Welcome to This Week on Hagerty Marketplace, a recurring recap of the previous week’s most noteworthy cars and significant sales from the Hagerty Marketplace online auctions.

It was another busy week on Hagerty Marketplace, but this trio of rides—one of the last great Packards, a brown-over-brown Lincoln Continental Mark III, and a delightful example of Volkswagen’s droptop Cabriolet—piqued our curiosity. Let’s explore each offering a bit further.

1956 Packard Four Hundred Hardtop Coupe

Sold for $16,168

By 1954, the once-great Packard car company was forced to merge with Studebaker to survive. Following the merger, Packard sought to redefine itself with bold new models for 1955–56, penned by young designer Richard Teague. The new cars featured full-width grilles, expansive front glass, tri-color paint schemes, and more. The Four Hundred Hardtop Coupe was the company’s ritziest ride but ultimately failed to reverse the firm’s downward trend, selling just 3224 units in 1956.

The example seen here is one of the last aspirational Packards to leave an assembly line. It was the 849th Four Hundred model produced in 1956. Power comes from a 372 cubic-inch V-8 that made 290 horsepower. The two-tone Dover White and Scottish Heather paint still looks fantastic, especially for a car that reportedly was stored for 20 years and saw rare use. Once the new owner handles some necessary prep work, this should be a delightful cruiser for years to come.

1970 Lincoln Continental Mark III

Sold for $8,828

When Ford President Lee Iacocca commissioned Ford’s Advance Design Office to create a two-door personal car for the luxury space in 1965, he wanted to see something resembling the handcrafted Continental Mark II of the 1950s. The resulting luxury coupe, which debuted in 1968 with a long hood, short rear deck, lavish grille, and integrated spare tire was an immediate hit with buyers, immediately outselling the Cadillac Eldorado. By 1970 the Mark III received a handful of upgrades such as new wheel covers, concealed windshield wipers, genuine walnut veneers on the instrument panel, and more.

Seen here is an example of that light update. This brown-over-brown car seems purpose-built for our in-house Lincoln and brown car aficionado, Senior Editor Sajeev Mehta. (We checked and can confirm that he is not, in fact, the new owner of this car—much to his chagrin.) This Mark III shows just 29,097 miles on the clock, meaning there’s lots of life left for this 460 cubic-inch V-8. It, too, sat for around 20 years, so it will need a once-over before it’s ready to waft about once more. Still, from a dollar-per-square-inch, or dollar-per-horsepower standpoint, it’s hard to beat this cruiser for value.

1989 Volkswagen Best Seller Wolfsburg Limited Edition Cabriolet

Sold for $17,758

Filling shoes as big as those left by the Volkswagen Beetle is a tall task, but in 1980, the newly-debuted Volkswagen Rabbit Convertible attempted to do just that. It was an immediate hit, soldiering on for five lovely years before a name change that came from the Golf replacing the Rabbit here in the U.S. The convertible model was henceforth referred to as the Cabriolet.

Following a 1988 facelift, a few trims were offered, but the most sought-after was the Wolfsburg Limited Edition, which was based on the Best Seller trim. Wolfsburg-trimmed Cabbies received special Star Blue Metallic paint, a unique “Helios” blue velour interior, and a dark blue soft top, creating a one-year-only color combo that quickly became collectible.

Looking at this example, listed with 68,852 original miles, it’s not hard to see why these little charmers were so desirable. The 1.8-liter, 90-horsepower inline-four isn’t what we’d call a rocket, but this lithe car didn’t need much power to be enjoyable. Features include a heated glass rear window in the soft top, dual remote control side mirrors, a folding rear seat with trunk access, and more. Though the paint, which is believed to be original, shows a few nicks and signs of patina, we’d reckon there aren’t many more enjoyable ways to take in the summer sun.

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Packard was such a great luxury car. And I’ve always loved Studebakers too, from the Art Deco-style cars of 1932-33 to the bullet nose ’50-’51s and the Gran Turismo Hawks of 1962 to 1964. But long story short, the merger of the two was not good for Packard. However, it did produce some interesting variations. Perhaps the most interesting offshoot of those times—or most odd, if you prefer—is the one-year-only Packard Hawk.

The Hawk was an extension of the all-new 1953 Studebakers, the sleek Commander two-door hardtop in particular. In 1956, a new, taller hood and trapezoid central grille were added among other new trim details, and they became the Hawk series, with the Golden Hawk the top of the line, complete with a Packard V-8 under the hood.

But starting in 1957, Studebaker’s own 289-CID V-8 was found under the hood of new Golden Hawks, and was supercharged to boot. New and oh-so-trendy fins were added as well. With its power and style, it was one of the more compelling—and fast—choices in new cars that year.

Unfortunately, Studebaker-Packard Corporation was in poor health financially during this time. “True” Packards ended in 1956. 1957 Packard Clippers were essentially super-deluxe Studebakers, though they did receive 1955-56 Packard styling cues, including the instrument panel. But beneath the skin, it was mostly the top Studebaker sedan, the President Classic. A nice car in its own right, but not really a Packard.

Originally, this was to be a stop-gap solution, with all new and truly large Packards to appear a year or two after, partially designed by Richard Teague. But the money never came in, and there never was another all-new Packard, strictly speaking.

That said, there were the 1957 Packard Clippers, available only as a four-door sedan and a four door wagon, dubbed “Country Sedan.” And 1958 brought, surprisingly, additional Packard models.

It was the final year for the company, yet the Packard series, comprised of the Packard 4-door Sedan, Packard Hardtop, and Packard Station Wagon (all without model names) got a heavy, and rather wild, facelift with quad headlamps and unusual double fins on the rear.

Then there was the Hawk. The Packard Hawk was essentially a Studebaker Golden Hawk with a long, low “catfish” style grille, gold Mylar inserts in the fins, leather interior, and a simulated spare tire sunk into the trunk lid, among other minor details.

As an ad declared, “It is designed with that imaginative flair you only expect to find in Europe’s most fashionable automobiles…a regal air that immediately distinguishes its owner as a man of position. Put yourself in that position…behind the wheel of a Packard Hawk, soon.”

While I’m sure few people were fooled, it was all in all a nice car. It still had the swoopy lines of the Golden Hawk, an even more sumptuous interior (borrowed from the extra glitzy and rarely seen Golden Hawk ‘400’), full instrumentation in a handsome engine turned dash, and—best of all—the supercharged 289-CID V-8, with a 3.56-inch x 3.63-inch bore and stroke, and good for 275 horsepower!

The 1958 Packard Hawk had a $3,995 MSRP, weighed in at 3,470 pounds, and only 588 were built. For comparison’s sake, a ’58 Golden Hawk based at $3,282 and sales were slightly better, but still really low, to the tune of 878 units. But then, 1958 was a recession year, and even fat, healthy car companies like GM were losing thousands of sales.

Not too many folks were optimistic about Studebaker-Packard. And indeed, it was last call. Come 1959, Packard was no more, though the corporation continued to be called Studebaker-Packard for several years after the cars’ demise.

And those final cars were not really the majestic luxury cars folks of a certain age at the time had remembered. But the last new car from Packard, this Hawk, was still a pretty cool conveyance. Leather, supercharged V-8, sleek lines, what’s not to like? And a rare birdie, too!

Our featured car was spotted by your author at an SDC Club meet in Iowa City, Iowa, back on August 11, 2018. I was lucky in that I had no idea this show was going on, but my uncle, David Klockau, texted me about it, so I hopped in the Town Car and made the hour jaunt down Interstate 80. I was not disappointed!

