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I only bring this up because it prompted to wonder if similar original information was ever found in a Packard.

The host of "Chasing Classic Cars" found and bought an original 1921 Stutz Bearcat. As an aside, he never discloses what he pays for a car, making me wonder what he paid for the Stutz.

When he got the Stutz back to the shop and began checking for matching numbers, under the front seat they found a hand-written "build sheet" for the car! Astounding. Actually, it wasn't a sheet but a something that resembled an old luggage tag with pre-printed generic categories that were filled in by hand.

Did Packard use handwritten "build sheets" in the same time period and include them with the car?

kind regards
Garrett Meadows

Hey Garrett,
I found the build sheet or part of it anyway behind the ashtray in the front seat. Of course my Packard is a '49 and not a '21 but it appears to be printed on a printer with a tractor feed. Some guys are lucky to find the build sheets. Maybe there are some earlier examples? I would be interested in seeing them.

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There was a preprinted sheet that I found for 1933-34 Packards. Then a worker made checks In various boxes for how the car was equiped from the factory. The worker also signed the sheet on the bottom.

There was a preprinted sheet that I found for 1933-34 Packards.

SHOW US ??

When the fellow on Chasing Classic Cars found that build slip/tag under the seat of the '21 Stutz, he was astonished that it had remained under there for 90+ years.

Based on the responses I've gotten, build slips are still occasionally found in Packards.

The fact that build-slips were down by hand only further validates the "human effort" and highly individualized attention paid to upper end cars.

I guess something comparable is down nowadays for high class cars.

Thank you for the pic. I really enjoy seeing such artifacts.

happy holidays
Garrett M

If a car offered options in the way it could be built, in other words was above the Model T price bracket, it would have to have some kind of written order or paperwork that accompanied it. Before the 1950s it would have been hand written or possibly typewritten, most likely on a pre printed order blank.

The order would have to be with the car at all times, and might have ended up in the paperwork given to the buyer with the car, or it could have been concealed in the car someplace where it could have been accessed easily, like under a seat cushion.

I read on another board that the Stutz was offered for $30,000. The guy who posted the information wanted to buy it but couldn't afford it. The TV guys swooped in and bought it, got it running, cleaned it up a bit and sold it for some multiple of that.

You know what's really sad? That guy who really wanted the Stutz but couldn't come up with the asking price of $30,000, probably really wanted the car and would have cherished and enjoyed it for a very long time. Whereas, the show's host bought simply to make a profit. He wasn't interested in anything other than making a buck. But, that's the reality of "the game."

I'm like the former guy who simply doesn't have the financial resources to buy the most modestly-priced Packard to have for the remainder of my life. It would take a bank loan and going into debt for me to buy a $25,000 Packard.

I get aggravated and obviously jealous when I watch "Chasing Classic Cars" because that guy can buy cars like I buy a bag of double-stuffed Oreo's. He got upset the other day because he couldn't buy back a Packard that his father once owned for $200,000. Oh, well, life is full of disappoinmtents, more so for some of us than others.

happy holidays,
Garrett M

there are also Children in North Korea, etc etc...that would only want a decent meal.

my point is, there is more to life then owning a Packard....blessings come in all forms....even packages of oreos.

There are people like Jay leno that have tons of cars, but i'm not going to focus on that....we all have reasons to be happy in life, just gotta figure out what that is.

would i be grumpy at first that i didn't have my Packards, yup and would i loose site of what is most important at times...probably so....but in the long run....my wife, my child, my family, my home....are way bigger blessings and maybe others that have tons of cars....dont have that blessing.

as for the 200k Packard the guy couldn't buy. I'm in a similar situation. I wasn't able to pay outright for my Grandfather's limo...i had to get a loan....its amazing what sentimental things will make you do. had i not been approved for the loan....i wouldn't be owning it right now either and i'd have been sad as well.

keep your head up...a Packard may indeed come your way, until then keep eating those double stuff oreos like a champ. i know some diabetics would be jealous.