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

Thanks for the input Howard. I think I'll find a rubber plug for now just to keep the moisture out and 'do something' with the hole. When I eventually get to repainting the car, will probably just fill it in... I agree with you re the trends on visors and spotlights and fender skirts, etc., it seems like they kind of take on a life of their own and 'everybody does it'. Lot to be said for 'factory'.

My 1951 Packard 200 had an inop spot light/mirror combo and was missing parts too. The mfgr "Unity" is still in business and I was able to order the parts to renew the light fixture to its past brilliant self. Hope this helps, always good to have accessories working when on the car. Regards.

Thanks Packard Guy, good point and good info. I wasn't aware of a 'light/mirror combo' which is interesting. I'll do some research on the Unity site.

Here is one on eBay although I found only the photo, not the actual listing.

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Thanks for taking the time to dig that up, Don. I am not quite sure how these lights attach - the hole in the windshield post is quite small; does just the wire and the 'control cable' go through with the rest of it mounting on the post, inside and out?? I do like the mirror business as it could do something to help with rear vision and to me, these cars are really lacking in seeing what's beside and behind you. We can take this PM if I'm unintentionally hijacking BDC's original topic....

You could go thru the accessory catalogs year by year and confirm but I believe the spotlight/mirror combination units were a postwar phenom and not offered by Packard until 1951, give or take a year.

Thanks Dave. If I'm to 'stay original', that would rule out mirror combos for my car then. Like I say, I really am betwixt and between on whether or not I want to 'busy up' the car's appearance with one. A rubber plug or grommet might be the best way to go from here. I also wonder when I look at these lights and envision their install, if the hole in my Windshield post would be big enough. Not sure where the radio antennas went in '39, but I seem to remember seeing them running up the side of the windshield - maybe that's the origin of 'the hole'... When I am back at the car, I'm going to measure it and take a couple of picks.

My 1940 110 had the antenne on the driver side cowl and had two mountings, one of which had the signal wire going through to the radio. I understand that there was also an under-running board antenna but no idea which is proper for what year and model.

As for the spotlight, the hole would be relatively small, maybe 3/8" or 1/2". The outside and inside bezels make it seem larger than it actually was. On the mirror, Dave (O_D) is right that it was a postwar thing.

There are photos of the 38 antenna and the spotlight in the 38 accessory book. DIdn't see that book listed in the literature section so not sure where I picked it up but here are the photos. The spotlight is also in the accessories section of the 38 fact book which is available for download but didn't see the antennas.

Learned something because I didn't realize running board antennas were paired and one was under each runningboard. Also kind of surprised the spotlight was as expensive as it was but guess they had to charge a bit more for drilling the holes in the car. Aside from radios and heaters it was one of the most expensive accessories offered.

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Personal opinion, but spotlights look appropriate on postwar cars to mid-50s. We had one on our '48 Buick convertible. It was only used to play chase-the-dot spotlight games at the drive-in theater for those who had them.

I imagined, before the Duchess was restored, with as much driving as I wanted to do, that a spotlight would come in handy when in unfamiliar locations searching for addresses. I bought a spotlight from Kanter. But then the big question came up about drilling a hole. As a kid, I drilled a nice big hole in the cowl on the passenger side to install an antenna for my transistor (the latest!) under-dash radio. That has since been eliminated.

I talked to Jim Hollingsworth about it and he cautioned me. He'd put a spotlight on a car and afterward, as Chris expressed, felt it looked a little garish. So mine is still in the box.

Anyway, along came along GPS. Much less likely to get lost or shot. These days, you start shining a spotlight on someone's front porch looking for a number and there could be some unexpected consequences.

I, too, was not aware of using 2 under-runningboard antennae sets. I have one installed, but have parts to add another one on the passenger side. Wow another little project. But actually I may add a Red-Rad with Bluetooth to play my music devices through my stock radio system.