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I recently spotted a 1938 Packard 12 7-pass sedan in a repair shop in the western suburbs of Philadelphia near my home. I dont need to tell you how rare this car is. When I went back to the shop during working hours I talked to the mechanic there. He stated the car was towed out of the garage where it was with instructions by the owner to get it running. Cosmetically the car needs everything-new paint, chrome, interior work. The car however had an extremely solid body and frame, all the doors close correctly and nothing is missing. The last year the car was on the road was 1966, according to its long since expired PA inspection sticker, and the odometer reads 67K .Well the mechanic called me back with a message from the owner saying make him an offer; Im not even sure what kind of money he'd be talking about $10K-$15K-$20K? I dont want to insult the gentleman by low-balling an offer, but I really want the car-also I realize a considerable financial investment would have to be made to get this car driveable-The tires on it look ancient, the carb rebuilt and fuel pump most likely would need to be replaced and the gas tank cleaned out just for starters.Can anyone out there give me some advice? As son as I get pictures back from developing I will post them.

The first thing I'd suggest is to recognize the possibility that the reason the car was laid up in 1967 could be engine problems. There's a big difference between getting the engine to run, and a good-running engine, and unless you're a very competent engine mechanic yourself and it might only needs minor work, there are only a handful of folks in the country capable of top-notch engine rebuilding for a Twelve and the cost can easily be North of $30,000. So I'd do a very extensive evaluation of the engine condition before buying.

Parts are not inexpensive, so even if the engine was in reasonably condition, I'd plan on having an amount at least equal to what you paid for the car to be available to get it roadworthy, if you have some left over for some cosmetic issues all the better.

And of course a lot depends on your final expectations for the car - that is, are you looking to restore or for a presentable touring car?

It's all based on condition. We need to know more, and preferably photos. One person's definition of "needs restoring" is identical to another person's idea of "don't touch its originality."
Yes, expensive. To rebuild the engine alone, you're looking at a minimum of about $12,000, and that would be if you had it done economically by cutting a few corners (although professionally). More often than not, I hear people spending more than twice that to properly rebuild a Twelve.

Dear Wauhop:

38 twelve is a beautiful car. It has the final development of the Alexis de Sakhnovsky dashboard, and was Turnquist's favorite driving Packard. But let's get down to some hard numbers. In 1966 that was a $1500 car. Tops. Compounding at 4% provides around $9,500.

So to borrow a phrase from a well known CCCA old timer - "$10,000 if he's nice".

This is about liking a car and leave the money to the millionaires. Just make sure it doesn't run hot. If it does you may need a block.

I'd even ask that it be delivered.

I agree that the 1938 Twelve 7-passenger sedan is a beautiful and rare car, but I think you have to figure out what it will realistically cost to get the car back into even reasonable touring condition. While the other gentlemen focused on the engine, I'd turn your attention to the other areas that you said needs restoration: the paint, interior and chrome. Redoing chrome well is certainly not cheap and a lacquer paint job (which I believe was what came out of the factory) will cost about twice as much as a decent enamel paint job. As for the interior, you can end up spending as much as the cost of a very nice, good running Packard from the 1950s. Does the wood need replacing? Are all of the dash components there? Will the door panels need work? When you remove the carpets, is there rust on the floorboards? And have you priced fabric for the seats lately? Some of the original materials can cost a small fortune.

I guess my point is, even if you can get a screaming deal on this car, you may end up screaming when you find out what the real costs will be. And while the '38 may be one of the best Packard rides, in the end the car may drive you elegantly to the poor house.

The car is worth more in parts than it is on one piece, but you have to find buyers before you can scrap it. If it has a fuel pump there may be someone who will buy it just for that one part. I hope this mechanic understands what he is handling. If he breaks that fuel pump the car isn't worth much anymore.

Years ago I remember a 31 Caddy Sixteen that came out of storage. The interior was gone save for blankets, but they used it on a limited basis and the condition didn't matter because it was a complete running V-16. They cleaned it up as best they could and it had real charm, especially the radiator center bar that declared "V-16".

It depends on what wauhop wants to do with it.

Well I certainly dont want to be driven to the poor house. Anyway I called the garage back today to ask some more questions about the car. The following atory I recieved was both tragic and poignant: apparent the most recent owner purchased the car with the intention of restoring it; both he and his wife were killed in a car accident in Florida. The Executor of the estate is responsible for the car. The car was taken to the shop with instructions to get it running: the machanic stated that may take some time as he is quite busy and of course he has a garage full of regular cars that need repair. I told him I cant make him an offer till I can hear the car run-right now it will crank and the engine is free. I would also like to know why the car was taken off the road in 1966, since that was in the infancy of the old car hobby My only guess is that a part the car needed to run went bad and was unavailable at that time but I dont know. Anyway did anyone see the 38 Packard 12 on ebay-MY GOD WHAT DID HE DO TO THAT CARS INTERIOR!?! SUEDE are you kidding me and the carpet in it looks like the pelt of a DEAD GOAT! I called Wal-Mart and my pictures will be ready on MON as soon as they are I will post them.

Well I would want to fix it up to the point where I could drive it with pride that said I dont have the funds for a concours level restoration but I would want the car to look good. I have a friend who owns a body shop here in Phila that had done some really nice paintwork so That would probably be about 10K. I checked all the doors to make sure they closed correctly because I do understand these cars have much structural wood in the body. I would probably handle as much of the mechanical work as I could-carb rebuild new wheel cylinders rebuilding the master-having the tank cleaned out, water pump ect.I would also want the interior redone IN THE CORRECT UPHOLSTERY-not like that abomination thats for sale on ebay. As for chrome Franklin plating here in Phila is reasonable and they do great work-I suppose the biggest piece to rechrome would be the bumpers.

Did you mean Frankford Plating (on Orthodox Street) and not Franklin Plating? Frankford has been for years one of the best in the business. I haven't done business with then in the last few years but when I did, even the most pitiful pitted pot metal pieces were superbly restored and plated. Only complaint I ever had with them was their estimates of completion dates.

I used to get stuff like that running while they waited.

It needs oil, it needs spark, it needs compression, it needs water.

For fuel I used to bypass the system and run a portable electric pump straight to the carburetor from a bucket. Unless the thing has been sitting outside or in a junkyard it doesn't need a lot of fancy schmancy mechanical work.

If the coils are shorted they can be bypassed with units from NAPA taped to the hood rods.

It sounds like it could be a very good car. I used to see Packard Twelves like that float around for a few thousand dollars and the problems began only when they tried to drive to Detroit and they blew up.

Another risk is that mechanic is going to take his sweet xss time because he wants to put a lien on it for himself.
If you want the freaking thing then look over the engine and if everything is in order take a risk. As long as you don't overpay you can get your money back if the thing is complete.