In addition to this fine ’58, there was an aquamarine ’58 Golden Hawk, a Wagonaire, a really nice mint green ’53 sedan, and many others. I’d actually been meaning to write this car up for years, but kept forgetting about it. There’s always more shows to attend and cars to gawk at! I’m happy to finally give this final-year Packard model its due.

But wait, there’s even more! While I was working on this column, I ran across pictures of another ’58 Hawk I saw when I visited the Studebaker National Museum (if you find yourself in South Bend, I highly recommend it) back in 2015 with my friend Jim Cavanaugh, an Indianapolis resident and fellow Studebaker nut.

It was fetching in its gunmetal gray paint with saddle tan leather, and I recall gawking at it for some time. At least until I caught the last Studebaker built, a turquoise metallic ’66 Cruiser, out of the corner of my eye, and went scampering away to it! So expect more Studebakers sometime soon.

One final note. In preparing this column, I used some brochures I received from Suzanne Reid. Her dad was another Studebaker fan and owned several. She had a number of booklets and brochures from the ’50s and ’60s and was kind enough to send them to me when they needed a good home.

I was thrilled to receive them and spent quite some time reading through them. They were a great help in pinning down some of the details for this column. I thank you, ma’am!

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The Packard Motor Car Company had an impressive run as a standalone company, then as part of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation (1954), making high-end vehicles in one of the best times in American history. But we aren’t here to discuss those distant memories, nor are we discussing the controversial V-12 sedan made by Roy Gullickson in the 1990s. What’s before us is a custom-bodied convertible with a 1949 Packard title, named the Packard Bayliff Lebaron.

There’s a lot to unpack in that name, as Packard stopped making cars after 1958. LeBaron is a prewar coachbuilder that made famous bodies for luxury cars before it was folded into Chrysler, after which its name morphed into a trim level for mid-century Imperials and premium vehicles in the 1980s. Bayliff is the funeral- and custom-car maker that made what you see above. Its tribute to two long-forgotten names is currently available on Hagerty Marketplace with a high bid of $35,000.

Again, Bayliff didn’t make only this Packard; it is a famous name in coachbuilding circles. Perhaps the Bayliff LeBaron was a final tribute to the company’s coach-building heritage, as it created this vehicle sometime in the early 2000s. There was precedent for such a project, as Bayliff made a similar vehicle before it sold the Packard name to Gullickson for $50,000 in 1992 for his failed attempt to relaunch the iconic brand. (How Bayliff managed to make this Packard Bayliff LeBaron without raising the ire of Gullickson remains to be seen.)

Meet the bright red “1934” Packard Bayliff Victoria (via Undiscovered Classics). This less streamlined design of this fiberglass tribute car was intended to look 15 years older than the burgundy LeBaron we are profiling today. The deeply contoured doors are the best example of the Victoria’s heritage, looking more like something from the early 1930s and less like the sleek, straight lines of the Bayliff LeBaron.

The Bayliff Victoria also appears to use fewer parts from recognizable donor cars, and it was likely made a full decade before the Bayliff LeBaron. Details are minimal and photos are vague, so this assumption is based on the audio system installed at the time of manufacture: The Bayliff Victoria’s radio looks like a 1990s vintage Kenwood CD player or similar. (The Bayliff LeBaron has a 2000s-era Sony, as seen below.)

Speaking of “recognizable donor cars,” the Bayliff LeBaron used many parts from the 1987–89 Chrysler LeBaron convertible. While the use of the LeBaron name might be coincidence, there’s no doubt this long-forgotten coachbuilder found a good home on this custom Packard.

Parts shared with the Chrysler include the cowl, A-pillars, and support structure for the glass and top mechanism. The Chrysler LeBaron’s cowl also donated key interior elements, including the HVAC system, the dashboard, the center stack for the Sony radio, and a glovebox for the passenger.

To be fair, the overall interior design feels like a worthy tribute to a classic Packard: Details like the banjo steering wheel, Lokar shifter, and upright dashboard almost feel period-correct. Only the “Packard” script pillow on the passenger side, and the “Custom Deluxe” graphics on the door panel, oversell the conversion. Perhaps some modern 3-D printing technology could make neoclassic trim panels, and a chrome-laden RetroSound audio unit could better integrate the designer’s original vision into the package?

Under the Bayliff LeBaron’s long hood is a SOHC Ford Modular V-8 displacing 5.4 liters with 260 horsepower, disguised as a Packard powerplant with an engine cover that cleverly integrates two air filters. While the Lincoln Navigator’s more assertive DOHC mill wasn’t implemented in this build, the Holley EFI Terminator X system likely keeps that motor purring like that of a proper Packard. The rest of the chassis appears to have a truck-like ladder frame with rear leaf springs. This was likely by design, part and parcel of Bayliff’s roots as a funeral coachbuilder.

None of which detracts from the elegance of this design and the delightful audacity of its creator to bring it into existence. The 1949 Packard Bayliff LeBaron is downright stunning on its massive wheelbase, with its flowing fenders and 100-spoke wire wheels. Now that the Chrysler LeBaron convertible’s demise is almost three decades in the past, I reckon the Bayliff LeBaron can stand on its own at any car show in the country. Nobody will know what’s underneath, or where it came from.

Decades later, being a Chrysler under that burgundy paint certainly helps. The fabric top is torn in places, which can be resolved for $400 or less thanks to aftermarket support. Paint chips, fading, and swirl marks are noted in the auction, but they point to an owner who enjoyed the vehicle and didn’t let it rot in perpetual storage, and driving such a stately machine is likely what Bayliff wanted in the first place.

The oldest record of this vehicle’s sale was at Barrett-Jackson in 2005, where it sold for $79,200. It then sold at RM Sotheby’s a decade later for $71,500. Where it will land on Hagerty Marketplace at the auction’s close on Friday remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt that the next owner will be part of the storied history of the famous brand. And they will be responsible for a stunning piece of automotive coachbuilding that capitalized on the best of the word “LeBaron” from multiple decades.

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The historic Packard plant could be history by the end of the year. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced earlier this month that the mammoth facility, which stopped producing Packard luxury automobiles in 1956 and has been mostly abandoned since the 1990s, will be fully torn down by the end of 2024. 

Once the standard-bearer of modern automotive factories, the Packard plant is one of a handful of transportation-related buildings in the Motor City that have become popular “ruin porn” attractions during the last several decades.

“Sixty-eight years,” Duggan told Fox 2 Detroit, referencing the last time a car was produced at the plant, “but it was worth the wait.”

Duggan and city officials, speaking at a press conference on March 4, said they hope to have a new automotive-related plant built on the 42-acre site, located on East Grand Boulevard, northeast of downtown.

“You can see that a lot of it has already been cleared out,” Duggan said. “This is an ideal site for manufacturing. I want to see people making auto parts again here.”

The press conference actually marked the beginning of the third phase of the demolition, which began in 2022. Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo had planned a $350 million mixed-use development there, but the project was slowed by the pandemic and eventually came to a halt. When Palazuelo failed to comply with a court order to demolish the dilapidated buildings, the city took ownership and immediately announced demolition plans.

The first portion of the Packard plant opened for business in 1903. The complex would eventually comprise four million square feet of factory space and employ up to 40,000 workers at its peak.

In 1954, Packard merged with Studebaker and two years later, production was moved to a smaller plant on Conner Avenue. The last true Packard rolled off the line on June 25, 1956.

Portions of the Packard site were used by numerous small businesses until the late 1990s, when most of the structures were abandoned, left to scrappers, squatters, and the elements.

