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Doesn't this Craigslist seller mean it was SOLD in Canada?

http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/ctd/2113940111.html

Or am I learning a new piece of Packard history?...

Packard operated an assembly plant at two locations in Windsor Ontario during the 1930's so the car may have actually been "built" in Canada. I believe the plant closed in 1939 as Canada entered Word War 2 and auto production shifted to making war materiel.

Packards were built in Canada for nearly a decade prior to the outbreak of WWII in Europe (1939). Mostly RHD models, but also quite a few LHD juniors. In order to quality for reduced import tariff into England and the Commonwealth, a certain %-age of the components were Canadian-sourced. See attached picture of the 1st Canadian-built Packard, and an article from the "Canadian Auto Trader".

The Canadian operation was truly manufacture and assembly, as opposed to "manufacture" from knock-down kits as was done is several other countries, including Belgium as late as 1956 by D'Ieteren Freres, and RHD conversions in England by Leonard Williams Ltd.

PS - Canadian-built Packards were of course distinguished by a Packard Canada patent (or VN) plate - see picture.

PPS - Somewhere I have a breakdown on the # of Packards built at the Canadian operation. If I run across it I'll add it to this post.

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Thanks, Dave and O-D! I honestly had no idea that Packards had ever been produced in Canada!

Does the location in Windsor still exist? It's literally right over the river from me here in Michigan...

Somewhere in the not-to-distant past The Packard Club ran an article about the facilities and their subsequent use. If I can locate the article, I'll summarize it for you. I'd be reluctant to scan and post due to copyright considerations.

But if the site is that close to you, why not drive over and see if you can locate it and take some current pictures? No doubt we'd all enjoy them.

There were two Packard assembly plants in Windsor. One was at the corner of Chatham St.and Church St. and is now gone (see attached photo). I remember this building as a Canadian Tire Store in the 1950's. It was demolished to make way for a Bus Terminal. The other on Huron Church Road near the Ambassador bridge is now part of the University of Windsor Visual Arts Building and my brother who works nearby told me recently that there is still a large letter "P" on the facade which can still be seen. I will write to him and ask for a photo.
Also I seem to recall that the original Packard plant was somewhere along Walker Road and that building still stands.The Church and Chatham St building may have been a dealership.This would make a very interesting project
As an aside the integration of Canadian and US automakers is very old going back to the first decade of the 20th century. Most of the US companies based in Detroit had either manufacturing or assembly plants on both sides of the Detroit River. The part of Windsor where I grew up was once known officially as Ford City until 1928 before becoming East Windsor.

Also I seem to recall being told that the original Packard plant was somewhere along Walker Road and that building still stands.The Church and Chatham St building may have been a dealership.This would make a very interesting project

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Noted on the patent plate that the delivery date is stamped as month/day/year, the US format, as compared to the format of day/month/year. I though Canada and most of the rest of the world used the day/month/year formatting. Clipper47?

(o{I}o)

Here's another, date stamped in the same format.

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John, It is an interesting observation and question. Indeed the normal Canadian date sequence is day/ month/ year. I can only speculate that since the delivery date was also the beginning date of the warranty that to avoid confusion Packard head office may have directed that all Packards use the American sequence of M/D/Y. My own Packard delivery date is 3-9-47 so that might have caused a problem if the delivery day was March and not September if the car was warranty serviced at a dealership other than the selling one.

Thanks Clipper47 and O_D. It is confusing. I seem to remember a discussion about the casting date on the engine of a Canadian-built Packard, and the poster answering sided with the D/M/Y interpretation. Since the engine blocks were cast in the US he was incorrect. Confusion will persist in interpreting these dates until the middle number is greater than 12. O_D's latest patent plate photo can be interpreted either way; whereas, the photo of the first one cannot. I especially enjoyed reading the newspaper article about the Canadian factory. Thanks.

(o{I}o)