Monday, December 21, 2020

Packard "Ask the man who owns one”


 Packard
"Ask the man who owns one” 




1933 Packard Eight Coupe Roadster 



Not many years after it’s founding in 1899, Packard Motor Car Company   established itself as America's premier fine car maker, as it claimed over 50% of the luxury market by the time the “Tenth Series” was introduced in 1933 as “the greatest Packards ever built.” 
However, the Depression brought with it slumping sales of luxury cars but Packard hoped to increase sales by stretching the product line into three distinct groups– the Eight, the Super Eight, and the Twelve.

Even as Packard's entry-level model, the Eight was still well and truly a full luxury car. With a 320-cubic inch 120-horsepower aluminum-‘L’ head straight-8 cylinder engine with down-draft carburetor and full synchronized transmission, the 1933 Packard Eight provided exceptional performance and was considered a performance car of the era for those who could afford them. 
The sales price for the 1933 Packard Eight series automobile started at $2,150, at a time when the average family earned $2,956 annually in taxable income, and for comparison, a new 1936 Plymouth Six sold for $445. 
   

Fewer than 5,000 examples of the “Tenth Series” Packard were produced and of that total, only 1800 Packard Eights were built,  spread over fourteen different body styles. 
As displayed at the Blackhawk Museum, this two-tone red 4-passenger Coupe Roadster, a body style which was offered only in 1933, rides on a 127-1/2 inch wheelbase features a rumble seat, side-mounted spare tire, white wall tires and Trippe driving lights.

Trippe lights, sold and installed by Packard dealers, were mounted on the bumper bar and were fixed as opposed to the more expensive “self-steering” Pilot Ray lights which moved in concert with the with the front wheels through a series of linkages   
This car, which was listed for sale for $325,000, previously received the Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) National First Place Award and a 100-point Senior Award.




1934 Packard Super Eight Dual Cowl Sport Phaeton

In 1934, Packard introduced the “Eleventh Series” which maintained the three distinct products lines – the Eight, the Super Eight and the Twelve. This car also displayed at the Blackhawk Museum is a Super Eight, ,shared the same chassis as the twelve-cylinder cars, and in the case of this car, rides on a 142-inch wheelbase.

This car is powered by the Packard 385-cubic inch straight eight cylinder L-head engine with aluminum alloy pistons that produced 145 horsepower connected to a three-speed synchro-mesh transmission. Packard factory literature indicated that customers could expect to travel ten miles per gallon of gasoline under average conditions. 
Before leaving the factory 'Super Eight 'engines were run-in with an electric motor for nine hours then run on a dynamometer for one hour and 15 minutes. After the engine was installed in the chassis, the car was given a road test at the Packard Proving Grounds 

The striking four-passenger deluxe dual-cowl sport phaeton body was built in the 22-acre body plant inside the mile-long Packard factory.  As is typical of the era, this is not an all-steel body rather kiln-dried hardwoods are used for the supporting structure of the 19-gauge (7/16th inch) steel body panels. Packard literature stated that a composite body was lighter than an equivalent all-steel body and less prone to rattles and squeaking.




This car, retailed from the factory for a base price of $3,440 is equipped with chrome plated wire wheels which sold for $32 each and a pair of side-mounted tire mirrors at $16  for the pair.  
The dual trumpet horns were a standard feature introduced for the eleventh series, and the new-for-1934 fender lights are mounted on the redesigned eleventh series fenders with improved gutter construction on the underside of the fender to prevent water being thrown up at high speeds.

Packard Motor Car survived the Depression and emerged from World War Two production in solid financial condition, but management made some key mistakes by using the same styling on the lower and upper priced models. 
Packard continued to lead in fine car sales until 1950, but as the decade of the nineteen fifties continued, Packard sales declined perhaps because Packard still offered straight eight engines while the market had moved onto V-8 engines. 
In 1954 Packard merged with Studebaker but that marriage proved disastrous, with the last “true” Packard was built in Detroit in June 1956, and the Packard brand name disappeared altogether in 1959.    
All photos by the author


Friday, December 18, 2020

Donations to Northern California Auto Racing now can be made online

 


The author is a proud supporter of Northern California Auto Racing Inc. (NCAR) a non-profit charitable 501(c)3 Corporation that has the goal of creating a museum and Hall of Fame to honor Northern California auto racers.