According to The Detroit News, Detroit-based contractor Adamo Group began demolition at 5409 Concord Street, comprising about 200,000 square feet, on the southern section of the plant. The teardown work is expected to take five months and cost $1.2 million to complete. Three more portions of the plant will need to come down. All told, about $26 million in pandemic relief funding will be used to demolish the plant.

“This project is monumental for the city’s mission [to eradicate blight],” said LaJuan Counts, director of the Detroit Construction and Demolition Department. “It symbolizes Detroit’s resilience and its commitment to revitalization. As we look to a new era for this site, we honor the history of the old Packard Plant while embracing future possibilities for our city.”

Duggan said that not all of the Packard plant will be razed. “The part of it (that) we are preserving is on Grand Boulevard, because this plant is a big part of Detroit’s history. … There will be a small section of the plant on each side of Grand Boulevard that will be incorporated in any developer’s proposal so we can recognize the history at the same time we’re building the future.”

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The 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is still eight months away, but competition for entry into the prestigious automobile showcase has already begun. The 73rd Concours, scheduled for August 18, 2024, is accepting applications through January 5.

Five featured categories will celebrate an expanded range of cars, from early pioneers to 1990s supercars.

Links to the online entry form have been sent to regular participants. Others with a car that they believe to be worthy of inclusion in the California concours can send a brief description and images to entries@pebblebeachconcours.net.

The five featured categories include:

Packard 125th Anniversary

Synonymous with American luxury for nearly six decades (1899–1958), Packard automobiles have won Best of Show at Pebble Beach four times—most recently in 2013, when Joseph and Margie Cassini III’s 1934 Packard 1108 Twelve Dietrich Convertible Victoria was crowned. To celebrate the 125th anniversary of Packard’s founding, Pebble is offering a special class for early Packard automobiles, ranging from the very earliest single-cylinder horseless carriages to the era of the massive Dominant Six in 1915. In addition, there will be a curated display of models in the 1930 Packard Speedster Series, which was essentially a line-up of factory hot rods based on a custom-built shortened chassis and equipped with a whole host of performance options. The Speedsters were available in five unique body styles, including the iconic boattail design.

Maserati

Italy’s Maserati brothers—Alfieri (1887–1932), Bindo (1883–1980), Carlo (1881–1910), Ettore (1894–1990), and Ernesto (1898–1975)—were all involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. After founding Maserati S.p.A. in 1914, the brothers produced their first racing car in 1926, and one of the first, driven by Alfieri, won that year’s Targa Florio. In 1948, long after the Maserati’s competition models became legendary and now under the management of the Orsi family, the automaker began building non-racing sports cars, and Maserati’s venerable GT series cars emerged.

Frua Coachwork

Pietro Frua was not just part of the golden age of creativity in Italian design and coachbuilding, his work all but defined it for many. From the rounded lines of the early 1950s to the sleek squared-off shapes of the ’60s, Frua was a master of all. His designs were sometimes a little off-putting, but they were still tasteful and inherently beautiful. Frua began his career with Farina and then built his own design studio, which, after many successful projects, he eventually sold to Ghia. Along the way, he bodied many marques, but his creations built for Maserati, which featured smooth, low-slung bodywork, are among his most celebrated.

Wedge-Shaped Concept Cars & Prototypes

A few 1950s prototypes hinted at the idea, but wedge-shaped designs really stepped into the public’s consciousness with concept cars in the three decades that followed. The trend began with the Ghia Gilda Streamline S and blossomed with the Alfa Romeo Carabo, Ferrari Modulo 512, and Lancia Stratos HF. These dramatically different cars weren’t just styling pipe dreams, either; their lines went on to influence a whole host of production models like the Lamborghini Miura and Countach, DeLorean DMC-12, Lotus Esprit, Fiat X1/9, Lancia Stratos, and Vector W2. Traces of the wedge design also appear in the Tesla Cybertruck of today.

1990s BPR & FIA GT Race Cars

The BPR Series—named for founders Jürgen Barth, Patrick Peter, and Stéphane Ratel—brought iconic supercars to the track in the mid-1990s, just as legendary sports cars like the Jaguar E-type, Ferrari 250 GT, and Shelby Cobra had gone from road to racecourse with few changes in the 1950s and ’60s. The McLaren F1, Ferrari F40, Bugatti EB110, Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR, and Porsche 911 GT1 all took part in the series, as did exotics like the Lotus Elise GT1 and Dodge Viper. These titans of performance and style competed on tracks worldwide—from Europe to Zhuhai, China, and California’s Laguna Seca. The BPR Series began in 1994 and became the FIA GT Series in 1997.

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From the depths of the Great Depression and World War II to the economic resurgence and baby boom that followed, U.S. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman had more than their share of bumpy rides. They also shared a smooth one, a 1941 Packard Super Eight One-Eighty Custom Touring Limousine, bodied by LeBaron. Or did they?

FDR, who became the 32nd President of the United States in the depths of the Great Depression, was in office from 1933–45, the longest tenure of any American president. Truman, Roosevelt’s third understudy in 12 years, had served only four months as Vice President when Roosevelt suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died on April 12, 1945. Truman immediately became the 33rd President and faced crucial decisions as WWII entered its final stages.

Germany surrendered less than one month after Truman took office (Italy had already done so in 1943), and Japan officially surrendered on September 2, 1945, putting an end to hostilities and returning a semblance of normalcy to the U.S. and its allies. That included new automobile production, which was halted when America joined the war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which Roosevelt so famously called “a date which will live in infamy.”

Just months prior, a 1941 Packard Super Eight One-Eighty Custom Touring Limousine—the second of only 51 limousines built by LeBaron in ’41—was, according to RM Sotheby’s, “[s]aid to have been delivered new to the White House.” If that sentence sounds less than emphatic, it’s because RM admits, “Although documentation does not exist to confirm the claim, former owner and Packard aficionado Dr. Charles Blackman believed this Packard to have been delivered to the White House during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and used in an official capacity during both the Roosevelt and Truman presidencies. Dr. Blackman also believed that it was later used in the fleet of vehicles maintained for the use of the governor of New York and reportedly spent time in a museum before finding its way into his private collection.”

So, what can we make of the limousine (Vehicle No. 1420-2002 / Engine No. D503448D), which will cross the block at RM Sotheby’s Hershey (Pennsylvania) auction on Wednesday, October 4? RM has given it a pre-auction estimate of $30,000–$40,000, which would no doubt be higher if it included documentation proving that it was used to transport FDR and Truman. Regardless, it definitely looks the part with red emergency driving lights, fender-mounted flag holders, and the Seal of the President of the United States on the rear doors.

From the stylish heights of the 1930s, the American custom coachbuilding industry was beginning to fade from existence by the early 1940s. American luxury automakers were slowly discontinuing top-of-the-line factory-cataloged semi-customs, which had featured prominently for well over a decade. Packard was among the last to offer bodies by coachbuilders Rollson and LeBaron, with the latter being a division of Briggs by 1941. Most of LeBaron’s final Packard offerings were formal limousines, largely with hand-built bodies and beautifully appointed for the most select clients.

This one, which RM Sotheby’s says underwent a cosmetic restoration years ago, is powered by Packard’s legendary 356-cubic inch, 160-horsepower straight-eight engine, mated to a three-speed manual transmission. It features independent front suspension and four-wheel hydraulic brakes, making it surprisingly capable on the road despite the lengthy 148-inch wheelbase. “The car has impressive mobility and seemingly unlimited torque,” RM says, “something that is quite welcome when motoring in such an impressively large, well-constructed automobile.”

