A lot of leg room in the back!

Just a random notion I have wondered about for a long time.

Has anyone replaced a Packard camshaft with one made by Clay Smith or Edelbrock?

I don't know what it is either, but I think it's pretty cool nonetheless!

We can't rule out alien abduction either.

I just hope those guys don't get stranded Somewhere West of Laramie ...

"Somewhere West of Laramie ..." (Jordan car advertisement)

There are so many things about this "crazy adventure" that truly bother me. First, taking a 64-year-old car that has been sitting for years and attempting to drive it almost 2,000 miles is definitely crazy. Like they say about committing a crime: If you can think of 90 things out of 100 that can go wrong, don't do it!

I have a 1955 Clipper and I can tell you that even when I drove short distances things sometimes went wrong. Packards are reliable cars compared to their peers, but that does not mean they are nearly as reliable as late-model cars. Unless these guys are knowledgeable mechanics (which, by their posts, I doubt), counting on local repair shops along the road for emergency fixes might be counting too much. Take the Ultramatic transmission. Good luck finding many people who can actually repair one and if they can, expect to have to fork out more than $1,000.

The second point I would make about this adventure is their choice of the time of the year. I cannot see any semi-direct route from Oregon to Oklahoma that does not go through states that subject to intense winter weather. I would be concerned about driving through these states in my 2012 Infiniti, let alone a 1953 Clipper. Picture those the driver gripping the steering wheel while trying to see through a fogged-up windshield as vacuum controlled windshield wipers swish back and forth while snow drifts across the highway.

I sincerely hope that these guys are alright and that they came to their senses before they got themselves in way over their heads. When I was their age, I used to say, "No guts, no glory." Now I prefer to use my brain instead of my cajones.

Unless your mailing addressed happened to be in the Hamptons or Beverly Hills, there was definitely a down side to driving around in extremely expensive, flashy cars in the Great Depression. Not only were the driving conditions of most of America's highways not in the best of shape, but when people are reduced to living hand to mouth, seeing people in high-end cars was a little like rubbing salt into the wound.

My mother told me that in the small Mississippi town where she was born, she remembered men in shabby clothes coming up to the back door of her house asking for any kind of work. She said her mother would tell them there wasn't any work, but would always send them on their way with a sandwich and something to drink.

At that time, my grandfather had a good business and would probably have had no problem affording a Packard or Pierce-Arrow, but he chose to drive a Ford sedan instead.

Anytime people are faced with hard economic times, luxury car brands are the first to suffer. There is no shame in driving a modest car during those times instead of flaunting one's obvious wealth. This might account in part for Packard producing cars like the Light 8 and the 120 and 110 in the mid-1930s. A person could still drive a Packard and not be a snob about it.

For those of you who say the 110 and 120 brought down the stature of Packard, you might want to remember that there were a lot of empty factories and unemployment lines containing employees of companies like Pierce-Arrow, Marmon, Stutz, and Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg.

BDC:

That stolen Patrician is probably hiding out in a parking lot at the local shopping center cleverly camouflaged by assorted Hondas, Toyotas and various minivans ...

I have a frame that is supposed to go on top of the battery, but I can't find the rods that are supposed to screw the frame/battery down. Like you say, to make this work you have to use a hard-to-get battery group.

After a while I decided, screw it, and bought a high-output battery and used a heavy duty strap to hold it in place. In my humble opinion, it is a lot better to have a great battery in your car than one that is period correct -- especially if you intend to drive your car.

After all, who really cares one iota about a battery hold down anyway as long as whatever you have really works!

Those young ladies look like they are having a lot more fun on top of that DAF than any driver would have behind the wheel! With its blistering 2-cylinder 34 horsepower engine, I'm surprised it didn't bring more world recognition to those DAFfy Dutch!!!