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May I get some help identifying the model that this bumper belongs? Eight, Super Eight, 1933, 1934 ???
Thanks.

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It's an Eleventh Series (1934), Twelfth Series (1935), or Fourteenth Series (1936) Eight or Super Eight bumper. The 1933 bumpers did not have the cutout slots.

Don
Thanks for your response.

I believe you are incorrect regarding 1935 and 1936. The "cutout slots" for 1935 and 1936 were painted and only looked like they were cut out.

I see factory photos of 1933 and you seem to be correct, but I also see an awful lot of contemporary pictures of 1933 Eights and Super Eights WITH the cutout bumper ... which is what prompted my original question. Are all the 1933 models using cutout bumpers that I see today incorrect?

It's a 1934 Eight bumper, the Super Eight would have larger end caps. The pivoting luggage rack supports indicate that it's a rear bumper and from a vehicle that had Deluxe Equipment (sidemounts and trunk rack). Note that some (early?) '34 bumpers, both front and rear, are two-piece with left and right joined with a lap joint under the center fascia plate.

Thank you, David.
And what about all the 1933 Packards I find with the "1934-looking" bumpers? Factory upgrade, owner restoration preference???

West, never seen any documentation about a factory upgrade that would explain this. I've just looked thru photos of the 1933 Packards in the Showroom on the PAC site, Making of Modern Michigan at MSU site, my own fairly sizeable collection of photos, and on this site's Photo Archive and didn't note any with incorrect bumpers.

Might you not be recognizing that 1933 Twelves have a very different bumper from the 1933 Eights and Super Eights in that it is a dual rail assembly, somewhat resembling the 1934 Eight and Super Eight bumpers and a match for the '34 Twelve bumper?

West,
You could very well be correct regarding the '35-6 bumpers as I never inspected them to see if they were painted slots; I'll have to take a closer look at them next time I'm around one. Regarding the '33's, to the best of my knowledge the bumpers should have no slots, painted or otherwise. There are numerous misidentifications of '34's as '33's in publications. For instance, in the Dammann and Wren "Packard" pictorial book, all six illustrations on page 277 are '34's and four of the six on page 278 are also '34's even though they appear in the 1933 chapter. You can tell by the frontal downward sweep of the front fenders; the '33's don't come down that far.

As far as '33's on the road with slotted bumpers, I'd have to say they're incorrect. Maybe dealers or owners back in the day updated the bumpers or restorers couldn't find 1933 bumpers to replace damaged/missing bumpers. Who knows?

Every 1935 Packard I've seen with an 8 cylinder motor has the front bumper stamped with a faux slots that were painted black.

Just do a Google image search for "1935 Packard" and you will see what I mean.

Best,

RogerDetroit,
I see what you mean now. At first glance they look like actual slots a la 1934's. Fooled me! Thanks to you and West for pointing this out to me.

I was told that the 1934 with the open slots tended to crack because of vibrations (and sometimes the results of bumping I suppose) and the very weakened sections around the large slots. That led to a 1935 redesign where they were no longer slots but stamped and painted recess.

Super8