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Hi gang and Happy Holidays....

We're in the process of researching our recently acquired 1949 Packard Monte Carlo convertible. To this end, we've assembled some folks who have experience in this area which include George Hamlin, Leon Dixon, Bud Juneau, Thomas McPherson, Alden Jewell, Paul Cruce and others who have historical and deep knowledge of Packard, Henney, Richard Arbib and Coachbuilding.

We've been able to push our research forward and recently located a person - Peter Krell - who owned the car in the late 1980s. He was able to forward photos of the car from that time frame and with his help and others we will continue to pursue earlier owners too.

One of the issues that came up did so in close examination of photographs of both the hardtop Monte Carlo and the Convertible. Specifically, the hood ornaments of each share identical characteristics. What we found is that the chrome wings were partially cut on each and acrylic / Lucite was installed on each.

For the Monte Carlo hardtop, the photos show the acrylic to be clear (or nearly so) in the historic photos. For the Monte Carlo convertible, the acrylic is red. Both cars and hood ornaments can be seen - along with close-up photos - in the images below.

I need your help to identify if this is something folks have seen before. In talking to some of my Packard friends and....looking at many images on the internet, I could not locate a similar hood ornament. However, that doesn't mean that they were not built by a company in a small run (limited production).

Have any of you seen these hood ornaments below? Do any still exist on cars that some of you have seen or may have?

The hood ornaments in question do not have full Lucite/acrylic wings - those are common and easy to find. The hood ornaments below are only partially acrylic which makes them very interesting to me.

Thanks for any help you can lend and have a great holiday.

Geoff Hacker
UndiscoveredClassics.com

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Good Grief - Your Monte Carlo looks like it must have been un-loved for a period of time. The old girl is lucky to be in your care at this point...Ernie in Arizona

Leeedy probably answered your question in this thread on the PAC Website. But it's possible that someone here may have sighted this elusive ornament.

Hi Ozstatman...

Leeedy (Leon Dixon) is a great friend. But he's the only one that has memory of this hood ornament. Every historian and club member/registrar I've checked with has not seen it before. So I'm opening up to forums and the experience of all others out there. You never know what you'll find.

So...research requires validation - triangulation if you will. So I'm searching to see what other information we can find to corroborate or to confirm otherwise.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts..

Geoff

I applaud the persistence of leaving no stone unturned to find an original part having obsessed over certain items myself, including ordering blueprints when I couldn't find them.

That ornament is either the pride of someone's collection cabinet or dumped in a long lost box with other parts and good intentions. But if found, that special ornament most likely would need restoration.

It looks easy enough to make from a normal cormorant, perhaps using some of the more common all plastic wings. But certainly a mold and acrylic casting could be made using the pot-metal wings, then trimmed, slotted, and polished.

While you're at it, drill for a tiny light, but only turn it on when the judges aren't looking.

We updated our Monte Carlo blog posts here:
56packardman.com/2018/12/11/gear-head-tuesday-packard-monte-carlo-update/

Joe Santana...

Excellent points and thanks for sharing. I like the "lighted wings" idea very much.

Happy Holidays...

Geoff

I was in Sarasota, Florida today and actually had my hands on the car. It is in the Sarasota Auto Museum on Tamiami Trail, just kind of stuck in a back room - but it's there, if anyone wants to see it.

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