Packard Forum Index » General

Hi all,

I saw The Gangster Squad last night. In it, a 22nd series (Custom 8) made several appearances. ...although they stated that the year of the movie was 47. That would be a little early for a 22nd series, wouldn't it?

Also, was a line in the movie about a captain, who had just purchased a "new Packard out in the parking lot". I'm surprised and impressed that they didn't refer to a Cadillac. As everyone today knows what those are.

Today it's 2 degrees in Chicago! A far cry from 10 days ago or so when a poster from the Chicago area took his car out in 50 degree weather.

Stay warm!

Mark

P.S. I liked the movie. ...although it was a little "comic stripish" maybe. If you see it, wait until after the opening scene to start eating your popcorn!

not if it's late in the year

That would be a little early for a 22nd series, wouldn't it?

According to data in Robert Neal's book, 19,641 22nd series cars were produced by the end of 1947. Production of the convertibles began in April 1947 with other body styles following somewhat later.

"Gangster Squad," and doesn't the lame, comic book, teenybopper title tell you all you need to know, is set in 1949. The recent New Yorker review panned it, and they know a worthwhile movie, even tolerable, fun trash, which this movie isn't. Don't hold your breath waiting for Hollywood's happening kids, wizened mallbrats, to get it right when it comes to cars.

There's a nice scene of a silver or gray '46 or '47 Super/Custom slinking up to a club, then murmuring 'round the corner about 72 minutes into the Robert Mitchum 1947 "Out of the Past," which is a real movie with adults, including a very young Kirk Douglas as the sleazy local crime boss.

There was a '41 LeBaron sport brougham, and later a bathtub limo, in The Godfather, but not a single 1941-47 Clipper, perhaps underscoring that these cars were really under the collector radar until later in the '70s.

In the Godfather there were two 41 Lebaron's. A good one and a bad one. The bad one was used for the execution scene. But props shot the wrong windshield. So they paid for a new windshield in the good car and then put a hole in the bad car's windshield.

The 40 Buick Limited Limo was smashed up three times on the 59th street bridge before they got the scene right.

The scene where Sonny was throwing gravel all over in a Lincoln Continental was Gene Beardlee's car. When he saw the movie he got really mad over that.

Still want to put your car in the movies?

While we're discussing movies, my wife caught the fact that in "Patton" with George C. Scott, a 48 Packard was waiting for him out front of his headquarters in England during WWII. I was quite pleased with her education.

My son caught the same error was he was about 12. I had never noticed it. I was quite proud of him.