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

Did the VERY early Packards use magneto ignition and what was the last year (approximate is fine) for mag ignition used in production????

How many cyclinders does such mag equiped engines (if any) have???

The early stuff through 03 used battery ignition and buzz coils.

The four cylinder stuff started using battery and buzz coils to start and magneto to run. You started on the batteries and switched to magneto after the motor was running.

Now you might wonder - how hard is it to start that big Model 30 and it's 465 cubic inches using the hand crank?

The answer is: With a little practice, they crank right over. I always liked showing off my muscle by ignoring the add on starter motors that are so often fitted to those cars. In fact one time I just finished one of those things and made a bet with one of the student helpers that it would crank over by hand in two turns. It did despite that it was towed in and I had never heard it run.

I'm not a big brass era car guy, but cranking over the big Packards by hand is really alot of fun. I never drove them except around the block for a test. And if you really want to show off get a 443 and if you just crack the priming cups you should be able to crank that big Custom 8 by hand as well.