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I went to the Greenwich (CT) Concours d'Elegance yesterday and saw something that really piqued my curiousity. The car in question was a just lovely 1933 Twelve convertible roadster (1005-639) and the thing that got my curiousity was the use of green cloisonne' on the hubcaps. Now I know that plain cloisonne' (without the "Packard Twelve" lettering) was available though I don't know if it's listed in the parts or accessories listings but I never have read or heard anything about different cloisonne' colors being available, yet the owner seemed insistent that it was bona-fide. Anyone have any supporting data or observations?

BTW, while not quite in the class of Pebble, Amelia Island or Meadowbrook, Greenwich is a terrific event and if you're within driving distance and don't go, you're really missing something.

Owen: From I know the Cloisonne on the Twelve hubcaps should be red. I have seen plenty of prewar Packard including many CCCA cars all have been red.

Ed Miller in Naples owns a 1933 Packard Convertible Sedan body by Dietrich. The Cloisonne on his Packard are red. Knowing the knowledge he has about prewar Packard V12 models, and his car being judged several time as 100 point CCCA car. I would say that red is the only color that is correct.

Another Concours worth going to in June is at Lehigh College
near Allentown. Because of prior commitments this month, I am unable to attend.

John F. Shireman

John, the Burn Foundation Concours d'Elegance hasn't been at Lehigh University now for 2 years, it moved to Northampton Junion College in the same general area. It's a worthwhile show, though it will surely miss Bev Kimes at the microphone!

Thanks for the comments on cloisonne', I know of Ed Miller's car, and of course every single Twelve I've ever seen had red cloisonne', the question really was if any other color availability can be documented.

Owen
That's a case where either the original owner, or current owner (probably the latter) requested the green cloisonne to match the interior. Being a Packard, if the current owner made the decision, he is probably claiming "since it is a Packard, you could order whatever you wanted."
Stretching it a bit, in my opinion, unless you can prove that the original owner requested the green. If it were my car, and I had the original hupcaps/cloisonne, I would have displayed or had available, the originals. Without that, I think if I were a judge I would probably deduct points.

West, thanks for your thoughts and I entirely agree with your hypothesis but thought I might hold out hope that someone had some snipet of factory literature that legitimatized the green cloisonne'. Next time I see Bob Turnquist I'll try to remember to get his thoughts. Much as I enjoy Greenwich and other concours (and I thought Greenwich was a bit "flat" this year with not much diversity of Classics and brass cars, and too much space taken from show cars for the auction tent), it always bothers me to see incorrect details on otherwise lovely cars. Guess I'm just too old, and too much of a purist.

I called my father (a dyed in the wool prewar Packard fanatic) this morning, who, as you probably know, is the Master of Ceremonies for the Greenwich show. He was not informed of any such documentation on the car.

I attended the burn concours about 5 years ago. It is a great show. The Lehigh mountian top campus was hell to get the big rig up to (we took 7 cars that year). I did like Bev Kimes commentary on the mike. The Irish funeral music the rest of the time killed it for me.