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

Hello,

I was hoping someone might have an answer for me. There seems to be no way to lock my car. I recently bought my first Packard, a 1939 One-Twenty four door touring sedan. I think it may have the wrong driver's front door handle on it in that I see no way to lock the door. The passenger front door has a lock accessible from the outside, and the two rear doors have internal lock knobs (i.e. the ones that push up and down), but the driver's front door has neither. It seems there is no way to lock the driver's front... do I have the wrong handle? Am I missing something?

Thank you,
Zach Dillinger

Nothing wrong with your car, what you have is pretty much the standard of the time and going back decades before that; people exited and entered cars primarily from curbside and the passenger side front door was typically the one that was key-lockable. The driver's side door normally locked by pushing the handle in the opposite direction of that used to open the door, you then slid across the seat, exited, and locked the passenger side front door.

Ok, thank you! I am glad nothing is wrong with the handle; those things are very costly!

Just have your passenger lock it (as described above) once you exit the vehicle.