Click to expand 

Recently, the Giving Edge website accepted NCAR, so donors can make their pledge of support online at https://www.bigdayofgiving.org/ncar825







Thursday, December 17, 2020

Carbon Fiber Shock Guards

 

Carbon Fiber Shock Guards


Photo courtesy of EPARTTRADE

Ebbco Offroad run by 2001 USAC Western States midget champion Danny Ebberts introduced its line of Carbon Fiber Shock Guards, from are designed to protect your shock shafts and prevent dirt and mud from getting into coil springs which will change the spring rate. 

These guards are made from high quality carbon fiber, vacuum bagged for strength and weight. Cleanly bolts to supplied mounting ring with hardware. EBBCO also offers carbon fiber wheel covers.

Check out EBBCO’s website at https://ebbcooffroad.com/

Monday, December 14, 2020

Hood Ornaments


Hood Ornaments



The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show is not just about wild custom cars and hot rods, it is also a market place for replacement and accessory parts. Let's look at an example. 


   

Early cars had exposed radiators, and in the first decade of the last century (the 1910's), the Boyce MotoMeter Company marketed and sold a patented radiator cap with a thermometer that was visible to the driver. Through the years, exposed radiator caps became more stylized.  




Eventually automotive design advanced such that the car’s hood covered the radiator, but hood ornaments remained as automobile manufacturers’ symbols.  A market was created for the supply of accessory mascots available to anyone who wanted to add a hood ornament or car mascot to their automobile.



Although modern cars no longer have  hood ornaments,  This form of automotive art is still available for the classic car market as displayed at the KNS Accessories booth at the 2019 SEMA show.






KNS offers a complete antique car parts website –check them out at https://knsacc.com/


All photos by the author 


Friday, December 11, 2020

Copper trimmed 1924 T-Bucket

 CFR limited edition copper series 1924 T-bucket 




CFR Performance in Ontario, California built this 1924 T-bucket several years ago and it has appeared in the CFR booth at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show multiple times, the last time in 2016 to introduce CFR’s new LS motor accessory parts line.




This year, the car was updated once again for the SEMA360 'Battle of the Builders' to introduce the company’s new CFR limited edition copper series of LS engine accessories which includes the valve covers, valley plate and intake scoop. 




Check out the full line of CFR copper dress-up accessories at https://www.cfrperformance.com/category_s/49859.htm


Friday, December 4, 2020

Thriller custom from SEMA360

 

Thriller Custom


 

The 1970 Plymouth Sport Satellite nicknamed “Thriller” was built by Randy Weaver of Weaver Customs in West Jordan, Utah and appeared in the SEMA360 virtual Battle of the Builders showcase.   




The top of the 900-horsepower supercharged SRT Hellcat Gen III Hemi V-8 peeks through the hood.  All that horsepower passes through a T-56 manual six-speed transmission and to the rear wheels through a narrowed Ford 9-inch rear end.




The car rides on a Scotts Hotrods independent front suspension and a triangulated four-link rear suspension with a Watt’s link.  Wilwood disc brakes provide the stopping power tucked inside a set of EVOD Industries three-piece wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson rubber.




JS Custom Interiors in Salt Lake City handled the interior work with Hyde’s leather offset with billet accessories.   The dash is filled with Dakota Digital VHX-1023 instruments and a digital touch screen to run the Kicker audio system. The custom center console houses a Dakota Digital DCC-series controller for the Vintage Air climate package, and custom made billet shifter reminiscent of the Pistol Grip shifter made famous in the nineteen seventies Chrysler Corporation muscle cars.


All photos courtesy of SEMA