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

Hi what do we think about this car colin

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Hi Colin
The car in the top photo is a LeBaron 1937 Twelve All Weather Cabriolet.

The bottom photo, which has caused my eyes to come out of my head, is the Macauley prototype speedster, which was developed from 1932-1934 and featured a 1930 Model 734 body. There were four "production" LeBaron runabout speedsters built based on this car.

Items that identify it as the prototype include the body, with the belt molding wrapping around the cowl (the LeBaron versions did not have that), and the louvered rocker/splash pans (again, the LeBaron versions did not have that).

The whereabouts of this prototype has been lost to time...until now. It obviously went to England, based on the registration plate. What became of it after this photo was taken... Stay tuned.

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I came across this photo several months ago, and immediately recognized it as a LeBaron anomaly. I theorized that because the front and back didn't seem to match very well (look at the belt line), that it was possibly the remains of the Macauley prototype speedster. Now, with the new photo that you have unearthed and posted, that can be verified, based on the registration plate bearing the same number, and seeing the same features on both cars.

Thank you, Colin, for posting that very significant photo.

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West, if you've got a good contact in England, the history on that license plate is probably traceable if the records weren't lost in the war. If you don't have someone available, I have a contact in the hobby in England who I'd be glad to ask to try to run this down.

Colin is based outside of London. He's a regular to Hershey.

The LeBaron A/W Cabriolet in the first picture is a 1936. 1937 did not have the vibration dampers on the ends of the bumpers.
It is probably the same car that is in the beginning of the 1974? movie...Murder on the Orient Express. It was run off the road.
I know the car and have visited the owners 3 times over the past 30 years.

Dave. The best I could do was run a search on the license number, which came up empty in regard to it currently being registered.

We hear so many stories of a Sedan chassis being made into a Speedster
and
here we have a story of a Speedster made into a Sedan
NEVER SAY NEVER

Wonder if something happened with the Speedster body that made it unwanted
FIRE - WRECK - ???? and thus the Sedan body.
Will never know.

In trying to track 734 boat-tail Speedsters in Oregon, I had to write to a special dept by snail mail within the Oregon DMV that handles historic registrations that were not converted to computer. I was checking on 2 or 3 cars that I some registration information on, though the one in a photo with an Oregon plate they could not find, they did find addition information in the paper records on a couple of the cars.

I've contacted a friend in England who is quite active in the hobby (Airflow, Alfa and Packards) to see what he might be able to track down. Here's hoping....