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

I seriously doubt FDR is being fitted with braces, during fitting pants must be down or removed. His handicap was
"hidden" from the public. It appears that he is exiting the car with his leg braces locked and sliding off the cushion. The man at his feet will be helping him upright.

"...Hoover liked to drive his car, accompanied by his wife or a friend (former Presidents did not get Secret Service protection until the 1960s)..." [Wikipedia]

Since the internet is filled with pics, showing his predecessors FDR and Harry S. Truman surrounded by the presidental guard, I have certain difficulties to believe that statement.




1928 Packard nine-tenths left front view, male chauffeur, President Herbert Hoover standing at passenger door. Inscribed on photo back; Packard 443, custom eight (produced 7/1/1927-8/1/1928), fourth series eight, 8-cylinder, 106-horsepower, 143-inch wheelbase, 7-person sedan limousine (body type #315).

Item # EB01d378

Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public Library, National Automotive History Collection and used with permission.

1927 Packard nine-tenths left front view, chauffeur standing at passenger door. Inscribed on photo back; Packard model 343, third series eight, all weather cabriolet, this car provided for use of Queen Marie of Romania on the occasion of her visit to Washington, D.C. & Baltimore, Md., early autumn 1926.

Item # EB01d307

Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public Library, National Automotive History Collection and used with permission.




1927 Packards lined up on country road. Inscribed on photo back; Packard 343, third series eight (produced 8/2/1926-7/1/1927), 8-cylinder, 106-horsepower, 143-inch wheelbase, left to right Dietrich all weather stationary cabriolet, Holbrook inside drive limousine, standard sedan limousine 7-person (body type #295), two Holbrook inside drive limousines, standard sedan limousine 7-person (body type #295), Derham Prince-of-Wales type sedan, three standard sedan limousine 7-person (body type #295), forward car used for personal transportation of Queen Marie of Romania (other cars used by her entourage), during her visit to Washington, D.C. & Baltimore, Md., autumn 1926.

Item # EB01d306

Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public Library, National Automotive History Collection and used with permission.

-> This and -> that source telling that we see a Packard with Holbrook body behind the squadron of chauffeurs but I believe, it is the same Dietrich as mentioned above.

BTW: They reduced the quantity of overcoat buttons for the smaller men to harmonize the ensemble.

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FDR preferred Fords exclusively for his personal use. They were outfitted with hand controls to overcome his polio handicap.

Harry Truman loved to drive his Chrysler Imperial that was garaged at Shangri La and his wife would purportedly point at the speedometer when he was speeding.

Lyndon Johnson used to drive at high speeds in Texas while drinking.

I think the one who doesn't drive is Trump. Given he is a New Yorker I wonder if he even has a driver's license. I lived without a car for eight years. It's a great feeling. Walking to work is the ultimate care free existence. However, that was back when the subways were in decent shape and still had express trains. I also commuted into New York City on the old Pennsylvania high speed mainline. The track paralleled the turnpike and I used to look out the window when the train was travelling 110 mph and the traffic jams.

Fortunately, today I live in a town were I can walk to any number of businesses so when I get home for the weekend the car sits which is good because the roads are so broken down driving sucks.

The Victory Parade of the Allied Forces on September 7, 1945. Packard Twelve passenger car Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov.
In the Victory Day parade on September 7, 1945, in addition to the Soviet troops, American, British and French troops, who were in Berlin to secure the occupation of Germany, took part.


source: albumwar2.com
Click to enlarge (high resolution)!

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The commander of the U.S. Third Army, General George S. Patton, Jr., took no great pleasure in the end of the war in Europe; he already knew that despite his lobbying of many influential figures in Washington, D.C., he had no hope of being reassigned to the Pacific Theater to command combat troops there. As he put it to his III Corps commander, Maj. Gen. James Van Fleet, "There is already a star [MacArthur] in that theater and you can only have one star in a show."



quotation & image source: warfarehistorynetwork.com

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Some big ego's behind the scenes.

After presenting Zhukov and Patton on its own in a Packard, the below photograph shows the both alpha leaders united.
Therafter we have the honor to host another member of an European nobel house at PackardInfo. It is nobody less than Alfonso Battenberg, Prince of Asturias, who "died at the age of 31 as a result of a car accident." [Wikipedia]






images sources
#1 - i.pinimg.com
#2 - todocoleccion.net

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A couple of times we uploaded images, showing U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on an inspection tour of the Douglas Aircraft Company's factory.

-> #1
-> #2
-> #3


The following photograph claims to be taken at the same event but somehow FDR managed to change the vehicle.




image source: cloudfront.net
Click to enlarge!

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