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I'm reading a bio of gangster John Dillinger which states that his preferred getaway car was the Essex Terraplane.

I did some research on the Essex Terraplane and read it had a two brake system, one hydraulic and one mechanical, should one or the other fail. Did Packards of that area have duo-brake systems?

Also, the Terraplane straight eight engines featured a highly efficient downdraft carburetor, while supposedly having the highest horsepower-to-weight ratio of any car currently in production, including Packard.

Anybody who'd like to expand on/ correct any of this information, I'd welcome the info.

kind regards
Garrett Meadows

Hudson was the only brand that I know of that had duo braking. If the hydraulic system failed the cable brakes would come into play then. I believe the mechanical brakes were only
on the rear wheels.
Other cars of course have the parking brakes also on the rear, but need to be operated separately by a handle.

At the time the Essex was probably one of the best hp to weight ratios around in a low to mid priced car.

Hudson made the Essex....

Terraplanes were generally 6's, but in 1933 only they made an 8. It was basically a slightly smaller displacement Hudson with downdraft carb in a small. light chassis.

94 HP and 2485 lbs does give a better power/weight than a Packard 12 (160 HP) or Marmon 16 (200 HP) since the big cars weighed 5200-5300 lbs, or more depending on coachwork.
An SJ Duesenberg with 320 HP would have a higher power/weight, but probably wouldn't make the best getaway car.

That seems highly suspect. The Ford V-8 weighed in at 1825 lbs and 85 horsepower which gives a 13% better power to weight ratio.

As well, Dillinger sent a letter to Henry Ford praising the car's performance. Fords were more numerous and maybe the only reason for buying Terraplanes was because dealers were so anxious to get rid of them they would sell to anyone no questions asked.

Dillinger was also dead by mid-1934 and his career short.

I have to hand it to law enforcement in those days. With limited communication equipment, and a less than sympathetic public they wiped out those bums in rather short order. Today the entire federal government can't even figure out how to get rid of a crumb like BinLaden for less than $2,000 for every man women and child in the country while milking the propaganda for 20 years.

Oops, excuse me - $11,000 for every man woman and child and counting.

1933 Terraplane Eight, sedan for sedan, weighed 65 fewer pounds than '34 Ford V-8, rated at 9 more hp than the Ford.
There's a reason the Terraplane ruled hill climb, Pikes Peak, Mt. Washington (where the Terraplane 8's record stood for 20 years) and other events, was the basis for the Railton 8.

'35 Packard 120's performance target was the Ford V-8, a sprightly car for the day, since Fords could scamper away from the current senior Packards, Pierces, etc., and East Grand's mgmt. did not want their new junior car, fighting in the mid-price trenches, to be made a monkey of by a still lower-priced product, especially the ubiquitous Ford, Packard then being the most recognized automotive name in the world after Ford, the most widely held automotive stock after GM, owned by five of the Supreme Court justices, the leading choice in the world's embassies.

A lot at stake.

We're splitting hairs, but that's the car biz, then and now.

Terraplane 8 also put out more torque than the Ford V-8, and inline engines not prone to vapor lock as were veed mills. At the risk of venerating psychotics and hoodlums, in this regard, Dillinger, Nelson knew what they were doing.

To paraphrase Packard's later advertising extolling their PT-boat production, "Punks bet their lives on it."

In 1940, Augie Duesenberg was selling a marine version of the 254-ci Hudson inline eight, the same engine as the Terraplane 8 with a 1/16th inch larger bore for another ten cubic inches.

Tim makes good points about bin Laden. To this day, people still ooh and ahh over cars presumably owned by Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, Hitler, Goering, Juan Peron, and other scum, so it'd be swell if on this site devoted to "a gentleman's car, built by gentlemen," other than the disgusting June, 1943 wildcat strike by 25,000 Packard bigots -- a wartime priority -- we could leave mention of low life like Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and despots to the down home old car sites.
And we've got Bratman, aka Orange Julius, to contend with today.

One of the beauties of Big Kev's masterful site, abetted by knowledgeable souls like Tim, HH56, OwenDyneto, JW and others, is that most here gathered are able to see our cars in perspective, to realize Packards were not built in a vacuum, to acknowledge that other automakers, at home and abroad, also knew what they were doing. Single marque myopia serves no one and is boring.

To that end, a class act from Clark Street, lost opportunity for Packard and all others:

https://blackdaffodill.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/nicholas-dreystadt-and-gm-cadillacs-and-african-americans/

Unsure how Satchel Paige bought his new '40 120.

Quote:
Know I'm in a minority but I didn't know who Satchel Page was. I do now!

The 1933 Essex-Terraplane Eight was an nice anomaly in the whole Essex and Terraplane saga. It's speed and hill-climbing exploits prefect to promote the make during the nadir of the Depression. Miscreants seeking a quick get-away car after the heist were more likely grab a Ford V8, one of the 300K plus, parked at every curb. Fords were far more ubiquitous than the 38K '33 Essex-Terraplanes, the majority of which were sixes, as were all subsequent Terraplanes.

For 1934, Hudson fielded only eights, including the lowest-priced Challenger Series LTS, the 116" wb business coupe only $685, 2720 lbs. It came standard with the 113 hp engine, but there was an optional 121 hp higher compression engine too for those who had to have more go in their Hudson.

Steve

Tim, I always head it was Notorious criminal Clyde Barrow who wrote a fan letter to Henry Ford in 1934 or maybe they both did. One of those we'll probably never know for sure.
Wes

It was Dillinger although the authenticity was disputed as a prank. The gang did try a Packard which was disabled up by the police. They hit the radiator. In any event, basing affinity for a brand based on the likes of those bums is like affinity for weapons based on how many serial killers use them. Yuk!