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

Hi

Leafing through some old Cars & Parts magazines, this came to my attention noted on the cover. Whether this is THE '31 845 Dietrich Sport Sedan shown last year at Pebble Beach is unknown to me. Whatever the case, it's amazing that such a significant car would come to such a state. Even more amazing is that Packard enthusiast at the time were treating it as a parts car! Thankfully, it was saved by a perceptive, intelligent Packard man then for us to enjoy now!

Steve

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Interesting and thanks for posting. Do you have a good picture to post of the finished car as it appeared after restoration or at Pebble?

Hey that's a great picture. I had no idea that car was near scrapping, but that's not the half of it.

How about an 8000 mile Packard 8 town car that was torched for parts?

I could go on, and on, and on.

Ted Kavenagh bought a nice original Packard sedan for $25 because he needed the hood ornament, he drove it home, removed the hood ornament, and then had trouble getting his money back.

Once I was having lunch with George Jepson and he lamented at how many Packard sedans he had cut up for parts.

That's the way things were back then. Although I'm glad the Dietrich was saved and I think it's a true custom one off deal. At least according to Turnquist.

Here is a shot from Harrah's. I like it because it doesn't have those chi-chi chrome wheels. However, it looks too good to be the same car.

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Hi

For the 2012 Pebble Beach photos, I Googled Images for the event. A bunch of good ones come up on Flickr. There may be more on VaultCars.com.

Indeed, gentlemen, it's heartbreaking to see the photos of Packards and other Classic that are now lost forever, to scrap drives and just wasteful indifference. Even worse is hearing about those that were scrapped after the war, either because so many pre-war Classic, stored during the war years, glutted the used car market or because those few nascent car collectors had access to far more than their limited resource could sustain.

This particular Packard Dietrich sport sedan and a REO Royale also with this same Dietrich body are the few remaining representatives of the nascent 3-box sedan that would come to dominate body architecture in ensuing decades. Along with the 845 sport sedan built in-house for Alvan Macauley, the Stutz Weymann Monte Carlos and twelve Jordon Speedway Z Sportsman Sedans, and in a couple years, the Duesenberg J Rollston Arlington "Twenty Grand" they are the earliest examples. Other Survivor are a few Stutz Monte Carlos showing us the beginnings of 3-box design configuration. If others examples survive, I'd to glad to know of them.

Steve

Three of these Sport Sedans are known to exist. The Nethercutt car and the Hilaride car in California, and the Strong car in Illinois.