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

Hood latch color........Over the past 65 years I have owned seven 1941 Packards that had orginal paint left in the grooves, and it was body color.You can also check the 1941 factory catalogs for the 110/120 and 160/180 which shows body color. On the 1941 110 the 110 numerals on the latch are always red....

I agree with Darrin, I have had a couple of original 41s and the hood latch paint has been body color, beyond that I have about 20 sets of latches and about 3/4 of them have non black paint on them. I also did a lot of research on 41s as I was restoring my Bohman & Schwartz limo, especially looking at original cars and found them to be body color, along with the paint in the side grills. Often there is body color paint when you take the emblem off also.

"The side grilles are larger this year and feature an unusual combination of bright chrome and body color."

Source: Packard Data Book for 1941, Page 12.

If you haven't downloaded this valuable information source from the Packard Literature and Manuals section of this website, you should.

Thank you Dave Mitchell and Darrin180. I appreciate it.

thanks guys - another job on the to-do list!

i read your post about packards where you state you have about 20 hood latches. would you be interested in selling a pair, mine are really trashed with pits and unable to be rechromed. if so contact me at ejrobic@charter.net

thanks

Wow! This is the first I have heard that the side hood latches for the 120s. 160s and 180s should be in BODY color. All I have ever seen was black.

Our latest CCCA regional magazine has a 1941 160 on the front cover and owned by the past president - the hood latches are black and not ivory.

The 1941 senior brochure an authoritative source to me as: (1) it contains drawings of cars not photos of cars (2) some of the images are wrong, e.g. all the cars are shown with painted, not chrome-plated headlamp rings. Another example is that the brochure shows the rear fender welting in body color. Yet I was gigged at a CCCA judging for having body color and one judge said it should be black. That got me a score of 99.75 pts. instead of 100 pts.

You guys have seen and done a lot more than I have, but I would not mind seeing photos of some of these body colored latches,

Reviewing the 1941 photo archive here (where there are light colored cars) only two are in body color - a 180 custom-bodied Lebaron and a 120 woodie. All the rest are black.