Packard Forum Index » General

Terry Martin, founder of the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio, passed away on Sunday, February 10, 2019 at the age of 82.

Terry wrote the first four chapters of Automobile Quarterly's book "Packard - A History of the Motor Car and the Company," covering the Packard family and the cars during the Warren, Ohio years. In the early 1980s he restored the original 1903 "Old Pacific" for the Henry Ford Museum. In 1983, drove his own 1903 (named "Old Pacific II") from San Fransisco to New York, retracing Tom Fetch's route of 80 years earlier. In 2003, he once again drove (and trailered) "Old Pacific II" coast to coast.

Without Terry, we would not know as much as we do now about Packard's early history. His obituary can be found at:

https://www.lanefuneralhomes.com/obituary/Theodore-McCarl-Terry-Martin/Leavittsburgh-Ohio/1834731

I am deeply saddened at the loss of this great and dedicated Packard historian. His tireless work in preserving Packard history will be missed.

I was there at San Francisco's Cliff House for the send-off of the cross-country trip and was even recently looking at the photos of that event. Very sorry to hear of Terry's death.

Attach file:

---

  (421.31 KB)


  (317.25 KB)


  (322.52 KB)

I believe I first met Terry when he came East at the invitation of the Eastern Packard Club to give a presentation at the Duck Cedar Inn in Tuxedo NY of his historic reenactment of Old Pacific's transcontinental trip, I guess that was 1984 or 1985. And we met a few times after that, at the Centennial in 1999 and again a few times after that at the museum. The hobby has lost a great historian, author and a driving force behind saving Packard history for future generations.

Although I never had the pleasure to know Terry Martin, I read his accounts of the reenactment of the Old Pacific transcontinental trip of 1983 in awe of his courage to embark on such a major endeavor. His commitment to the preservation of Packard history has few equals. We're all richer for his efforts in life, much to celebrate. RIP Mr. Martin.

Steve