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

I’m not sure if I ever posted this before but it’s my former 1940 110 on the left and my 1941 Henney-Packard hearse with extension table on the right. Big difference in length with the 110’s 122” wheelbase and the Henney’s 160”! At that time, I still had a 1939 Six and two other 1940 110s and I was only 17 years old.

The 1940 was one of my everyday cars and in this photo where I paired it with the Henney, I had just driven it from my home in Bellevue to Sumner, WA (about 45 miles) to my grandparents home where I kept and worked on the Henney. The Henney is shown here just as I got it without new tires (and brakes) that it got shortly after but it ran well. When I moved to California in the early ‘70s, I drove the 110 and transported the Henney which was then driven occasionally after it got there. The Henney was a 120 (1901A) but they used senior bumpers and ornament although in this case the bumper on it was a rear one. Those with sharp eyes might notice that the 110’s front bumper is from a 1939 but was replaced soon after with the proper one and I still have the 1939 bumper.

I've never seen this pic posted before, Don. Nice looking 'pair 'o Packards' and they certainly represent a lot of the knowledge and experience you have with the brand. It'll be 9 years in March since I took up stewardship of my car and as is evidenced by my numerous posts and queries, I am still on a steep learning curve with all the mechanics and systems used by Packard. Thanks to this site and all the many regular posters like yourself, 'the answers are out there' and the legacy of these great cars is being preserved. Appreciate all. Chris.

Yes, as Chris (Packard Newbie) said, never seen that photo before, thanks for that. And you're the only teenager I've ever heard of who owned five cars, and five pre-war cars at that. That was an early breakthrough. How did that come about?

Chris and Guscha, thank you for your kind comments!

Quote:

Hope this isn't too boring but as you asked, I will try to answer. I was given my first car at 14 by way of a 1937 Chevrolet sedan painted competition orange with - very literally - wall to wall carpeting including the headliner. I was the only kid in Jr High being driven to school in my own car and, as the starter often wouldn't work, I had to hand-crank it.

When moving to Washington state in the mid-'60s, the Chevrolet made it as far as Longview, WA when it threw a rod and, as the family was renting an apartment while house hunting, I had to sign it over to a wrecking yard. I decided then that when I turned 16 and got my driver's license I would buy a car in the '30s which turned out to be a 1939 Packard Six touring sedan that came with a 1940 110 parts car. Keep in mind that the car wasn't even an antique yet!

Starting at the back edge of our neighborhood was raw forest and while exploring out there one day I came across a 1938 Packard coupe used as landfill with one side sticking out of a creek wall and beyond that, a 1940 110 surrounded by later '40s and '50s Hudsons and Nashes. Since I could see a house nearby and didn't want to trespass, I later found the front door and introduced myself to the elderly gentleman who lived there. He gave me the Packard and said I could have anything else I wanted as the State was taking over the properly as a reserve. I regret not grabbing a rare Nash Ambassador Brougham 2-door sedan with armchair rear seats but it was very far gone. Not long after, I found another 1940 110 in a classified newspaper ad so bought it too as a parts car for the 1939 which I had been working on and, as the 1940 turned out to be in better condition, I sold the 1939 and owned the 1940 for many decades after having parted out the other two.

It was somewhere in between all that I bought the 1941 Henney-Packard which was also in a newspaper ad and listed as an ambulance, probably due to it having holes in the fender where a siren was once install and stainless plates covering the pockets in the rear floor where the casket rollers would have been. It turned out that it was indeed a hearse which originally had an extension table with the rollers and that's why the floor did not have them!

As my everyday car(s), I had the family's old 1957 Ford Fairlane 2-door hardtop that we had bought new, a 1954 Cadillac Sixty Special and a 1956 Cadillac coupe (not a Coupe deVille). The latter was beautiful and I regret selling it when we moved to California in 1972 but I did not know that the cars could be transported so inexpensively. It would have cost only a little more than bringing the Henney-Packard by itself.

One time a couple years after the Henney-Packard was in San Jose, CA which must have been around 1973 or 1974, I was driving along in it when a 1948 Henney-Packard Landaulet came along the other way which must have been astronomical odds to have happened. Oddly, the driver of the other car ignored me entirely!

According to the notarized Bill of Sale, I bought this car on August 26, 1970 but it came with a whole string of Bills of Sale so took some time to finally get it registered.

1941 Henney-Packard during delivery and unloading at a storage facility in Milpitas, CA . . .



. . . and moments after (scanned from a Polaroid SX70 photo)



As a little aside, the two delivery guys commented to one another after struggling to get it off the trailer by saying something like, "watch him drive it away". I waited until the left to do that and indeed it did start up and drive! I was sure that the battery was dead so didn't even try during the unloading.

Packard Don for including "your" '41 One-Twenty Commercial Chassis in the Registry. Excellent,, even though you no longer own it, to make the entry so that you access and update it in the future should information arise relating to it.

It just occurred to me to look for photos of how the 1940 looked when I bought it and I know I have some but unfortunately they have not yet been scanned. In any event, it was yellow and the prior owner had dropped and broken the original block so had tried to install a 120 engine into it. Unfortunately the 120 was far too long so the front of the engine sat where the radiator was supposed to be. Fortunately i had just rebuilt the 1940 110 engine that was in my 1939 Six when I bought it so it was just a matter of putting it all back together, adding some paint and having the seats reupholstered and it was good to go!

The car was something of an oddity, though. It was originally a very bright blue (not sure of the color name) and had darker blue seats and blue rear compartment inside window trim while the front windows and dash were the proper wood grain. There was no sign of the rear pieces having ever been wood grained and the seat upholstery was stamped PACKARD on its backside. I still have the front and rear seat and rear arm rest upholstery and I think I still have the original harness too unless the one I have was from the 1939 Six. I also still have some rods and pistons from the 282 but the block was sold many years ago.