Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Hello Owen,

I can't thank you enough for your advice, which in addition to Mal's, gives me the confidence I need to proceed. I really appreciate the detailed information you gentlemen have provided, and the time invested in providing it. Thank you sincerely.

Progress will be slow because I can only allocate one day per weekend and one evening per week, but I'll be sure to ask more questions and to let you know how it goes.

All the best from Tassie.

John

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I agree with that, I have the same car and its a blast to drive!

Hello BDC, it's fantastic to make contact with another 818 owner! Do you know of any others? Do you know how many were made? Ours is the 20th if my understanding of the numbering system is right (818 220).

Cheers from here, John

IIRC the right hand drive cars were made in Canada. The data plate on the cowl will tell you if it was built in Canada. Because Australia & Canada both being common wealth's of Britain eliminated import taxes on these cars. The Canadian built cars have their own build number sequence I think, but O_D will most likely clarify that as soon as he reads this. Mine was number 44 (244) built.

Just to add to BDC's comments:

Not all RHD Packards were built in Canada (the Canadian plant opened in 1931 and closed in 1939 when England declared war on Germany); the Detroit plant built them as well (up thru 1954) but generally only for non-Commonwealth countries like Japan, Sweden, etc. As BDC notes the Canadian-built cars had a Canadian patent plate (pix enclosed). For 1935 the US-made senior cars had the sequential portion of the VN beginning at 201, the Canadian-built at 101.

PS - total production of the 818 2-4 passenger coupe has been estimated at 117 units, it doesn't show a breakdown for US versus Canadian.

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John if you car has #220 it would be interesting to see if it was the 120th built Canadian car or the 20th built Detroit car.

Ours has the American plate, not the Canadian one. So number 20.

Interesting information, thank you!

John

Roaming around the www I found this artist rendition of a 1201-818 coupe.

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I'll go you one better, here are the PMCC renditions from the 1935 Eight salesroom brochure, original document courtesy of Randy Berger.

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Great pictures thanks! The one in the PMCC rendition is very close to ours with its standard bail cap and rear spare. The only minor difference I can see is the tyre choice. This one from the Making of Modern Michigan website also seems basically identical to ours except for the RHD in ours.

John

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