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Joe

You've been making me drool on a daily basis for the last few weeks. Nice work, the colors are terriffic


Regards

John Harley

Gee, John, I thought I'd only have to worry about people with belt buckles.

Glad you like the combination. Near as I can tell it is unique but kosher.

Blackhawk Gray must have ended up on a lot of business coupes, but not many convertibles. Red leather was an option for any color, of course. I really like how the little spots of red on the caps, medallions, tail lights, 3 pinstripes around the hubs and (even tho Jim Hollingsworth cringes at the thought of pinstripe on a 1940 and contemplates surrounding Oregon with barbed wire every time I mention it) the single red pinstripe from the trunk to the dip at the tip of the hood. Then you open a door, and wow. I guess I like it, huh?
Joe

Joe

A good friend of mine here in NJ has a 1938 Eight sedan in Blackhawk gray. The interior is gray also, the combination isn't as fetching

Happy 4th

John

I was getting ready for bed, but my buddy Vaughn called, said the night was young, and accomplished more than a month of Sundays. So the weekend is well under way. My quasi adopted son from India, Nelson, said he'll be here at 9 am, so more progress tomorrow for sure.

I know, it looks like 3 different colors.

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See you at 9am, Pattie gave me the ok for today. I think we should get the fenders and doors all on today and maybe the bumpers as well. I did a little research about the door sills and found the Packard name on some and not on others and the same was true for rear bumpers on cars with luggage racks. Of course, the it would be important to know which luggage rack cars came with them and which had them added to be able to reliably know if its ok with the Packard script.

AS THE WHEEL TURNS

Progress being made by Nelson and Vaughn

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G'day Vaughn,
to PackardInfo, great that you're giving Joe such valuable assistance returning The Duchess to her former glory. And, if by chance, you own a Packard please consider including it in the Packard Owners Registry here on PackardInfo.

It was a long day with only 2 short pizza breaks. What a great weekend.

The saga continues.

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Ozstatman
Joe and I have been friends going on 38 years. I have spent countless hours under Packards. Our family cars were Packards starting with a 50 fastback 327, then a 53 Clipper 288, and our last was a 54 Patrician with a 359. The Patrician was an incredible car. It was Green and had brocade upholstery. My first car was a 48 sedan 288 which I had from 1965 until about 1980 and I sold it to finish the restoration on my 1940 120 Club Coupe deluxe. I sold the 40 in about 1985 to purchase a new bigger home for our growing family. Joe, John Langslet, and I started the Packards International Oregon Region. We worked to make it a great club. The three of us would put together the monthly newsletter and often wrote articles. We organized the PI Regional show at Washington Square shopping mall after hours which featured the Oregon Symphony and many other performances. It was an incredible event which was Joe's baby. It was a total success and was widely covered by news media of all formats.
Those were wonderful and exciting days, weren't they Joe!!!!
The past 2 days have brought back many fond memories or those shared times. Unfortunately, I do not own s Packard now and doubt I ever will again, unless I win the lottery. However, I feel great about having shared in the Dutchess with Joe. I found the dashboard and the 356 engine which she contains so those items plus the assembly I have contributed the past 2 days make me feel that I have been of some service. When I get back from my Uncles memorial service next week I will again contribute what I can to helping finish this old girl.
Vaughn

We're having fun.

You just got a taste of Vaughn, the most knowledgable and enthusiastic Packard person I've ever met. Right up there with Bill Lauer. That Salute to the Packard Years was quite a show. I'll scan and post the program. We went into debt $1,000. John and I drove to Seattle (Vaughn couldn't go on Monday), site of the PI national tour that year, to beg Fred and Bill to speak to the the Board about it. Not only was the shortfall covered but 2 issues of PI magazine, one about the party and one about the publicity, made it the main feature. So yeah, maybe it's time to have another party. In fact, I have a few ideas.

But just as with everything else in my life right now, my epitaph will read, "I can't go until the Packard is done."

EDIT: Forgot something. Vaughn is always on the lookout for Packard stuff and, it's true, he found a number of items for the Duchess, besides the engine and dash. What he didn't mention is how he found the engine, for example. As a middle school math teacher, one of the requirements was memorizing hexagodecimal numbers such a 4, 6, 8, twin6, 12, super8, 110, 120, 160, 180 etc. He also taught his classes how to recognize a Packard automobile. The red hexagon, the cormorant, the flying lady, the radiator grille dip, the coat of arms. If any one were to spot these items individually or collectively, they were to report back to him with the description and location immediately for special credit. That's how he found my engine which had been switched out for 120 in 1966. A student had a neighbor with an old round car back among the fruit trees. The grass around it had grown as high as the car, but that kid knew what to look for, and as a big bonus to his delight it had a waffle iron grill! A 1948 Custom Super 8. The engine went into the Duchess