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With all due respect for restoring this beautiful car, the question started to arise after seeing all the pictures: What percentage of the vehicle is the original 79 year old material/ parts?

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As much as humanly possible, I'd say in the high 90s. Some parts simply cannot be saved. A great effort was extended to restore parts that other restorers would have thrown away and made new, because of the car's provenance - the hood being a major example.

Mainly, the parts we replaced are tiny things such as fasteners and other small worn parts. Great effort was put into preserving the fenders, only replacing the metal that was so far gone that it wasn't able to be fixed. It would have been far easier to have made new ones, but with so many questions about the car's past, it was important to save the originals.

A few more years in the salty air and there would have been no car left to restore, look at the photos of the car in the 1970s at Wheatley's shop to see how poor of condition it was in.

A note on bolts: We replaced most of the original bolts with new grade 9 bolts because of their larger head size, which is equivalent to bolts that were made in the 1930s. The only caveat was that the grade markings and factory identification marks on the new bolts had to be welded out and machined off so that they didn't appear to be new fasteners. Hundreds of hours were spent on the bolts alone. Why replace the bolts, you may ask? We restore these cars to be DRIVEN, not trailer queens, so we want to make sure they are strong enough to hold up to the rigors of highway driving and touring. Safety is important.

As for the other parts we replaced, sometimes parts are so worn out there is no way they can be restored. This is really no different than taking a car in for new brakes. Keep in mind that this is a Packard and not a Ford. There is no catalog to buy parts from, only a limited amount are available. If a part cannot be restored then it usually has to be made new from scratch, typically at great expense.

Not much else we can say on the subject, hope this answers questions some of you may have. All Americans should be proud of what this Packard represents, as it is truly a national treasure.

I guess I'll have to be in the minority on this issue. While I certainly appreciate an original car (and we all know the mantra, "It's only original once"), I also appreciate expertly-restored full classics such as the Pebble Beach contestants are wont to be. I think of cars like this year's winning Packard, or the Duesenberg Twenty Grand. These vehicles are more art than automobile, and I cannot begrudge their being treated as such. Yes, they are destined to spend their lives in pampered (and largely sequestered) glory, and to many auto enthusiasts that's just wrong. After all, ships may be safest in port, but that's not what ships are for. These aficionados insist that cars must be driven, or they are nothing but giant model kits. Likewise, they should not be "over-restored", although there is plenty of room for disagreement on what constitutes crossing the line. Are the owners of these gilded-lily classics strictly in pursuit of trophies, to inflate their egos and perhaps enhance the value of their cars? Sure, some are . . . But I think it would be painting with much too broad a brush to accuse every owner of a 100-point car of somehow ruining the hobby. Perhaps that word bears repeating; HOBBY. At the Pebble Beach level of competition, is there.any real connection to the "old car hobby", or have these shows transcended the local "show and shine" competitions to the point where the fact that automobiles are even on display is secondary? If that's the case, leave the cars safely home in their hermetically sealed garages and just display your checkbooks. Let that decide the winner.

No, the owners of these regal cars want the cars to be SEEN. Seen, admired, coveted, lusted after. Perhaps their reasons for doing so are best left to the psychologists - but the fact that they DO show them enables mere mortals such as we to see them. And that's worth something, isn't it? The cars may be unrealistic representations of what they were when they were new. They are nicer, cleaner, neater, better finished . . . But are they better? I can see both sides of this issue, but the fact that a few folks with a LOT more money than I have, have chosen to spend it on cars such as these, at least means that I can see both sides of the cars, too. And the front. And the back. And the underside, and yes, you probably couldn't eat off of it from the factory in the 1930's.

But here it stands, in all it's glory. And for whatever reasons, phobias or manias brought it here . . . It sure is beautiful. Thank you for bringing it.

My opinions are based on the following photo. I have no idea what color the interior was, but can't imagine anybody but Packard painting a car military spec artillery green. The Stuyvesant (Jepson) speedster phaeton started out as a weird tone green job with dark olive green leather. Packard loved those weird greens. Hirsch's 745 was originally a weird green too.

In the picture shows:

Deluxe Ornament
Chrome radiator shell
Fully chrome wire wheels
Tan top boot

This car was so rough that I don't have much to say about the level of restoration except this month's CCCA bulletin shows a smashed fender that was way worse than this car and they fixed it. That was way back when.

I remember my grandmother: "You don't need all that money. I remember this young feller who bought this old car and drove it so fast he killed himself." She was talking about a Duesy.

Years ago I took a Packard 12 to the docks for shipment overseas. The owner was in front of me and speeding through the city at 50 mph when suddenly he stops. I managed to bring that V-12 to within 6 inches of his bumper. I never asked him what he was thinking as he heard that car screeching to a halt behind him. You don't ever want an experience like that.

I also thoroughly don't understand the license plate on that LeBaron Packard.

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I rather enjoy seeing someone spending $250,000 + to have a car restored. Do you know how many different shops/businesses/craftsman benefit from this? Chrome shops, engine shops, paint, body, upholstery, the list goes on and on. It boosts our economy.

It benefits ALL of us in the long run. The knowledge gained and many long abandoned techniques are kept alive by those who have the means to restore these cars.

Good God, am I going to be the only one to come out and say that those "pontoon" fenders ruin the lines of an otherwise elegant car and turn it into something a bunch of clowns would burst out of in the center ring between the dog and pony show and the famous high-wire act? I have attached a photo of a '34 Packard Twelve. Look at those fenders ... they mesh with the car and complement the lines. Now look at the picture of the Best of Show winner. I'm sorry, but those fenders make it look like crap.

I recognize that the restorers did a great job with this car and you can't blame them for what Dietrich did to an otherwise beautiful car. They worked well with what they had to work with. After all of the years that I have looked at photos of the fields at Pebble Beach and the winners, I have rarely seen a more bloated example of tinkering that this body maker did to that Packard. That the original owner actually accepted it, I can only think: To each his own.

I love Packards and believe that the company produced the finest automobiles in the world during the 1930s, at the pinacle of which were the Twelves. I know I am going to catch hell for this entry, but there just had to be at least one other car that was more attractive than this one.

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In defense of Mr Bumble:

No not really. I like the 9th series Individual Custom Eight by Dietrich. With original chrome radiator shell.

And the older I get the more I like the later Packards anyway.

No need for defending anyone. PackardInfo doesn't have a ruling taste committee. Everyone's taste lives of its own accord.

Well said Guscha.