Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Here is a watercolor I did to document the death of Valdosta Packard dealer John Williams. I hope someone on this site can help me find a way to post it to the dealer album I have contributed to. Requests from the webmaster have gone unanswered.

John Williams died in the fall of 1956. I was fortunate to know his widow, Natalie. She gave me several mementos from the dealership, but she also shared many stories. When Mr. Williams lay on his death bed, he instructed Miss Natalie to make sure that he wasn't carried to the cemetery in a Cadillac. Fortunately, Carson-MacLean still had a 51 Packard Henney. In the distance you can see Miss Natalie's Adriatic Blue and Danube Blue Patrician (with factory air). She drove this car for several more years before eventually buying a "Brand X." Also parked near is a 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. This is merely conjecture, but I can bet that the "competition" came to pay his respects.

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Thanks, John, for sharing your artwork and story to add to what could be quite a collection of Packard dealer stories. The few characters I know would include Wendell Hawkins of Texas, Irv Albrecht of St Louis, and Harry DuBois of Northern Virginia. Most would sell their wares in the massive shadow cast by Earle C. Anthony of the West Coast.

People like these folks burnished the reputation of Packard as they sold them in good times and bad. Because of them, well-healed patrons like my grandmother would not think of buying another brand elsewhere. I'm sure others have a legendary Packard dealer story or two to relate, adding to the lore of the cars we collect.

Your John Williams story reminds me of Henry Ford's last ride in a Packard hearse in April 1947 when no equivalent Lincoln could be found.

Thanks for your commentary and all I can say is "Ahmen." I was lucky enough to know Wendell Hawkins through my good friend Donald Taccone. I was honored to drive Wendell and Donald in my 1956 Patrician to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I have a photograph somewhere. This Packard dealer was a refined, erudite gentleman. And, indeed, he was typical of so many Packard dealers who had to have these qualities because their clientele expected it--just as they expected a Packard to be the ultimate expression of good taste and old money.