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

Thanks, Kevin. Great site and very helpful.

I believe there was no stripe by the louvers. There are a few pictures from this site that clearly match that. But, there are other pictures that aren’t quite as clear. I think it’s because in that area the sheet metal bumps out so there is a natural reflection that can look like a stripe. The black and white photos make it even harder to tell.

Here is an example. As you can see, it is very difficult to tell if there is a stripe or not, but I believe it’s a reflection and not a stripe.




Here is an example where it is clear that there is no stripe by the louvers.

here is a better example that shows no stripe near the louvers.




I think I have my answer now. Thanks, everyone for the help. Hopefully, this will help others down the road.

Okay.. I have a meeting scheduled with the pin stripe guy for next week, so I started re-visiting this. As part of that, I followed up with Ken_P about what striping his car has since it is an original survivor.

His car does have striping above and below the hood louvers in addition to the striping down the hood and body.

Now, looking at old archive photos, it appears that most (but not all) of the cars that had the body pin stripe, did NOT have the striping around the hood louvers. But, clearly some did. With that, my final conclusion is that if you got pin striping, you likely had the option of having striping around the louvers…or not.

I know that my car did have the pin stripe down the body as there was just a small bit that hadn’t worn away. But, the paint around the louvers was some of the best remaining paint on the car and there were no signs of striping there. That does not mean it hadn’t just worn off, but it leads me to believe that my car likely only had the stripe down the body.

Anyway….the dilemma is now for me to decide which way I want it. I’m leaning toward no stripe around the louvers, but it could be a “game-time” decision.

The other decision is to pick a color that I like for “Old Ivory”. I don’t think I want bright white, but I don’t want it too yellow either.

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You could always do it the way you believe your car might have been, then later add the other later if you decide you might want it. Easier than taking it off if you later decide you don't want it!

Very true. Also, when it comes to things like this, what I consider “original “ is how it was when Dad was driving it, not necessarily how it came from the dealer.

My 37 120 C has pinstripes above and below the louvers. It has original, patinated paint and striping on the body and hood. Other than the striping itself, the entire body is black. The car was sold new in April, 1937.

The difference in stripping could be some kind of production change.

This is a Packard and I would imagine that the dealers themselves had a staff of capable technicians available to turn the car out however the client preferred it with a wide range of options and trim details to make the client's car as unique to them as possible. At this point in their history they had never sold so many cars in one year and were likely encouraged to hold nothing back to make the customer happy. A dealer would be able to offer a sample image supplied by Packard to show pin stripes in a range of colour and location choices. So I would say Don that if yours had no stripes around the louvers, that is correct for your car regardless if they happen to be on other cars even sold the same day!
Bob J.

What I’ve seen is that the striping down the body is very consistent. But, any striping above and below the louvers is a bit all over the place from none, above the louvers only, above and below the louvers. Then, if it has striping above/below the louvers, some have a single stripe and some have a double stripe.

So, it would appear that if striping was ordered, the next question was likely…”do you want striping around the louvers?”. If so, you had even more options from there.

I’m know for certain that I had the striping on the body and I’m fairly confident that my car did not have the striping around the louvers. I may change my mind, but that’s what I’m thinking I’ll do.

Here is a picture of the remnant of the striping that was still on the car. This was on the rear quarter panel.

There is no sign of striping anywhere on the hood. I know the body stripe was polished off long ago. If there was striping around the louvers, it was polished away long ago as well.