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OK, this is the front view of the style of Packard I'd like if I didn't go for a V8. It wouldn't have to be the same exact model, but I want to put that front end in every rear-view mirror I can. Awesomely intimidating. Reminds me of the truck in "The Duel" if you remember that, with Dennis Weaver as the harried motorist. (Spielberg's first movie-- made-for-tv, and on a late-nite channel near you.)

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Looks very much like the front end of my 38 so it's either a 38 or 39

It looks big, though. Any thoughts on the model it might be? Was this possibly a V12 car?

Ah yes, a V12 in a scruffy, mean-looking Packard gangster getaway car.

Interesting thing in Minneapolis is a street that bisects two neighborhoods, Northeast and Southeast Minneapolis. It was originally called Division Street for this reason. It is also a straight shot between Minneapolis and St. Paul. In the bad old days of the gangster era, St. Paul was a notorious "safe" town for the mobsters. All the biggies went there when the heat was on.

A common heist run was to go into Minneapolis and rob the rich Scandinavians' banks and then hightail it back along Division Street to St. Paul, where the Irish pols loved the mobsters' high-quality hooch and ready cash.

I'd like to re-create that run in a black Packard with running boards and those fake paste-on bullet holes all over it.

A fella can dream, at least. (I'd leave out the bank robbery part, but might haul some rye whiskey.)

That's a 1938 Super Eight; the photo was taken at the Proving Grounds. There are other photos around showing the side of the car, with about one hundred sand bags on the roof, and Charlie Vincent behind the wheel.

EC,

Boy now that's cool info!

It'd be interesting to see those other pics, if someone has a link.

Anybody else out there with an outrageous (or even a realistic) Packard dream? What would you like to do if you get the chance?

Besides "running" Division Street (now East Hennepin Avenue) in a period correct Packard, I've always wanted to get a V8 Packard on a really good banked oval track, like the Milwaukee Mile, and let 'er loose just to see what kind of time it would do in a "flying mile."

Love it. Also like the no-nonsense wheels on that car, even with side-mounts it looks like it means business.

Piling sandbags on the roof of a Packard is not one of my Packard Dreams, though.

Another Packard first. I seem to recall a Volvo commercial from the 70's or 80's touting their roof strength--only I believe it was a stack of other Volvos instead of sandbags on top there.

Chrysler released a publicity picture of a sedan with an elephant on the roof, in the early 30s. Guscha?

Chrysler released a publicity picture of a sedan with an elephant on the roof, in the early 30s. Guscha?

Was that part of the campaign to demonstrate the strength of the new Airflow bodies? The part of that campaign that I recall was the Airflow being rolled (and rolled and rolled) down a hill, and then at the bottom someone gets in and drives it away. What phenomenally well-engineered cars those Airflows were, and was gorgeous interiors!! Only ever seen one Custom Imperial Airflow, the first production US car to have a curved windshield (if you can call the Custom Imperial a "production" car with just a small handful built), as luxurious as any 1930s car, bar none. I've often wished I had owned an Airflow.

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That is not an Airflow the elephant is standing on. In fact, I don't think that elephant is standing on any car, but the one in the picture is definitely not an Airflow.

BTW, there was once a Volvo ad showing a monster truck driving over a whole row of Volvos... and it was a confirmed FAKE!

The Chrysler movies, however look pretty unfakeable. But I do believe there's a cut between when the Airflow gets to the bottom of the cliff and when the driver gets in it. But still... it looked pretty intact by the time it got down, considering all that banging around.