Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Question: I would like to know where my car was originally sold and who was the first owner. Is there anyway that the serial # could reveal this information? I would like to trace it's history back. JE

Hi JE: First off, unless it's any extremely early car (pre-1915 or so), the key identifying number is a vehicle number, not a serial number.

Chances of identifying the original owner are pretty slim, almost zero, but worth a long shot. One way is to track down all the prior owners and if enough of them are still on this side of grass and established the history prior to their ownership, you might get lucky. Also a very slim chance by contacting The Packard Club's roster keeper for your particular year and series.

You don't say what year and model you have, if your car is an extremely rare model (like one of only a dozen or so built) the histories of some such cars have been established, but generally not for the bread-and-butter models.

Not much survives in the way of original delivery information. I have some limited data (about 800 cars out of about 1.5 million) from 4 or 5 dealers (out of more than 1000) and I don't think anyone has a larger database; if you give me the theft-proof and vehicle numbers I'd be glad to take a look, but don't get your hopes up.

Thank you. The car is a 1950 Packard. Actually, it was built in the Fall of 1949. A renumbered 1950. I traced it back to 2002 but I couldn't go any further back. It would be interesting to trace the ownership back to the first owner and the first dealer but I guess, that part of the alure is what has been lost in the fog of time. Leaves a lot to the imagination. JE