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This 34 Packard is for sale on Hemmings and I was wondering if anybody knows anything about it?
Located in Dixon, Illinois, 61021.
Any information would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Richard
Rlamb10769@yahoo.com

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No, I'm not personally familiar with this one. But other than a few minor details to correct, it looks very well done.

I personally deplore the practice of painting over radiator shells that were originally chrome plated.

Oops, I split an infinitive.

What I always wonder is how much damage was done to the poor thing with body shop grinders. Like handmade woodwork in old colonial homes once it is molested it's finished forever.

When I mentioned the practice to someone who owns Chryslers he exclaimed: "Why would anybody do something like that? The chrome radiator shell is the whole front of a Packard. It screams Packard!"

Minor things wrong with it but overall looks pretty good. Wonder what she drives like ?

Have a PACKARD friend that lives 40 miles away from it. If ur truly interested i could ask him if he would go take a lookc for u.

Appreciate the offer but let me see where this goes.
Thanks,
Richard

Personally, I like the painted grille shells on these Packards. The body color shell visually adds to the length of the front and makes the whole design blend together better. I also think painting the headlight pods when having a painted shell better coordinates the style of the front end. It is a beautiful automobile. JWL

Amen. I second JW. Whether Packard always did so or not, painting the grille shell and headlight pods integrates, sleekens, unifies the proceedings, lengthens the car.
Less is more; chrome should be like the seasoning a good cook uses to enhance, not whelm a dish. Packard was then very much an international car, the wide favorite in most of the world's embassies, a paragon of understatement, refinement.
Leave the heavy-handed chrome to Cadillac-ack-ack-ack-ack.

We have to remember that Packard was based in Detroit and often mired in that mentality. It's hardly butchering a car to paint what might've been originally chromed.
Many folks had Derham and others houses further de-chrome their Packards.
Of course, many wealthy folk thought whitewalls gauche, tacky in the day, but that's another discussion. As is foregoing sidemounts, which shorten the car, add weight to already understeering barouches. Like the above pictured '34 coupe, the Car of the Dome and others did just fine sans mounts.

Further afield, some day we'll teach alleged car buffs the difference between discerning and snobbery, and even, drumroll, wait for it .... that cars are better served without bolting on every option simply because it was available from dealers looking for wider margins.

While we're at it, 1935-40 Packards were never two-toned, despite today's virulent yahooism. And you seldom saw fine cars in the day painted bright/look at me/resale red. Magazine ads intended to grab page turners' attention are neither arbiter nor justification.

For factory-bodied cars Packard's standard treatment for the 11th series cars was (1) chromium shell with painted shutters for the Eight, (2) chromium plated shell and shutters for the Super 8, and (3) painted shell and chromium shutters for the Twelve.

For extra cost ($25 IIRC) any combination could be had. Thus the car in question in this thread carries the shell/shutter treatment of a Twelve.

As to options and accessorizing, personally, I believe that for some sedans and especially in the very formal body styles, sidemounts often add a positive to the visual presentation of the vehicle. That said I'm generally not a fan of accessorizing though I have added a single, center-mounted driving light in European fashion to my 1100 to aid a bit in night driving.

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I think the Cadillac and Lincoln clubs have a lot more interest in authentic restorations.

I remember years ago when the body swapping issue came up in the car clubs, mostly because of a certain case of making fake dual cowl phaetons. Many of those cars are now devalued.

I remember seeing a 34 Packard owned by someone we all know where the owner tried to return the radiator shell to chrome plating. It looked like garbage.

If this practice of grinding up radiator shells on Packards goes the way of body swapping then there will be some problems for anybody who wants to return their car to original.

It's just another case of fake Packard history being made up.

Dave, didn't all 34's have chrome acorn nuts on the head studs?

Richard

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