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Looking at another Packard. It is a 1938 so the VIN tag is gone. I know the serial number is supposed to be on the frame, but couldn't find it. What is the difference between a 1601-D 1172 and a 1601 1192? I know the former is deluxe and they are both 4 door touring sedan, but what makes a deluxe de-luxe?

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Greetings Friend I was just given a 1938 1601 D by an old timer who had passed away and from what I have been told the D stands for Deluxe which mine is. It has Side mounts, Carpet in the front, and Banjo Steering wheel. You can check my thread under "What do I have" the guys gave me a lot of help and knowledge about the car. So far mine is only in need of a Fuel pump, some attention to the brakes and a good cleaning a polishing and little TLC.

If I know you, Ken, you took more than one picture. Notwithstanding the above the windshield strip, the hood ornament is 1939, the runningboard mats suggest another mystery, though the horns look like 38's, so indeed more pictures please or we'll all be confused...

I think the deluxe for 38 had upgrades to the upholstery and interior parts only.

Headlite bucket does not have chrome strip, which was on 1938's.

Flackmaster, you know me too well. Now that I'm posting from my computer instead of my phone, I'll pose the full question:

I found a 1938? Packard 8 that was restored 16 or 17 years ago. It has the wrong hood ornament because the original (which they have) is broken. The engine was rebuilt about 20 years ago. It appears to be rust (and bondo!) free, except for some bad spots on the rain gutters and the passenger side front door. The seats and carpet were redone, but carpets and headliner are loose, and the seats feel saggy, like they weren't rebuilt, just recovered. A lot of the chrome will need to be redone, as does all the wood graining.

I'm thinking it is WAY better shape than my '37, and I want to get it to either:

-Drive while restoring my '37 over the next 4-5 years.
-Restore instead of my '37 (if the body is too far gone to be done within my budget)
-Fix up a lot of the easy stuff and turn it for a profit (not ideal, but that's reality sometimes)

Things I've noticed it's missing right off-
- Glove box
- Splash pans
- Road draft tube
- Clutch cover

Some of that stuff may be in the guy's shed. He apparently bought it 15-20 years ago from the family that owned it originally. They have all the documentation, but don't really know where it is at.

Pros- the body is way better, the car is a lot further along, and it appears to be really rust free. Oh yeah, and it's an eight, not a six!

Cons- the paint needs some work, the roof is damaged from a shop cave-in, it's not a '37, and I don't have a two place car trailer.

Does anyone have any good companies for cross-country transport? Ballpark prices? Want to haul a car from CT to Idaho?

Thanks for all the thoughts! Sorry for the long-winded post.

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Cane shifter says 1938.

Regarding a transport carrier. It will cost you about one dollar per mile for a covered transporter. I would go with a well-know national company. I used Inter City to transport my 55 Clipper from Maryland to Texas, and they did a good job. Think ahead because scheduling can be a problem. I would get bids and scheduling from at least three companies. The cost will probably not vary that much, but the schedules may. Good luck.

(o{}o)

The cane-shift is not definitive proof of 1938 as it was still used in 1939, column shift was a 1939 option, even on the Twelve. Column shift was very popular, but still a modest # of 39 cars have cane shift.

First, it is without a doubt a '38. (Lovely dash color, just "a little" different than the way it left East Grand Blvd...
Second, if it has been sitting for years, as you know it has, it ain't running or driving. Fuel system overhaul, brake overhaul, pull the engine half apart to free the stuck valves and oh my gosh, lovely roof. Unless you have a magic genie with more than 3 wishes to grant (we know what some of them are..) there ain't no way that roof is gonna "just pop up after a day in the sun". Sitting under a tarp in the northeast? I'm liking this even more - at least you know where to look for suspicious bulges in the block. Won't move? that because the brakes are stuck, the clutch facing has bonded to the flywheel (just why do you think the road draft tube and clutch cover are off? oh, yeah to let the engine breathe and the clutch absorb all that dry fresh New England air) and the emergency brake was set 10 years ago to make darn sure nobody stole it from under the tarp. Shall I go on? Oh yeah, I'm on a roll - generator bearings frozen, starter bendix rusted, waterpump way past its sell by date. That funny smell in the interior? Note even a case of Febreze is gonna cure that. OH, but you think because its an eight cylinder it'd be better in the long run? Heck no, its got the same lame 4.36 gears as your 115c, which weighs hundreds of pounds less. Its bigger too, so you might need a larger place to moor this barge. But lest not my personal prejudice for 37's show....38 was a great year - love those Houdaille shocks (Harry Houdini's cousin actually, pulled off the magic trick of the century selling those to Packard), and that oh so wonderful Split windshield. Nothing wrong with that, except maybe it looking more like a locomotive than a Packard. Just kidding. I mean, hey, you've just spent all summer (not to mention a whole lot of money_ getting to know your 37 and bringing it way closer to a nice driver than most guys do in years, but yeah, toss it overboard and start over again with this one just because you see a few winks from the chrome. Yeah, jump ship from the 37 guys that have helped you here....there are must be more 38 guys to carry you forward from here....I just don't know them...DAF