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I made a couple of minor updates to the Dealer List. Now the dealer list will display a little "picture" icon next to the dealers that have a photo added to them.

Also when you now view a dealer, a Google map of that location will be displayed beneath it. Please keep in mind that Google generates that maps for me based up the Dealer address (or lack thereof). So if it can't find the actual address, it may simply show the street. If it cant find the street, then it may simply show the center of town. If it cant find the city, then the center of the State, or the center of the country. That is how Google Map works. Also Google map is not 100% when it comes to the actual placement along the street. Some times it dead accurate, other times it may be a few "houses" off. Similar to how you car GPS may tell you that you have arrived at your destination, but it was 1 block off.

When I did the mass import in December I had to rebuild all the database indexes to do the import. In the process some of the old entires got assigned the wrong indexed. So that means the wrong picture and description were getting displayed. I will go back and fix those. This only affected the old entires, not any of the new ones. So no worries going forward.

Your ongoing refinement of this great site is very much appreciated - THANK YOU!

Kev, I have been playing around with Google Streetview and was wondering if this feature could be incorporated into the dealer list so a person could actually look at the dealership building. I found the old Packard Canada plant in Windsor Ontario this way. It is now a nice looking condominium complex. Thanks for doing so much work to make this the best Packard site on the web.

The master map on the main dealer page supports that. Once you zoom down to the street level, you can double click on a street to switch it to street view. I haven't wired that up yet on the individual dealer listing map yet.

I added a few new Dealers to the list, and also added several pictures to the existing Dealers. Enjoy.

I made a change to the way the Maps work on the individual dealer listing. Now if the map has a street address, it will zoom down to that street address. If you double click on a position at that level it will switch to street view. Which allows you to virtually walk around the neighbor hood and see the front of the building.

Now if there is no street address, but there is a city, then it will zoom down to the city level. If no city, then it will zoom down to the state level. If no state, then it will zoom to the country level. I think you get the idea. Now I have no way of knowing if a street address is bogus, or no longer correct. Cities have changed street names over the years, streets have been moved (rerouted), and sometimes cites have actually reset the street address numbers to make them more uniform. So if the address point to a middle of an open field, well that is what Google Maps is showing based on the original address. If you find an address like that, and are able to correct with the modern equivalent address then please let me know and we will get it fixed.

Also I was able to locate the original building for the Packard Dealer here in my town of Riverside, CA. For years I always thought it was the on the opposite side of the street. But after re-checking the address I realized the ODD numbers were actually on the opposite side of the street. I used Google Street View to snap a shot of the building front. Later I will drive downtown and try to get a better picture, it currently a Gymnastics Studio. I can imagine that the Packard sign/crest might still be on the raised portion of the facade of the building beneath the current sign.

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Kev,

all the pics i took of fort worth Packard are under EP love motors.

and Packard Scruggs is the same as Fort Worth Packard...if it matters.

Hank, thanks for checking those. The indexes are now fixed for Fort Worth. Have the dealer listed twice is fine as it was known by both names. I am sure at some point it changed names, so it is important to have it listed twice so if people are searching then can find it by either name.

If anyone else find any mis-indexed pictures, then please let me know and I can fix them. As I said before this was caused my the mass import and database changes that happened in Dec. So some of the picture that were added before then may have been affected. Going forward all newly added pictures will not have that issues.

Also there is a Blog on Hemmings Motor News website that talked about Packard Dealerships, and Packardinfo.com was heavily referenced and cited as source for the Blog content. The word is spreading!

A couple minor changes to the DealerList.

It will now tell you how many pictures a dealer has, as well as the number of notes added to that Dealer. This makes it much easier to browse the list looking for information people may have added. See below:

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Kev, I am really enjoying the new features you have added to the dealer list. The virtual street level tours are a great addition. This site just keeps getting better and better, thanks to all your smarts and efforts.

(o{I}o)