The limo, considered one of the rarest Packards of the late prewar period, is fitted with leather upholstery in the front and wool broadcloth in the rear. Did Roosevelt and Truman sit on that broadcloth? Hagerty Manager of Valuation Analytics John Wiley says there’s no way to know for sure unless some form of proof surfaces, but this luxury automobile would still be a worthy addition to anyone’s collection.

“While this car’s connection to the White House is circumstantial at best, appreciating it as one of the last coachbuilt Packard limousines—by LeBaron, no less—is perhaps more appropriate,” Wiley says. “It certainly represents a period when America assumed a leadership role in the global order. Someday, perhaps even a Presidential connection to the White House, or as some other official car, can eventually be documented, too.”

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Michael writes:

I’m looking for an electronic ignition conversion for my 1935 Packard 120; it’s basically stock except for radial tires, 12 volt electrics, A/C, and overdrive. (Nothing that can’t be easily put back to factory stock.) Does anybody make an ignition conversion for this engine?

My current factory setup uses a dual point system: one set to run four cylinders and a second set for the other four. The distributor has a four-lobe cam. The distributor number is IHG4026-1. Any ideas without using a 37 single point, which necessitates changing the drive shaft of the oil pump?

Sajeev answers:

Probably one of the best things I do behind the scenes here at Piston Slap is to seek outside council when I need help* answering a question. Let me tell you, it woulda been nice to have the fine folks behind Ask Hagerty when I started this series in 2009!

My first thought was a PerTronix kit, quickly confirmed by my co-workers at Ask Hagerty. We’ve discussed solid state conversion kits in the past (here and here) and they are generally well regarded across the Internet. The cheapest PerTronix Packard conversion kit currently for sale is probably this one.

That said, I never considered a conversion to a single points system, but Ask Hagerty knows better. The benefit to this conversion is that it uses off-the-shelf points for ease of timing and far better availability. My co-workers recommended the kit offered by The Packard Parts Store, but we both caution you to call them first, ensuring you buy the right kit for your application beforehand.

So we have two options, but which one is the best for Michael? Well, he asked about a solid state ignition conversion, and PerTronix has him covered. The Packard Parts Store’s single-point setup is aimed towards owners who still appreciate the points ignition system, and don’t want to see the Hall effect sensor’s red and black wiring, poking out of the distributor assembly in a distinctly non-stock manner.

I am OK with that modest cosmetic change for such a significant upgrade, but what say you, Hagerty Community?

*Yes, you can Ask Hagerty yourself, provided you are a Hagerty Driver’s Club member. If not, see the note below and take advantage of it!

Have a question you’d like answered on Piston Slap? Send your queries to pistonslap@hagerty.com, give us as much detail as possible so we can help! Keep in mind this is a weekly column, so if you need an expedited answer, please tell me in your email.

The post Piston Slap: Dizzy over Packard ignition conversions appeared first on Hagerty Media.

There it was again. A magnificent relic from The Fabulous Fifties. When cars were gorgeous, airbags were non-existent, and we all loved Lucy. OK, variations of that line have been used dozens of times in the past, but when I see a fantastic classic luxury car like this, especially when it’s unexpected-like at the small cruise night at the baseball park downtown … I tend to get a little melodramatic. Eldorados have the same effect.

I have previously written other articles on the 1957 and ’58 “Packardbakers” and the Studebaker Packard merger, the downfall of Packard, and the later downfall of Studebaker. It’s a sordid story and everybody has different opinions on what could have been done, if anything could have been done, to keep the company from going out of business or to keep Packard from joining the South Bend Boys.

But really it was 1956. Because 1956 was the last year Packards were made inside the fantastic, historic, gigantic Packard factory in Detroit (portions of which are being demolished at this writing). After that, they were just dolled-up Studebakers. Not bad cars, but not Packards. Certainly not Packards like this one.

I first spotted this car in July. The local baseball park hosts a weekly car show in their parking lot every Wednesday evening, and since I get off work at 4:30, it’s very convenient to just cross the Mississippi River and check out the vehicles. A lot of times it’s the same cars, but sometimes you see a really amazing one. Like this one.

Of course, if you’re even mildly interested in ’50s classic luxury cars, you will know that 1956 was the last year Packard made real Packards. And they were gorgeous. The ’55 models were very handsomely restyled on the 1951 body that was largely styled by John Reinhardt. There’s only minor differences here and there between the 1955 and ’56 Packards. But fans know the details.

As had been the case in the past, Clippers were separated, price-wise and styling-wise, from senior Packards. In 1956 only, there was an odd hybrid, the Packard Executive, which was basically the Clipper body with the senior Packard front end and fancier interior trim.

But the primary exterior differences in the senior Packards—which included the Caribbean, the Four Hundred two-door hardtop, and the Patrician four-door sedan—were a new grill and the bold, Dagmar-style bumper guards moved a little bit further apart, going directly beneath the headlights instead of slightly inboard, as on the ’55s.

On the Four Hundred hardtop, the chrome trim that stopped at the simulated rear quarter van on the ’55 extended all the way to the taillights on the ’56s.

But I’m slightly digressing from our featured car. (If I’m not careful, I’ll be writing another thousand words or so on all the various aspects of the different ’56 Packards because I love them so much.) So, we were talking about the Caribbean, weren’t we? Let me get back on track.

In 1956, the convertible (and arguably the flagship of the Packard line) returned: The Caribbean. With its awesome tri-tone exterior and interior trim, the convertible went for $5995 ($65,700 today), had a curb weight of 4960 pounds and—hold on to your hats!—a mere 276 were built.

But wait, there’s more. For 1956—and 1956 only—there was also a Caribbean two-door hardtop. As you’d expect, it had the same exterior and interior trim as the convertible, but it was 500 bucks less at $5495 ($60,200), and only 263 were built.

And as I was typing that last paragraph, I was even more surprised than you to learn how few were made. Before I got into my Standard Catalog of American Cars to research this article, I would have guessed about 400 Caribbean convertibles were built this year. Clearly, I was wrong.

But, of course, I knew they were rare, and that’s why I went nuts when I saw this beauty at the Davenport riverfront and took about 30 pictures of it, most of which you see here.

When I was about 8 years old, my grandparents, Bob and Ruby Klockau, got me a little hardcover coffee table book called Decade of Dazzle that had huge wonderful color pictures of 1950s classic cars.

Included were the 1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner hardtop, the 1956 Continental Mark II, and several other wonderful cars, but the one I remember best was the 1955 Packard Caribbean. It just blew me away.

It was the first time I’d ever seen or heard of one (of course, I was just a kid at the time), and I fell in love with it immediately. It was just so spectacular, even compared to the Lincolns and Cadillacs that I loved from an early age. This was a whole other level of classic car!

And so it was that circa 1995 my parents got me the Franklin Mint 1/24th-scale model of the 1955 Caribbean. I still have it in a display case in my home office.

Caribbeans are beautiful cars. I love them and always will. I see a car like this and just wonder what might have happened if the Packard that was around until 1956 had continued into the late ’50s and early ’60s. We’ll never know, but it’s definitely food for thought.

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Decades after the last Packard automobile rolled off the assembly line, and five years after Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo announced a failed $350 million plan to turn the property into a mixed-use development, demolition of the iconic Packard plant will begin today in northeast Detroit.

The plant is one of a handful of transportation-related buildings that have become popular “ruin porn” attractions during the last several decades.

According to the Detroit News, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and demolition director LaJuan Counts are expected to kick off the demolition of the parcel at 6199 Concord Avenue, which is adjacent to the Display Group and, city officials say, “creates an imminent danger to that building, its employees, and neighborhood residents.”

