the radial air-cooled engine. The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation came out of WWI the largest American aircraft manufacturer employing approx 18,000 people in Buffalo and 3,000 in Hammondsport. The company went on to produce innovative seaplanes, military and racing aircraft, the D12 engine and propellers. Curtiss seaplanes won two consecutive Schneider Trophy Races in 1923 and 1925. A Curtiss R3C won the Pulitzer Trophy Race in October 1925 and thirteen day later LT Jimmy Doolittle won the Schneider in the same aircraft fitted with floats. The Rolls Royce Kestrel and Merlin engines were based on the D12.
The two companies merged in July 1929 under the direction of Clement M Keys who had set up a large aviation holding company called North American Aviation, which included the Sperry Gyroscope Company and Eastern Air Transport. William Boeing was starting a similar venture on the West Coast called United Aircraft and Transportation Corp, which included Boeing Aircraft, Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Standard propellers and United Airlines.
C M Keys went bankrupt in 1933, and, according to Eddie Rickenbacker's 1967 autobiography, Rickenbacker engineered the sale of thirty percent of North American's stock to General Motors in February 1933. GM then acquired the Allison Engineering Co in 1934.
GM sold North American in 1947. In 1948 Curtiss shut down its aircraft production and sold the assets to North American. Several management books have been written about Curtiss' decline as weak management who were unsure of putting profits back into aviation research and aggressive stockholders who wanted large dividends. The stockholders won." Sound familiar?


Leeedy- Art-Craft Metals a builder of metal office furniture in Detroit, built horizontal stabilizers for the B17. Yankee Lady, the B17 based at Willow Run has Art Craft stabilizers

Dear Garrett,

Fred Kanter was previously banned from this website for similar behavior after a number of complaints. I for one am heartily disappointed he was allowed back. I also feel like a lot of the Kanter postings from his employee are barely above spam. Haven't seen any of the other Packard suppliers having to tout themselves here.

Keep asking your questions and good luck with head. My HMO did not pass on instructions from my cardiologist to my primary physician in Dec 2015 after mitral valve replacement and I had a stroke Jan 2 that put me back in the hospital for six days. Still finding out what works and what doesn't and what I have to re-learn, etc.

Merry Christmas.

Stephen

Gusha,

Perhaps he was also a Curtiss Aeroplane Co dealer. There was a Condor Model 18 transport available around this time.

Stephen

Another good product to consider is Eastman Leather's leather cleaner and their leather "food"to condition the leather. Available through History Preservation Associates in Cherry Hill NJ. historypreservation.com I use it on my old A2 jackets, works great.

Just spoke to my GF who designs infants and childrens clothing- use diluted vinegar and water and do not leave on for any length of time. She says bleach in any dilution will effect the leather and the tanning process.She also just added sunlight as a first step and also a combination of milk and water 1:2 as mildew cleaner.

My sense would be to start with Ivory liquid and distilled water using a brush. The NYS Museum used that as a first step on any fabric or leather they would attempt cleaning when I was there as a visiting curator back in early 90's. Then try the other concoctions. Try in inconspicuous area first.

Do not use Simple Green. Hope this is of some help, good luck with it. Looking forward to seeing your results.

PS Forgot to mention my favorite cleaner Allback Organic Linseed soap available from Viking Sales in Victor NY. This is a very gentle cleaner that can be used in dilution. solventfreepaint.com

Corsa,

Straight Simple Green will remove paint. It needs to sit for quite a while. Might want to try spraying on and then wrapping in SG soaked paper towel or cloth if spraying and letting sit doesn't work. Probably want to try a small test piece first.

I found out it takes paint off of something I only wanted to clean. Sprayed it on to get rid of dirt build up on metal and then forgot about it for a couple of hours. Dirt and most of the paint came off. Also should wear gloves.