Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

The car I am purchasing is listed as a 1937 Packard convertable but the data plate shows 1088-5238. Looking that up it should be a coupe. Has someone modified the coupe to a convertable?
The car has been modernized but the body looks to be original. Thoughts?

Attach file:

---

  37convertable.jpg (132.60 KB)

As a California VIN verifier, I would be very leery of buying such a car as it may not be the proper plate.

P.S., I have a 1965 Imperial LeBaron that is very similar to the Imperial Crown in the background!

It's a street rod. I'd highly suspect somebody simply grabbed a better looking plate off a coupe and slapped it on, figuring what difference would it make?

I'd steer clear of that one as well.

What state is the car in? What state is it titled in (if you know)?

In some states like PA it is very difficult to title an untitled or defectively titled car. As a fix, people will buy a junker car of a similar model for cheap that has a clean title, and put the junker's plate on their good car, and register it with that title, knowing that no government/police/insurance official will be able to tell the difference. It's extremely common in some states and I think this is what you have.

Look carefully for damage to the plate around the rivets, bends in the plate that were flattened back out, and rivets of non-original type (like blind rivets).

In my opinion, normally it's "safe" to buy an OLD car like this. If you see something similar on a car made in the past 25 years, run away. But for old cars, many of which have lost titles or even were not required to be titled when purchased (NY state only required them starting 1971, for example), it's pretty common for states where you can't get bonded titles (1/3 of them).

Packard vehicle number data plates were NOT riveted until late postwar.

That's right, they had simple slotted pan head or similar screws which is always the bane of DMVs, especially here in California where they are pickier than most.

And at different times there were two reasons for use of screws. From earlier years on thru the 11th Series and perhaps a year later the key numbers were stamped in purple ink on the reverse of the patent plate. And secondly, beginning with the 8th Series and thru the beginning of the 22nd Series the selling dealer was to mark his dealership name and delivery date (to mark the commencement of the warranty period) on the plate. Though many of the smaller dealers didn't comply or complied with crude methods, the larger ones and factory branches often used factory-supplied stamping dies for this, and removed the plate for this operation.

Well now I know the data plate is a replacement from some other vehicle. I will have to wait and see what is on the title.
I know the car is a Hot Rod but the classic lines of that year packard appeal to me and it was affordable.

Still working on putting together my 1928 526.

Well it doesn't matter if the VN is incorrect, the sale was a SCAM.
The ad on Trovit was fake and the seller and website was trying to take my money for a car that they did not have. I called the dealer that advertised the car also and he said the car was in his showroom in Denver and the real asking price was $91,000. My bank fraud department took a look at my wire transfer and thought it funny that the bank account was a personal one not a corporate one with the name of the brokerage.
They almost got me. They are now being reported to the authorities.

It appears that the whole site is gone now with only some hidden JavaScript containing keywords there.