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Just bought a 1925 Packard Limo, and need help identifying the model. The VIN # is 210979. It's a straight 8 motor. Seating for 5 in the back (2 seats are foldable) with a glass divider. Also has intercom system to communicate with driver.

Any help will be appreciated.

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Peter,

Welcome aboard, looks and sounds like a great old formal car. Sorry can't help with the specifics but I'm sure there are others who can. If you haven't already done so could you please add your '25 to the Owner Registry with a pic, and known history?

Can you post a picture of the data plate? It will be on the firewall.

Tom

In that era Packard didn't build and market by calendar year but by series, some longer and some shorter than a year. I'm guessing that it's a 2nd series (Feb 1925 to Aug 1926) Eight, body style #256. If so, the engine# should be between 209,000 and 219,999. This would be the first series with the Bijur chassis oiler and Bendix 3-shoe internal expanding brakes. It also would then have the early-style crankshaft which gave rise to the odd firing order (cast into the right rear of the crankcase), the firing order was revised to the almost universal 1-6-2-5-8-3-7-4 beginning with the next series.

I am enclosing a picture of the data plate located on the firewall under the steering wheel. I also took a picture of a number on the left side on the chasis (#211062), so not sure if that is the engine number or what. There was also a number on the steering column (#217645).

Any further help with this will be much appreciated. Thanks!

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I'm not sure how familiar you are with these cars, so let me ramble on a bit and hope it's useful to you. The number on the frame is just that, a frame #, ditto for the steering gear, Packard continued doing this for about another 10 years and all those numbers should be within the same range as the engine #s for that year and series, and the engine# should be the same as the VN number. As they are within the range for a 2nd Series (1925-26) Eight, I'd view that as pretty conclusive. The fact that your car is near the end of the number range strongly suggests that it was built and sold in 1926, though as I've said Packard didn't adhere to calendar year introduction until some years later so I suppose one could call it either a 1925 or a 1926, but the definitive identification is 2nd Series Eight. It also wasn't until a few years later that the VN also was encoded to give year/chassis/body type. Your engine # may be on the driver side, on the aluminum lower crankcase, in the vicinity of the oil filler tube and near the junction of the upper (cast iron) cylinder bores and it should be the same as the VN. Please also measure the wheelbase, should be 143 inches. The only other wheelbase available in the 2nd Series Eight was 136 inches, and there were no 7-passenger body styles available on that chassis. FYI there were 5680 2nd Series Eight produced. If we're correct about the Series and the wheelbase is 143 inches, the proper description of your car would be a Packard Model 2-43 with body style 254 (sedan for 7 pass, no divider window) or 256 (limousine for 7 pass).

Bore and stroke are 3-3/8 x 5, 84 brake horsepower. The 2nd Series started with a multiple disc clutch which was discontinued part-way thru the series, in April 1926. Likewise the later cars had only 30 chassis points lubricated by the Bijur system, as compared to 45 at introduction. These were changes made during the series production. Rear axle ratio 4.66.

I have a friend, a professional restorer who has done numerous Pebble Beach cars, who has 2 Second Series Eights, a Merrimac coupe and a Murphy disappearing top convertible. Both are quite original and the Merrimac was driven last year from Seattle to Pebble Beach, probably over 1000 miles, w/o incident. Send me a PM if you want his contact information. And best of luck with the car, it's quite a wonderful piece of history.

EDIT- I should have pointed out that there were 8 body styles on 2-36 chassis and 4 on the 2-43 chassis, and of course naked chassis sold to coachbuilders as well.