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There are 2 oft-mentioned explanation for wrong parts being on a car. First that they used leftover parts from the previous year, second that someone at the factory "found" some parts lying around and put them on a car. If you know how car manufacturing works you'd know that both are ridiculous. IF they do use parts from a previous year, such as on the early '51 model 200 fuel pumps, it is noted in the parts book.

This is a car built for a Packard family member so all bets are off, just as the roof treatment is not the way it left E Grand Blvd the hubcaps may not be either. Perhaps it was "special order" on request from the family or after the car was built someone wanted them switched.

I'm sure it's on this site somewhere,but;

How many Derhams were produced each year?

Were they special order, or all the same color exterior and interior?

I can not open the pictures and zoom on the iPad, so, does this car have rust on the driver side behind the headlight?

Any interior pictures? Exterior black? Interior brown?

That looks like a great car and you're lucky to have some history on it.

I look forward to your restoration.

Hi Stephen

Glad to see your '53 Derham Formal Sedan restoration project and blog is underway. It nice to know a car I glimpsed nearly a half century ago at a Transit Road garage survives and is being restored. Back then, I had just received my copy of the Turnquist book, was absorbing it, learning about cars I had no idea existed or had only seen for sale in the back pages of Motor Trend and in Cars & Parts magazines. Sighting of rarities were always an unexpected delight, an event which occurred far more frequently on small used car lots and repair garages then.

If you remove either the headliner or the padded top cover, I would be interested to see how Derham accomplished closing the window opening in the details of their work. The rear window appears to be flat glass which creates a thick 'brow' at the top of the opening. It's surprising they didn't source a smaller curved glass backlight from either the 21st - 22nd Series or some other car brand.

As Fred points out, factories were primarily concerned with building cars to the specifications for the model year at hand, documented any running changes. Additional or substituted options or equipment occurred at the dealer level or at the custom coachbuilder's shop in this case. Being a custom order special by a customer with Packard family connections, one can bet the dealer did his utmost to please in every detail.

Mr. Neal's 1951-1954 Packard book has all the definitive answers on these Derham customs plus much more. It is a worthwhile addition to your library even if you don't own this series of Packards.

Steve

You'll get the most thorough and best-researched information on the Derhams from Bob Neal's book on the 1951-54 Packards - they are covered rather extensively along with the other customs and semi-customs of that era.

If you don't have the book, you really should consider it while they are still available.

Quote:

The Derham cars from 1940 to 1954 have always been among my favorite Packards and I can't recall ever seeing one WITHOUT the roof treatment. Of course it didn't leave E Grand Blvd that way as it was sent to Derham who did the work.

Hi Don

Derham's bread and butter in the postwar years came primarily from applying padded formal top treatments to a variety of production sedans. A black luxury car with a tan/camel-colored padded roof treatment became something of their trademark. They performed more extensive modifications to a limited number of cars such as 'hardtop-ing' a few limousines and some prototype building.

A number of Cadillac 60 Specials and 75 limousines, Lincoln Cosmopolitans and Capris, Continental Mark II's, Crown Imperials and even Buick Roadmasters survive with their work.

Check out the site coachbuilt.com for their history.

Steve

My point was that I KNOW the roof treatment was added after it left the factory ( we own a 37 Su 8 Derham) and that the hubcaps were most likely changed afterwards.

Ride- For the 53 model year it was decided to offer a limited number of Derham Formals. According to a handwritten response from Enos Derham to the second owner (the Packard relation) twenty five were made for the US market and several went overseas. Turns out this was a one year marketing attempt to regain a part of the luxury market. I believe the cars were randomly sent to Derham for modification. They were given the designation 2653 although they are 2652s . My paint is black ,code X,and interior is 801 tan. 802 light green and 803 gray were also available. A drivers compartment divider window was also available for an additional $245. It could be had as power or roll up window. The cost of a Derham was around $6700.

I am also assuming the purchaser could have a certain amount of customization done. eg the divider window, the body and top color. At least one other car had the cream colored top- a photograph of that car at Zell Motors in Baltimore is here on the website. All others that I am aware of had the black top with black paint except for the yellow one in the Neal book. By randomly I mean if you wanted black and tan they pulled a black and tan, black and gray or black and light green. I don't know if the cars had to be ordered by a certain date in 1952 and sent as a group to Derham or did this continue through 53. A question Robert Neal never answered for me.

I have all the original delivery info to the original owner who picked the car up on Feb 28, 1953 from Ostendorf Motor Car Co, the Buffalo Packard dealership. The second owner (Packard relation) purchased the car from his estate.

And yes, the car does have rust. Arrangements are being made to get southern fenders for it, have already gotten a complete trunk floor from Ross Miller.

I supplied information to Mr. Neal for the 51-54 book including scans of Derham correspondence and received my copy of the book when it was first available.

Steve- Where did you see it on Transit? I think you mention several years ago it was toward the Southtowns.

Hi Stephen

Here I go relying on long-term memory: It might have been on our 1966 trip to the Canadian National Exhibition at Toronto. My father typically drove Rt. 78 when going to Buffalo as he had for a local feed mill after the war. When we passed through East Aurora, I noted that Kelver Motors was still selling Studebakers, had a new 1966 in the showroom although it was August, months after the announcement of the end of production in March.

After turning on Transit, I spotted your car at one of the many small repair garages along it maybe a mile or so up that road. I don't think it was as far north as Holiday (or was it Tunmore) Oldsmobile. That stretch is so changed and built-up now, it's impossible to be sure where the garage was.

Seeing the image in my mind's eye, it was parked off to the right of the garage doors, nose in so the padded top was immediately visible, no other cars were parked close enough to obscure the view. I knew that Derham customized 1950's luxury cars in that manner from those advertised in popular car magazines. Receipt of my copy of the Turnquist book would shortly confirm what I saw. My instant impression was the upper surfaces were still clean, the paint held a shine but the lower areas showed deterioration from the rigors of heavy road salt application typical during Niagara frontier winters. It still looked far better than what few postwar Packards I was encountering by the mid-late 1960's which were pretty rough and ratty.

At least it didn't live out its days as one dull dark green 200 did: the feed mill mentioned above was an active place in those years, farmers bought cheap old used large sedans to use as pickups. Preferred cars seemed to been 1949-'54 Mopars but one fellow had that 200, which with trunk lid up and the rear seat out, was loaded down and packed full with 50 lbs sacks of feed as much as it would take. It was squatted right down but still ran smooth and quiet, albeit with a wisp of blue oil smoke after every shift ("used oil is good enough for her" old farmer mantra). That tough old 200 lasted four or five years, looking more tired and rough each time I saw it. So, Ross isn't the first practical fellow to see the utility in Packard 200's!

Steve