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Quote:John,
Although I'm taking things would that be this car? If so, or even if not, have you "persuaded" Aaron to log onto PackardInfo and join up? Then from there I can take over any persuading needed to get the '56 Clipper into the Packard Owner's Registry.

I also have to disagree with Al. I just turned thirty two days ago and am in absolute love with my Packard. We have a son on the way who will grow up learning the value if doing your own work and the beauty of something, like a Packard, being used the way it was designed. My only hope is that I can get a few more Packards over the years as they become available. Not all guys in their sixties like old cars, just like a lot of kids my age don't, but there are gearheads in every generation.

Don't worry I just talked to him about that ozstatman. I will have him to that over lunch!

Even the AACA as one of the leading traditional strongholds to bear American car makers in remembrance isn't immune from the veil of oblivion. There are American car guys who believe that a Packard have been built in USSR or further to the east. They even believe to have seen photos that prove that a prewar Packard was made behind the Great Wall of China.


Background
The Chinese FAW (First Automotive Works) started 1953 to produce trucks. 1958, that means 13 years after the war the first car, a DongFeng ("Eastwind") have been built by the help of the Soviets. Before the war they produced oxcarts.

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quote from Ken P:
"Not all guys in their sixties like old cars, just like a lot of kids my age don't, but there are gearheads in every generation."

That's the best argument i heard so far!!!

Just out of curiosity did u "grow up with Packards in the family". ??? OR Just discovered Packard on your own or mostly on your own???

Our grandchildren have been exposed to Packards since their birth. None of them had expressed any interest in them until this year. We have 5 grandchildren ages from 18 to 7 years. Our oldest granddaughter thought that the 37 Packard we used to own was neat because it had benches on the sides. We have always included our Packards in family outings, national meets, parades, picnics, and tours with them whenever possible. Our Packards that are driven regularly are 47 Clipper taxi cab, 48 Super 8 sedan, 49 convertible, and 49 limousine. We are working on a modified 50 sedan that I drove to our family Christmas party and much to my surprise our oldest and youngest grandsons were both excited and interested in the car. That is a first. The oldest stated that he wanted to go to prom now if he could drive it there.
I certainly am not implying that only modified Packards appeal to the younger generation, but find it interesting that of the different models we own that the modified is the one that they show interest in.
Maybe thete is hope afterall.
Now just get me that cutting torch and ...................
Packardtaximan

Wow, I love this topic.........My worth.......I'm 68 years old, there never were Packard's in the family. I bought my first old car, an 1966 Rambler Classic 770 Convertible, at age 55 years old. Acquired 9 more old cars of different makes, Ford's, Dodge's, Chevy's. Was looking to find something "UNIQUE" and saw an add for a Packard. Having a Packard really made me feel good, additionally, because my car was not well represented the Packard was its own competition. I liked the feeling of representing a Marque that everyone else didn't have. To that end, my cars are a 1951 Packard 200, 1953 Packard Clipper, 1955 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer, 4dr, tri-tone, and my "ragtop Rambler". I don't know what the future holds for their long term survival, but they give me a positive outlook and hope for the future. "See and be Seen" is a very powerful emotional experience for me.

Happy New Year....
Regards, Steve Fisher

Is your Rambler a 6/stick????

The Rambler is an AMC 327 with factory 4BBL, auto trans and factory installed air conditioning. Attached is a collage of the cars that I have.

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For what it's worth.. I was 23 when I bought my '55 Patrician. I just simply fell in love with it, but that was after reading about it in Collectible Automobile the previous summer. When I saw it for the first time I knew I had to have it. My dad, who was in his early 40s and a child of the 1950s, thought I was completely mad. Huge, hulking, difficult parts to find, not a drag strip challenger. Made no difference to me.

I will be 50 this spring, and still have my Patrician, plus... other Packards. I love them all, but even I worry about the future of them and the hobby. I don't think the issue is Packards, per se, but rather that our culture has shifted. Kids are being taught that automobiles are a necessary evil, at best, and killers of the world at worst.

But hear me: every year I get older, and I find something to love about things that are ever older, whether cars, or music, or art. When I was 16 or 20, music from 1928 did nothing for me, nor did brass-era cars. But now... I think differently. It is very easy to look at ourselves as we are now, and forget what we loved when we were 16. As much as I worry, I think that the 16 year olds of today will come to appreciate the cars we cherish, if they are exposed to them and can learn from them from someone that loves them.

That is why we, at our local club, are starting a program with the local student chapter of the SAE, at UM-KC, to promote our Packards, and the hobby as a whole, to the very people that will turn to them when they are older. I encourage everyone to get their Packards out, and drive them whenever they can, and make sure they are seen as bona fide machines, and not museum pieces.