Palazuelo missed a court-ordered deadline of April 21 to file for a demolition permit. Wayne County Circuit Judge Brian Sullivan ruled in March that if Palazuelo failed to start the demolition process, the city of Detroit could legally “engage qualified contractors to perform all demolition and other necessary actions to abate the nuisance.”

Palazuelo bought the complex—two 20-acre sites—from Wayne County for $405,000 eight years ago. Palazuelo’s local company, Arte Express Detroit LLC, immediately began cleaning up the property, and in 2017 it officially broke ground on a 15-year project to redevelop the complex.

Packard, known for building high-quality luxury vehicles for nearly 60 years, ended production in 1956. The plant site was used by numerous smaller businesses until the late 1990s, when the buildings were abandoned and left to scrappers, vandals, and the elements.

During his state of the city address in March, Mayor Duggan vowed to save the front portion of the city-owned building along the south side of Grand Boulevard, which he hopes can be preserved for redevelopment.

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JL Wrangler looks princely in purple for 2023

Intake: Jeep revealed two new colors for the 2023 Wrangler via Tweet. The colors are called Reign and Earl and are purple and gray, respectively. Get it? We’ve seen the Earl color before when it worn by an overlanding Gladiator concept at which we got a close look last year (see below). Earl was rumored to be in the works for 2022 model year Jeeps but was delayed. Reign is the latest in the range of audacious colors (see: Tuscadero Pink, Gecko Green) Jeep has selected for those that wish to stand out in the Wrangler and is the first purple we’ve seen on the JL. The last time a Wranger had a similar color looks to be the 2016 Wrangler Backcountry, which was the only trim available in Xtreme Purple.

Exhaust: Not to detract from the boldness of whoever successfully argued for Reign on the Wrangler, but the blocky off-roader is one of the few vehicles that seems to look great in any color. Earl follows the muted, non-metallic tones that have previously been offered on Jeep products (Gobi, Anvil, and Rhino). The understated shades seem to be popular with enthusiasts looking to venture off-road and blend in with the natural scenery. Reign will definitely not blend in on a trail, but that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? Plus, it has a fantastic name. — Brandan Gillogly

Last hype photos for Cadillac’s EV halo car before reveal

Intake: These are the last batch of visual appetizers before Cadillac serves us the full serving of details on its Celestiq show car come July 22. Designed to crown the brand’s portfolio, this “sedan” (which we expect to be rather SUV-esque in proportion) will be hand-built in Warren, Michigan, to ensure each one is unique. For now, however, we’re only getting glimpses at the concept car—Cadillac’s vision for “the future of American luxury.” What we know so far: The Ultium-based Celestiq will feature a dazzling array of screens, including a Mercedes-EQ-esque display spanning the entire dash; a moon roof sectioned into four individually dimmable zones; and, judging from these most recent photos, screens for the rear-seat occupants.

Exhaust: Though the three-box silhouette of yesteryear’s decadent Caddys won’t return with the Celestiq, it’s encouraging to see Cadillac shooting for the, erm, heavens once again. The standard of luxury is evolving at an astounding pace, but we’d love to see an American-built machine as the world’s benchmark once again—even if we secretly mourn the interior‘s lack of crushed velvet. — Grace Houghton

Ferrari series in the paddock for Apple TV+

Intake: Automotive racing is ripe with drama, and Hollywood can’t resist. According to The Hollywood Reporter, an Enzo Ferrari series inspired by the well-received biography Ferrari Rex has been ordered up for Apple TV+, simply titled Ferrari. Creatives at the helm include British writer Steven Knight and Italian director Stefano Sollima. The series will cover the turbulent span between 1956 and 1961, some of Enzo’s rockiest, most gut-wrenching years in racing both on and off the track.

Exhaust: Racing on the silver screen is resonating with a wide and growing audience. Projects abound, such as Brad Pitt’s upcoming F1 flick, and there are plenty of reasons why; motorsports is not all sunshine and rainbows behind the scenes. The facts of Enzo’s life are a script unto themselves, and his story should do well if depicted by talented artists who share any enthusiasm for racing and its challenges. “Enzo Ferrari’s utterly extraordinary life was defined by his dramatic personal and professional journey, and Ferrari is a celebration of an incredibly complex and fascinating human being,” Knight told THR. If Knight’s past work on Peaky Blinders is any indication, he likely won’t let off the gas when depicting the darkest sides of Enzo’s ascent. — Bryan Gerould

After 4 years researching an EV supercar, Horatio Pagani decides no

Intake: If you’re waiting for an electric supercar from Italian niche manufacturer Pagani, you’ll be waiting a long time. “In 2018, I created a team working on fully electric cars,” he told Autocar at the recent Milan Monza motor show. The result of that work? No electric car, but Horatio Pagani said he will continue to offer his Huayra R, powered by a Mercedes-Benz V-12 engine. (There’s also a Huayra successor in the works, dubbed C-10 and shown in spy photos below.)Why no electric? They don’t “give good emotion” like a gasoline-powered supercar. Plus, the battery required for high performance and decent range would be too heavy, more than half the weight of the Huayra R. And he isn’t convinced that the footprint of a small manufacturer would make much difference in the overall picture, especially since “90 percent of energy is produced without renewables.” But possibly the most telling finding of the four-year look into electrics: “In four years, we never found interest in the supercar market” for an EV, said Pagani.

Exhaust: Pagani, who bought a Tesla “to understand EVs,” doesn’t think electrics have a substantial role in the supercar market, and given what the cost would be for a tiny manufacturer like Pagani to develop and homologate such a car, it wouldn’t make sense anyway. Of course, other manufacturers such as Porsche would disagree that EVs have no place in the high-performance market. That said, as long as there is a market for multimillion-dollar, V-12-powered supercars, and there apparently is, Horatio Pagani won’t starve.

Contractor selected, Packard Plant moves closer to partial demolition

Intake: The Detroit Demolition Department has selected Michigan contractor Homrich Wrecking Inc. to partially demolish the abandoned Packard Plant on East Grand Boulevard in East Detroit. If approved by the Detroit City Council on July 19, the project will be funded by federal pandemic resources, available through the American Rescue Plan Act, totaling $1,685,000. The contract to demolish a portion of the 100,000-square-foot property would be valid through August 1, 2023. A Wayne County judge ruled in March that the buildings significantly threaten “the public’s health, safety, and welfare” and gave the city permission to start the demolition process after property owner Fernando Palazuelo missed a court-ordered deadline of April 21 to file for a demo permit.

Exhaust: Deciding the fate of the Packard Plant has been a slow process, but so has the demise of the once-stately factory complex. Although we generally stand on the side of preservation, after a recent tour the site we agree that some portions of the complex should come down. Perhaps, as Detroit mayor Mike Duggan vowed in March, the property can be redeveloped while saving the front portion of the city-owned building along the south side of Grand. If that happens, it will be a win-win for both the city and historians. — Jeff Peek

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Packard, Packard, Packard. What did you get yourself into? We could talk all day about the Studebaker-Packard marriage and its chaotic aftermath, but since it’s been talked to death here and elsewhere, here’s the short, short version: Packard never should have found itself in cahoots with cash-strapped, frequently clueless Studebaker. I love Studebaker dearly, but sometimes that can be a bit difficult, given what the company did to what was once America’s premier automobile.

