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Does anybody know where I can get a reproduction Packard VN (data) plate stamped? I have the blank plate and the details for it. Tried to contact NorthEast Packard by email in response to their advertisement in Hemmings, but no reply. Does anybody know if they still do this, or any other source for this service? Cheers Brian

To get the most correct appearance, I don't have the vehicle number stamped, I take the plate to a trophy shop and have the number engraved which much more closely simulates the appearance of how Packard did it. Most trophy shops have a very wide variety of fonts and sizes and you should be able to get a very close match. Then, if it's prior to the 23rd Series, I have the delivery date and selling dealer stamped in the traditional way. And if you have the original plate, PLEASE either mount it beneath the replica or put it in the glove box or otherwise keep it with the car so as to help dispel the questions of authenticity that often arise with the use of a reproduction plate.

I don't know about Australia but here, as a licensed VIN verifier, a reproduction VIN plate would be an automatic reject that would forever stay with the car making it impossible to register anywhere. As Dave (O_D) said, always keep the original with the car. Always!

Much as i dislike sounding like a broken record, why oh why can't someone simply re-do, silkscreen, etc. our existing VIN plates? It's a little thing, but often the selling dealer's signature etched into the metal.

Reproducing everything leaves you with a parody, a pile of reproduced parts, that connection with history lost.
Let's see if we can find someone somewhere willing to reink our original plates. Half a century since the moon landing. Can't be impossible.

Why does it have to be done only on a new piece of tin?

And please, don't tell us how we can do it. Let's find someone we can mail our plates to.
Some vital parts are in short supply and must be reproduced; rubber items among them, gaskets, etc. But reproducing does not = restoring, refurbishing, rebuilding.

Again, a palty matter in the scheme of things, but does show how the janitorial d' nonelegance mentality has decimated the hobby.

Packard Don above makes a good point. Enough with the fakey-do. Re-inking an original should be less expensive than having a trophy shop do a forgery.

Certainly more rewarding to retain that historic bit.

No opportunists catering to trophy hounds or those who imagine the more they sink into a car the more it's worth need apply. This is a hobby, right?

Can't be the only soul here gathered who doesn't want to see his car gradually morph into a hoax, a counterfeit.

It's a different kind of hobby, if that at all, to those who spend $350,000 to restore a car they paid 4 or 5 times that much for. They expect bright and shiny everywhere and perhaps (hopefully) mistakenly think that extends to ID plates. Such cars will often have an established provenance even without the OEM plate.

Personally I'm suspicious of every car with a repro plate and would be very reluctant to ever buy one.

Thanks Owen. That's an option which had never occurred to me. I'll look into it.

Yes, I understand the importance of keeping the old plate.

Looks like this is a hot topic on the forum, and it is obviously controversial. At the end of the day, what matters is preservation and enjoyment of the cars. Sometimes that requires the use of reproduction parts. I know that does not logically apply to data plates, which I think of as just another element of cosmetics. My preference would be to see data plates restored, wherever that's possible. If it's not possible, then a reproduction can fill the gap on the scuttle.

Cheers

Brian

G'day Brian,

If a trophy shop cannot come up with the type of font required, needing to be stamped into the plate, possibly try an engraving business such as Godfrey Engraving at West Ryde. Probably more expensive but also probably worth the extra.

You might also PM Joe Santana with a question about how he did his 40 repro plate. I believe I remember him saying he found individual metal stamps in the correct size and font for his 40. If that is the case he might be able to give more info on the process or the name of the company that sold the stamps.

Thanks Mal. That's a good lead.

I went hunting around today. Came across a rather odd European chap (professional engraver) working in a trophy shop in Crows Nest. He thinks he can do it and will make me a sample on a piece of his own alloy plate before we decide. Will let you know how it goes. May be of use to others.

Cheers

Brian

Brian,

Cutting in on this thread, see you've loaded some pic's of your Packard into the photo archive and these are currently holding top spots in the Recent Photos column on the top right of this page. Just adding a few here that I took when I saw the car at Murwillumbah back in 2010.

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