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

Hello everybody.
I am writing from Germany. I am new to this community, since I have bought my first Packard only a few days ago.

Now I am entering into the procedures to import the Packard to Germany. There are some "hurdles" to cross.
German custom authorities require a kind of proof that the car is a "classical" car of historical value. ;)

One positive criterium is already the age of the car. 30 years are required as a minimum. The 22 series has already more than 60 years.


But age alone is not enough. They also require rarity and as much originality as possible.

If have found here on this website full of information, that of my 2265-9 Deluxe Eight Club Sedan something like 27'438 cars have been built.
On the other hand I have only found 2 registered owners on this site.

Does anybody here have more information or a link to some source, where I could find, how many of the 2265-9 are still around today, if such is existing at all ???

Thanks a lot
Alexander

The production number of 27,438 for the 22nd series 1949 Deluxe Eight includes both the club sedan and the touring sedan. Packard did not keep records of production by individual body style during those years but FAR MORE of the sedans were produced than the club sedans. Just how many more is unknown but the production sequence number (the XXXX of the vehicle number, 2365-9-XXXX) started at 2001 so they made at least as many as the highest number you can find on an existing car. The highest one I've come across in my research is 11,849 and is a VERY late car, which means at least 9,849 were built but probably not many more.

As to how many are still existing, I'd suggest contacting the Packard Club of Germany and having a member consult the international roster of existing Packards to see how many are listed. I believe there are at least 8 in the club, so perhaps there may be 2 or 3 times that many out there, perhaps even more but it's still a quite uncommon body style and a worthy car to preserve.

The production of the DeLuxe 8 for 1948 22nd series was about 47,890 and these cars are essentially identical except for the vehicle number and motor number series. It would be reasonable to guess that about the same percentage of them were club sedans.

Owen, thank you very much for your input.

The number on my car is 2265-9-17219, which means that it is the 15218th car (17219-2001=15218)produced in this series.
Consequently it must be a VERY VERY late car of this series ;)

I will try to contact the German Packard Club (if active) and see, if I can find out more about the existing number of such Packards.

I will post it, if I have more info.

Thanks Alexander

Alexander, one other thing to consider if you really want to dig into this. Some "left-over" unsold 22nd series cars had the VN tags taken back by the factory and new tags issued with -9- and higher sequence numbers. If fact the same thing happened again with some left-over and unsold 1949 23rd series cars. They made a jump in the sequence number and I believe Bob Neal has researched this extensively in preparation for his upcoming new book on the 22nd/23rd series cars and I understand his book will shed new light on this. Thus, substracting 2001 from a sequence number, if it was a renumbered car, will give an incorrectly high estimate of the number of that particular body produced.

ah.....very interesting Owen.
The more I dig into this, the more this is getting interesting. I am keen to find out about it, whatever is possible. I like this kind of research, where various number of puzzle parts from different sources fall together one day into a full mosaique.
As a"newbie" I am not (yet) aware of who Bob Neal really is, but I will start researching :)
Thanks again for your input
Alexander

I'm sure you'll find plenty on Robert J. Neal, but to get you started he's a well-known author and very intensive researcher and has at least 3 books on Packards which you should find summarized in the "Bookshelf" section of this site. His first two volumes, "Packards at Speed" and "Master Motor Builders" are great reference works, one might even call them monumental works, and he has since published a book on the Liberty aircraft engines of WWI. I believe his current work on the 22nd/23rd series will be his 4th endeavor.

Bob and I have exchanged quite a bit of data over the past 12 months or so, I was collecting for my (now published) 2 articles on the BDNs or thief-proof numbers, and all the data I collected on the 22nd/23rd series I shared with Bob, and he likewise back to me.

Do take the time to read the reviews on his works and consider adding them to your Packard library.

Thank you Owen

I have just sent you a message

Quote:G'day Alexander,
to PackardInfo and congratulations on the purchase of your Club Sedan.

G'day mate
thanks for that. The more info I aquire, the more excited I get.
Greetings from G-O-Germany to Aussie
Alexander