As most of you know, a 1957 Packard is not really a Packard, but a “Packardbaker”—1956 was the last year for genuine Packards. Genuine meaning it was made in Detroit on the same line as the classic Twin Sixes of the 1930s, with no compromises in features, size, and luxury. Although the 1955 models had myriad assembly and mechanical problems, most of those had been corrected by ’56. Still, it was too little, too late. Actually, it had been too late even in 1954. At the very least, Studebaker was guilty of creative accounting and bookkeeping, and the resulting red ink became apparent only after Packard had bought out the Indiana company. Why Packard didn’t back out after getting a clear picture of Stude’s books is beyond me.

All that Packard cash (Packard was still in the black, with good cash reserves at the time of the merger) wound up being used to prop up Studebaker. Studebaker not only had a perilous history of kowtowing to the unions, but it had even issued shareholder dividends during the Great Depression—when the company was losing big money—with predictably disastrous consequences. The end result was a major financial crisis, followed by the closure of Packard’s venerable East Grand Boulevard factory. It may be of small comfort, but the 1956 Packard Patrician, Four Hundred, and Caribbean were well-built, finely crafted cars that held their own with Cadillacs, Imperials, and Lincolns. Sadly, the last real Packard came off the line on August 15, 1956, in Detroit.

I’ve already spent more time on Packard’s decline than I intended for this column; for a more thorough story, check out the ’58 Packard Hardtop column I wrote last year. My focus here is the 1957 “Packardbaker.” The 1957 South Bend-built Packard Clipper was essentially a 1957 Studebaker President Classic, Stude’s top- of-the-line model. It was quite different from Packard’s 1956 offerings.

For starters, it was smaller. The 1956 Packards were 218.6 inches long, with a 127-inch wheelbase. The ’57 model was 211.8 inches long with a 120.5-inch stretch between the wheels. That may not sound like a huge difference, but the ’57 Clipper was also an inch narrower. In fact, even the ’56 Packards were a bit narrow, owed to their 1951-vintage body shell. In comparison, the 1957 Cadillac Sixty Special (the model closest to the 1956 Patrician sedan) was 224.4 inches long, 80 inches wide, and had a 133-inch wheelbase. Going smaller in the American luxury car market was not the best choice in 1957.

To give the S-P marketeers some credit, they did call it a Packard Clipper, a de facto admission that it wasn’t exactly a senior Packard. Which, of course, it wasn’t. Oh, there were plenty of Packard cues, including those oh-so-cool cathedral taillights (re-purposed 1956 Clipper units), broad chrome-side moldings, front bumper bombs (despite looking very much like Cadillac’s “Dagmar” bumper, they had been a Packard feature as early as 1951), and, of course, the red hexagon in the wheel covers.

The ’57 Clippers were introduced a little late, on January 31, 1957, in $3212 Town Sedan and $3384 Country Sedan (station wagon) form. There were no coupes, no convertibles. No lovely Caribbean. It is a virtual certainty that no one, least of all the Studebaker-Packard leadership, was fooled.

In truth, this car was intended to be a stopgap. At the time, S-P was trying mightily to secure financing for an all-new 1957 Packard that would use a common chassis and frame with planned new Studebakers, but feature different styling and wheelbases for the respective marques. Sadly, a complete lack of investor confidence left the company with no cash infusion in sight. The ’57 Clipper, along with mildly restyled ’57 Studebakers, was the result; it was all the automaker could afford at the time. A stopgap it was, but at least it was a rather attractive one.

Here’s the non-Packardized version: The $2539 Studebaker President Classic. The Classic, a sub-series of the top-trim President line, received a four-inch wheelbase stretch and the expected added trim and equipment. While it made for an extremely plush Studebaker, it wasn’t really Packard material. Nevertheless, as the best car Studebaker had to offer, so a Packard it would become.

That’s not to say the ’57 Clippers were bad cars—I like them, in fact, especially the wagon. Speaking of which, the Country Sedan, with a 116.5-inch wheelbase and 204.8-inch overall length, actually rode a shorter wheelbase than the sedan and was based on the President Broadmoor wagon. As previously mentioned, the Town Sedan, which was based on the Studebaker President Classic’s four-inch longer chassis, measured 211.8 inches stem-to-stern, with a 120.5-inch wheelbase.

One thing for which the ’57 Clipper needed no excuses for was its engine. Powering all 1957 Packards was a Studebaker OHV 289-cubic-inch V-8 fitted with a McCulloch Model VS-575 supercharger that engaged at 3000 rpm. Breathing through a two-barrel Stromberg carburetor, the setup was good for 275 horsepower at 4800 rpm.

Yes, you could have the very same engine as the vaunted Golden Hawk in your chrome-festooned wagon. I rather like the idea of a supercharged two-tone station wagon.

Clippers did look a little bit longer and lower than their Studebaker siblings, thanks in part to wide, grooved chrome side moldings that bisected their flanks (and continued across the tailgate in Country Sedans). Two-tone paint added to the longer and lower illusion compared to Studebakers.

Standard equipment included Flight-O-Matic automatic transmission, chrome wheel discs (adapted from the ’56 model), chrome drip moldings, back-up lights, a padded instrument panel (whose formed fiberglass cover was prone to warping over time), an electric clock, and front and rear carpeting. Not exactly the high specs of not-so-distant Packards, eh? Well, it was a Studebaker at heart. Nice enough, but, you know. Not super Broughamy, haha.

I mean, can you honestly imagine a traditional Packard owner buying one of these? They would have to be mighty loyal considering the competition. This was a painfully visible step down from the 1955–56 models, especially compared with the all-new 1957 Cadillac and fabulous ’57 Imperial.

The Batmobile-finned ’57 Lincolns were no slouches either and were available in a myriad of bright colors. I suppose some customers stuck with Packard, but it’s more likely that many made a lateral move to a Big Three luxury make—or perhaps to a Mercedes-Benz or Jaguar.

The closest comparison to the ’56 vs. ’57 Packard debacle that I can think of involves the downsized 1985 C-body Cadillac. Like the Packard, the Caddy suddenly seemed less prestigious than the Broughamed-out 1985 Town Car and, to a lesser extent, the Chrysler Fifth Avenue. Sure, the ’85 Fleetwood and deVille sold pretty well, but GM was wise to keep the traditional large-and-in-charge RWD Fleetwood Brougham in the lineup. Not everyone was enamored of the FWD Caddys, at least not until a restyling in 1989 made them more substantial. Sadly, Packard never got a second chance.

The standard equipment may not quite have been luxury car class, but plenty of options could be ladled on. Popular items included whitewall tires ($28), power steering ($98), power brakes ($38), power windows ($103), and a power front seat ($45). A limited-slip differential, Studebaker’s excellent Twin-Traction unit, was also available.

Inside, things looked a bit more Packard-like, with no Studebaker Cyclops-Eye speedometer present. Indeed, the gauges and instrument panel bore a striking resemblance to those in the 1955–56 Packards. Regrettably, the steering wheel was the usual Studebaker hand-me-down, albeit with a spiffy ship’s-wheel emblem.

I found this two-tone aqua and blue ’57 Town Sedan years ago at the Trains, Planes, and Automobiles car show in Geneseo, Illinois (fun fact: Geneseo is home to my favorite restaurant, The Cellar, which has been in business since 1960). The show attracts plenty of unusual cars; I highly recommend attending if you’re near the Quad Cities. The fare is most certainly not of the usual Tri-Five Chevy, GTO, and Mustang variety, and this Packardbaker proves it—as does the last-of-the-line ’66 Commander next to it. As one of only 3940 sedans built that model year, it’s a rare find in its own right. The wagon is even more scarce, with a mere 869 units produced.

