Packard Forum Index » Modification Discussion

In answering a post in another thread I tapped into the local Studebaker club website. Curiosity aroused I nosed around the site and found an article about a local customising legend, DaleF, who I'd met briefly at a couple of display days in the last few years. It's a long article and in going through it I saw the rear of a car he'd customised and said to myself "That's a Packard!" My Packard recognition skills must be improving, seeing through the camouflage and spotting one! A little later there was a front end view and a caption confirming what I first saw and thought.

Pic's ex Super Street Machine magazine, Vol 1 1987.

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Some of these are so ugly they're funny.
Most continental kits remind me of a wart on a frog's ass.

Have to agree with Randy on this one. While it's debatable as to whether 22-3 Packards were the most stylish of vehicles and couldn't stand a bit of pizazz, these treatments were not an improvement. I see these were done in the tail fins to end all era but really, did the guy just like fins -- no matter whether it helped the car.

When I was a kid I had a magazine about customizing. It was obsessed with putting different make grilles on the front of Chevies, adding lights to the hood, C-kits, bucket seats from Buicks etc etc.

What that Packard needs is a Cadillac grille.

Some cars just should not be customized. The bath-tubs fit right in with the should not. The 55-56's can and have been done, and a few(very few) were done nicely. to each his own I guess. I am not against customing mind you, as I have a 64 Dodge Dart GT convertible that I have customized, but there are just some cars that should be left alone.

IMHO of course.

P.S. I used some Packard and Caddy parts in it.

What about the so called Von Rudolph roadster? It was a successful custom job of a 48 Packard, at least I like it and I think a lot of Packard fans would agree.

http://significantcars.com/cars/1948packard3/

I believe most of us would agree that the Von Rudolph car is an exception to the rule. IMHO it is tastefully done and is inviting to get in and drive. On those other so-called customizations, I wouldn't be caught in one. Amateur customizations, in general, do not look good. The Von Rudolph car is not an amateur job.

... Oz, perhaps you should research the whereabouts of this Packard and add it to your collection?!?...

G'day Dan,

On Sunday, at a display day, met the guy who did the custom work. Talking to him about another matter and didn't think to ask him about the bathtub. If anyone should have any idea where it is now he would. I'll ask him next time I see him.

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You said it, randy. Every Continental Kit I look at prompts the same question: why?