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

I found this particular car on a site. It intrigues me because it looks so much like the back of a Rolls royce, probably due to them being a brittish coach builder. Did this Barker build any other Packards? This car looks like something Queen Elizabeth could have stepped out of. It certainly has an Empire look to it.

This car was custom built for Harry Hatch who at the time was one of the richest Canadians. Harry owned the distillery Gooderham& Worts and this is how he became so weathy. The body was made by the British coachbuilder Barker. It is supposed to be the last body Barker made. This car was owned by my uncle in the mid sixties for a few years.

Attach file:

---

  (35.77 KB)


  (32.09 KB)

You'll find several Barker-bodied Packards, including the one you pictured, in Hugo Pfau's The Coachbuilt Packard. See review in the Packard Bookshelf for more info on the book which I suspect is long out of print.

Some of the other English coachbuilders who built on the Packard chassis include Carlton Carriage, Freestone & Webb, Hooper, H. J. Mulliner and Salmons & Sons. Also among the Continent's builders on Packard are Baxter-Galle, Chapron, Franay, Gl?ser, Graber, Hibbard & Darrin, Kellner, Nordbergs, Norrmalms, and Van den Plas and there are pictures of many of these in the same book.

PS - that's a pretty elegant-looking car!

Barker did build a lot of bodies for Rolls Royce which would account for the resemblance.

Canada was quite an Anglophile country at that time. But the combination of English coachwork on an American chassis is unusual.

I suppose he thought it combined the best of both worlds. But I'll bet Packard's custom body department could have built him a better body, cheaper.

It reminds me of an old joke. Canada was an experiment to combine the best of French culture, British government and American technology . But somehow we wound up with a French government, British technology and American culture LOL.

Kev,

If portlandon agrees, could this thread be moved to the Pre-War Forum?

I suppose he thought it combined the best of both worlds. But I'll bet Packard's custom body department could have built him a better body, cheaper.

Rusty, I believe Packard's in-house Custom Body Dept. essentially folded much earlier, may have done a few lingering cars in 1934. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this, it's just a recollection, I didn't look it up.

OOPS!

Sorry for posting this in the wrong forum.

thanks Ozstatman

Don,

Us Obsessive/Compulsives can't help ourselves!

Done!