This white and turquoise example was found much more recently at a Packard meet, held earlier this year in Texas, by my friend Jayson Coombes. He relayed that it was a nice looking car, but parked next to the “true” 1955–56 Packards, it looked like it had been put in the dryer too long!

The 1957 model year was not good for Packard, nor S-P itself, as the company lost $43.3 million. Yikes. With no knight in shining armor bearing a line of credit, the 1957 new-car program was ditched. These 1957–58 Packards, meant to be an emergency stopgap model to keep the dealerships supplied, turned into the finale for a great marque. At S-P, the focus shifted to staying alive; never mind coming up with a new car. The questionable 1958 Packard face lift indicated just how crazy things were becoming.

The 1957 Clipper may have looked nice enough for what it was, but the ’58 no-name Packard (the Clipper model name was dropped in favor of Packard Sedan, Packard Hardtop, etc.) was something else. While it does have a sort of kitschy-1950s appeal today, and I must admit I have a grudging love for them for their sheer late-’50s wackiness—who knows what new car buyers thought of it then! And along with the ’58 model (and a one-year-only Golden Hawk-based Packard Hawk), ladies and gentlemen, came the end of the Packard make.

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Behold Chevrolet’s first electric SS model, due in July

Intake: With a proclaimed “groundbreaking mix of style, performance and technology” the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV will be officially released on July 18th, in a top-tier Super Sport trim level. Underpinned by the General’s soon-to-be ubiquitous Ultium platform, the Blazer (especially the SS trim level) is expected to offer more performance with a higher price tag than the upcoming Equinox EV, which should start around $30K. As details are still thin on the ground, we’ll also wager the Blazer is poised to offer compelling reasons for would-be buyers to avoid Tesla’s Model Y crossover.

Exhaust: The Blazer EV is likely taking a page from its gasoline-powered predecessor, considering the current model costs over $7000 more than the gasoline Equinox. (It will likely go toe-to-toe with Ford’s Mustang Mach-E, with the SS model aligning with the GT in power and price.) With almost a quarter-million Blazers sold since its inception in 2019, it’s a safe bet the EV variant will continue to impress CUV buyers…while bringing home enough bacon to mercilessly silence Blazer loyalists’ who demand a return to a truck-based template.

Ride with Jay Leno in the last great Packard

Intake: The Packard Caribbean might be the quintessential 1950s American car: Big, bechromed, luxurious, powerful. Unfortunately it was also one of Packard’s last cars before the company became a shell of itself upon merging with Studebaker. Powered by a 352-cubic-inch V-8 that was first introduced in 1955, Packard was very late to the V-8 game, holding onto its straight-eight as long as it could. The interior is all posh, with power everything and two-tone, reversible seat cushions. It look right at home on the California streets with Jay Leno behind the wheel. A truly timeless car.

Exhaust: It’s always sad when one of the most notable things about a car is its “last-of” status, but the last of the pure-blooded Packards wears the title with pride. With torsion-bar suspension this convertible floats over just about anything and cruises the highway easily. There wasn’t anything like then, and there may never be again.

New M2, the last gas-only BMW, arrives in October

Intake: Back in 2015, those lamenting the ever-increasing growth of the BMW M3/M4 were gifted an olive branch from the folks in Munich: The BMW M2. The M2 was a more compact, rear-drive-only, fire-breathing two-door that became an overnight cult classic. Now, BMW is readying the next generation of the M2, which will be its last gas-only model. Ahead of an October world debut, BMW has released a gaggle of images of the camo-clad test mule out on track at the Salzburgring in Austria. The new M2 will use the same S58 twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter straight six as its M3 and M4 big brothers, and feature rear-wheel-drive and either a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic.

BMW says that the new production M2 boasts a similar performance level to the outgoing M2 CS, whose output figures of 444 hp and 406 lb-ft and 0–62mph time of 4.2 seconds are downright impressive for a package this small. A few special equipment items have already been announced, too: An optional carbon-fiber roof to reduce weight, and those wicked carbon buckets from the M3/M4. We’ll have to wait for additional details on things like pricing and other special equipment. Following the debut, BMW says the new M2 will head to market in April of 2023.

Exhaust: We’re thrilled to see BMW sending out pure combustion powertrains with a manually shifted, two-door bang. The fact that BMW doesn’t mention that the new M2 will be rear-wheel-drive-only makes us nervous, however; for the longest time, AWD on a real M sedan was a sin, and now the M5, M3, and M4 each offer it. It wouldn’t surprise us if the M2 somehow cribbed the running gear for four driven wheels as well.

Honda gives a sneak peek of the new Hornet design

Intake: The Honda Hornet is a model that was first introduced in the U.S. in 2000 and lived as the 599 model until 2013. Its four-cylinder power combined with naked-bike looks and upright handlebar seating garnered a loyal fanbase. In 2019 Honda teased that the Hornet model would make a comeback. Earlier this June, it released a video laying out the design details and hinted at what the powerplant might be with a sound clip that gives off a lot of parallel twin vibes to our ears.

Exhaust: This seems like a highly functional motorcycle, much like the original 599 and 919 models were. However, U.S. buyers always seemed to favor full-fairing machines, while the Hornet was more European focused. This new Hornet will likely be Euro-only at first, but U.S. buyers seem more open to comfort and functionality these days compared to the all-out speed of a race replica. Time will tell.

Michigan is now offering digital license plates

Intake: In partnership with California-based company Reviver, Michigan drivers now have the option to purchase a digital license plate for their vehicle. Touting the new plates as a “modern licensing solution that works for the way we live today,” Reviver co-founder and chief strategy officer Neville Boston says the digital license plates come with a smartphone app that includes the ability to switch the plate’s display between a light and dark mode, personalize a banner message at the bottom of the plate, receive alerts if the vehicle is moving, and report the vehicle stolen. The plates are offered in two options: RPlate, a battery-powered, self-installed model with a replaceable five-year battery that costs $19.95 a month or $215.40 for a four-year commitment; and RPlate Pro, a hard-wired model installed by a professional that includes integrated telematics features and a backlit display for $24.95 a month or $275.40 for four years. Businesses can purchase RFleet, which bundles each plate with a suite of software features for commercial vehicle fleet managers; the cost is not given on Reviver’s website. Michigan is the third state, after California and Arizona, that allows the legal sale and registration of digital plates.

Exhaust: While we can see the advantages of a digital plate that comes with a boatload of features—and the ability to display amber or silver alerts—we can’t fathom why anyone would want to shell out the extra coin for the current offerings. Is $215.40 (on the low end) worth it to avoid the lines at the DMV? Do you really need yet another form of social media to broadcast messages that are momentous only to yourself? (Wait, isn’t that what Facebook and Twitter are for?) Worst of all, anything you want to put on your digital plate must be pre-approved, so some truly valuable information like “Lions Suck!” and “You’re a horrible driver—yes, you!” are not viable options.

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Ralph Morano says winning Best of Show honors at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance never gets old. That’s a good thing, considering he’s done it a lot.

Morano’s 1948 Packard Victoria Convertible Eight by Vignale was awarded top honors in the 26th annual Connecticut concours on Sunday at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park. The victory was his sixth at Greenwich.

“I love cars, especially Packards,” said the noted New Jersey collector while accepting congratulations from friends and other showgoers. “We own 100 cars, and 66 of them are Packards.” Morano traded one Packard to acquire the Victoria that won. What makes that car so special is its journey to Greenwich; intended as a concept car, Packard shipped it across the Atlantic to Alfredo Vignale’s Italian design house in 1939. Then, World War II broke out.

