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

My 1937 115-C 1088 had welting on the rear fenders that was the same color as the body when I removed them 35 years ago. It is probably too difficult to duplicate so everyone just uses black welting now. The underside of the fender was painted black.

Photographic record is pretty clear. Colored fender welting thru 1937 and black thereafter. However, nothing is absolute with Packard and if they were running short on the line in 1940, sure, they would start using earlier stock. Heck, even today they throw wrong color parts on cars to keep the line going. However, both black and colored was being used even on the same car. In the individual custom catalogue for Dietrich there is clearly black, but in factory photos - colored. So if someone tries to dictate what the fender welt should be, if they weren't working on the Packard line that year they are full of bull.

As for firewall color, that is one of the few places where Packard is consistent - black through 1934. Cheap black primer wash on the undersides of the hood. I see a lot of cars today with expensive restorations that need firewall work because they are not black. As for the hood undersides, personally if the car is pre-1935 and the customer wanted car color on the hood backsides I wouldn't much care because it's not very intrusive.