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

Dave, without the knowledgeable comments of yours and others this thread would look like many deadly boring car threads in the web: pictures of radiator grilles in series. Cordial thanks for giving structure and background.

Assertions to the contrary notwithstanding, in my experience less than 5% of Packards in the successor states of the former CCCP are postwar cars. That is very easy to explain. The overwhelming majority of Soviets Packards are war booty. A statement about the proportion between survived junior and senior cars of the 1930s is much more difficult. Despite of insufficient generalizability I estimate the ratio of 80:20.

Below a pic of a Moby Dick, stranded in Moldova, a godforsaken area, wartorn and poor.

Quote:

How good that you use the old names.


[picture source:vedomosti.md/news/Kogda_Zhelezo_Ozhivaet]

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Not that Finland represents anything other than Finland, but I'll dig out the data on junior vs senior for prewar Autola Oy import records; incidently I understand they are still in business. Unfortunately I don't have data for any other overseas Packard dealers, wish I did.

Total Packards imported into Finland 1936 thru 1939 is 323. The number of seniors were:

1936 - 6
1937 - 2
1938 - 0
1939 - 19

Hi Dave: sorry but when I found out how easy it was to get the Finnish data and add it, I bleeped my gripe about cutting grass.

Dave.When I saw yours missing so did I! BTW the largest concentration of Finnish people outside of Finland is right here in Thunder Bay! They came in the early 1900's as wood cutters and most stayed here as the countryside is very similar to "Suomi" and the several outlying communities have Finnish names such as Lappe, Suomi, Kivikosti etc.

Interesting! I did once take a short jaunt to Finland from the NordKapp in Norway to visit what we called the Lapland when I went to school; I guess it's still referred to as Lapland but the indigenous people prefer to be called Samis as I remember. Back on the ship we got to within a few miles of Murmansk before heading back down the coast of Norway and then on to the Shetlands, Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, Labrador and NYC. Nordkapp was fascinating, said to be the northern most populated place in Europe (though I'm sure the Russians would argue), well above the Arctic Circle. Picture for those who might be interested.

My other little trivial encounter with Finland was that years back I owned a WW II Italian military rifle which was overmarked with Finnish markings when the Italians were arming Finland for their war against Russia.

Apologies, didn't mean to start a travelogue. Probably should have been a PM and not a post.

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I'm enjoying the travelogue!!! What is that built out there on the cliff???? If it is someones private residence then he is very lucky man. Looks like the ideal place for a house to me.

As Owen_Dyneto pointed out all the pre-war Packard dealer ship there was one in Estonia and it was established in 1921 or 1923 and sold cars until 1940,when it was sized and nationalized by the communist government.
Many pre-war Estonias "elite" (read: wealthy business owners and state heads+ ambassadors) had Packards. The 1938 photo is proof to how many where owned by people at that time.
To Gerd I point out one thing that I have said before in this forum, the most common pre-war car in east-europe is and was Opel.

Dave (Owen), in my capacity as threadstarter I herewith confirm, that your contribution meets the requirements given by the headline "far away from home" and moreover the photograph is most impressive. Like Keith I enjoyed the travelogue!




G. Uscha
lawful holder of air supremacy

To illustrate the facts and figures mentioned by Dave & Dave please find attached another Packard, located not to far from Arctic Circle. To me it looks again like a RHD. My first idea was Sweden as it changed to left-hand traffic not before 1967 but the homeland of ABBA* is out of the question. Incredible as it sounds but Swedish cars were always LHD cars despite of RHD traffic.

* Mal, as known from cinema this world famous pop band had a great tour through your country.

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Gusha, the yellow junior convertible is, I believe, Johann Berg's car. If so, it was later converted to LHD and I had a nice tour of Stockholm in it a few years ago. Photo if I can find it. My ride there in Stockholm was arranged by well-known Packard collector Mr. Ole Book who lives a couple of miles away. He's a Swedish citizen though he's lived here for 30 years but goes back every year. He's one of the founders of the Nordic Packard Owner's Club and perhaps still a director of it. He's certainly a authority on the Packards in Scandanavia. The folks on the cruise ship with me who were heading for the bus for their tour asked he how I got a private tour - I just let them fester.

Packard V8, the building on the bluff is the visitor center and starting/ending point if you want to trek to the base of the cliff.

Don't let me get started on travel pictures, I've got probably as many of them as I have of Packards.

PS - Gusha, you many recall that Johann Berg (of the yellow convertible) was the man restoring the ZIS I went to see in Stockholm - the trip and post that started the whole ZIS thing as I recall. I don't know how his restoration is progressing, but I'll inquire.

PS - PackardV8. Photo was from a helicopter. Here's a bit more about Nordkapp from my trip summary - Nordkapp, Norway. Nordkapp is arguably the northernmost point of land in Europe, at 71 10' 21" North. This can be given perspective by noting the Arctic Circle is considerably south at 6633' N, and realizing that the Nordkapp is closer to the North Pole than the edge of the permanent ice shelf is to the South Pole. The Arctic Circle is correctly defined as a circle of latitude marking the southernmost point where the sun does not rise on the winter solstice nor sets on the summer solstice. Daytime temperatures were just modestly above freezing. Until 1956 access was only from the sea by a 1000 foot climb up a nearby cliff, but in 1956 a road (not for the timid) was built to the Cape from Honningsvag, about a 30 minute bus trip, with several sightings of reindeer and Sami (Laplanders to us old timers). At the Nordkapp, the North Pole is only about 1200 miles to the North, and Murmansk about 180 miles to the East and South. The trip south to Trondheim passed the Lofoten Islands at about 6 miles.

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Keith, the North Cape might look like an ideal place for a house but it isn't. Coldness, months of darkness, wind-exposed wasteland - an inhospitable location but interesting overlook for tourists.



Knowing your yen to see distant places I used google to get an impression of a Nordkapp adventure on motorbikes.

Dave, I recall Johann Berg as if it was yesterday and I additional recall that I owe you a Cuban cigar.

Today again pics taken at the above mentioned auto club in Kharkiv, Ukraine.



[picture source: www.autoclub.kharkov.ua]

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