“It’s a one-off,” Morano says. “It was built on a ’39 Packard chassis, but it was hidden during the war and was finished in 1948. I saw it at a car show in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1990, and fell in love with it. Being a Packard fan and also of Italian descent, I had to have it. So, I traded the guy another one-off Packard to get it.”

The Victoria Convertible Eight, which has a 120-horsepower 282-cubic-inch Packard straight-eight engine under the hood, was painted red at the time and had recently been restored. Ten years ago, Morano restored it again and changed the paint to black. With Vignale coachwork taking center stage at Greenwich this year, the Packard seemed right at home among the Vignale Ferraris and Cunninghams overlooking beautiful Greenwich Harbor. So did Morano and his familial entourage, which included wife Adeline, son Ralph Jr., daughter-in-law Kelli, and the Morano’s four-year-old Havanese pooch named Goldie.

Goldie was the only dog to cross the awards stage, which included 18 class winners and an additional 19 special awards. Special honors included the People’s Choice Award, which went to a 1956 Dodge C-4 Power Wagon in Green Mountain (Vermont) National Forest Service livery; the Hagerty Drivers Foundation Automotive Heritage Award, given to a 1913 White Model GGAD Roadster; the Hagerty Drivers Foundation FIVA Preservation Award, which went to a 1938 BMW R51 motorcycle; the Hagerty Youth Judging Award, given to a 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz; and the local Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving & Chowder Society Award, bestowed upon a 1967 Lamborghini 400GT.

Motorsports pioneer Judy Stroupus served as grand marshal, and Ken Gross was chief judge.

Dates for the 2023 Greenwich Concours d’Elegance have not yet been announced.

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The city of Detroit has determined which buildings at the historic Packard plant site are the most dangerous and is now seeking bids from demolition contractors to remove the dilapidated structures. According to multiple media outlets, an assessment by the city’s demolition department was completed last week.

John Roach, spokesman for Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, told the Detroit News that the assessment identified and prioritized “the most unstable and dangerous parts of the buildings north of Grand Boulevard.”

The action comes after property owner Fernando Palazuelo missed a court-ordered deadline of April 21 to file for a demolition permit. Wayne County Circuit Judge Brian Sullivan ruled in March that if Palazuelo failed to start the demolition process, the city of Detroit could legally “engage qualified contractors to perform all demolition and other necessary actions to abate the nuisance.” Palazuelo will be responsible for all demolition expenses, which could cost as much as $10 million.

Roach says demolition bids are due by June 1.

The buildings on the property were designed by famed architect Albert Kahn, who is also responsible for dozens of other structures in Detroit, including the Fisher Building, the Detroit Athletic Club, and the Detroit Free Press Building.

During his state of the city address in March, Mayor Duggan said the front portion of the city-owned building along the south side of Grand Boulevard would be preserved for redevelopment.

Despite the current litigation, the property is still being offered for sale. Palazuelo, a Peruvian developer, bought the huge 40-acre Packard complex from Wayne County for $405,000 at a tax foreclosure auction more than eight years ago. He immediately began cleaning up the property, and in 2017 officially broke ground on a 15-year, $350 million plan to redevelop the complex into a mixed-use site. Five years later, progress has been negligible, leading to the city’s lawsuit and Sullivan’s default ruling.

Packard, known for building high-quality luxury vehicles for nearly 60 years, ended production in 1956. The plant site was used by numerous smaller businesses until the late 1990s, when the buildings were abandoned and left to the elements, scrappers, and vandals.

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The fate of the Packard plant is in limbo again, but likely not for long. Fernando Palazuelo, owner of the historic automotive complex, missed a court-ordered deadline of April 21 to file for a demolition permit. He is now in contempt of court.

Earlier this month, Wayne County (Michigan) Circuit Judge Brian Sullivan ordered Palazuelo to immediately raze the dilapidated buildings on the site. The judge’s order came after Palazuelo and his attorney missed a March 24 trial date to address what the City of Detroit claims has become a “public nuisance.”

John Roach, spokesman for Detroit mayor Mike Duggan, told the Detroit Free Press, “As of the deadline at the close of business yesterday, no permits had been pulled for any of the properties listed in the court’s order, so Mr. Palazuelo is in violation of that order. At this time, the city is considering its next step to get these blighted properties removed.”

Sullivan ruled that if Palazuelo failed to start the demolition process, the city of Detroit could legally “engage qualified contractors to perform all demolition and other necessary actions to abate the nuisance.” Palazuelo will be responsible for all demolition costs, which is expected to cost millions.

Meanwhile, the Detroit News reported that despite the litigation, the property—which consists of two 20-acre sites—is still being offered for sale. According to Larry Emmons, senior managing director in the Southfield office of real estate services firm Newmark, “There’s no shortage of buyers. We’re just trying to parse through those that can close and those that have big dreams.”

Palazuelo, a Peruvian developer, had big dreams himself when he bought the huge Packard complex from Wayne County for $405,000 at a tax foreclosure auction more than eight years ago. Palazuelo immediately began cleaning up the property, and in 2017 he officially broke ground on a 15-year, $350 million plan to redevelop the complex into a mixed-use site. Five years later, progress has been negligible.

Packard, known for building high-quality luxury vehicles for nearly 60 years, ended production in 1956. The Packard plant site was used by numerous smaller businesses until the late 1990s, when the buildings were abandoned and left to the elements, scrappers, and vandals.

Judge Sullivan ordered the demolition and cleanup of the complex to be completed within in 90 days or by the end of June. With Palazuelo failing to cooperate, it remains to be seen when the work will begin, let alone conclude.

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Detroit’s historic Packard plant may soon be history. Wayne County (Michigan) Circuit Judge Brian Sullivan has ordered property owner Fernando Palazuelo to immediately raze the buildings in the dilapidated industrial complex, located on the Motor City’s northeast side.

Sullivan’s default judgment favors the city of Detroit, which claims the site threatens “the public’s health, safety, and welfare.” The ruling was issued last week after Palazuelo and his attorney missed a March 24 trial date. The Detroit Free Press reports that demolition could cost an estimated $10 million.

Palazuelo, a Peruvian developer, bought the Packard complex—which consists of two 20-acre sites—from Wayne County for $405,000 at a tax foreclosure auction more than eight years ago. He immediately began cleaning up the property, and in 2017 he officially broke ground on a 15-year, $350 million plan to redevelop the complex into a mixed-use site. Progress soon slowed, however, and, after Packard’s iconic pedestrian bridge over Grand Boulevard collapsed in 2019, appeared to cease entirely. A year later, Palazuelo announced that he was scaling back his original plan, and then in October 2021 he lost tax incentives tied to the Packard plant development due to the lack of progress. The financial blow prompted Palazuelo and his local company, Arte Express Detroit LLC, to announce plans to sell the site for $5 million. Company representatives have not commented publicly since.

According to the Detroit News, Judge Sullivan’s demolition order states that Palazuelo is being “held personally liable for the abatement of the public nuisance.” He orders Palazuelo to get the proper demolition permits by April 21 and also rules that work must be completed in 90 days—or by the end of June. If Palazuelo doesn’t comply, he will be held in contempt of court and subject to fines.

If the developer fails to start the demolition process, Sullivan rules that the city of Detroit can “engage qualified contractors to perform all demolition and other necessary actions to abate the nuisance.” Palazuelo would still be responsible for all demolition costs.

Packard, world-renowned for building high-quality luxury vehicles for decades, ended production in 1956. The Packard site was used by numerous smaller businesses until the late 1990s, when the buildings were abandoned and left to the elements, scrappers, and vandals. Palazuelo’s purchase of the property offered automotive historians hope that at least some of the structures might be saved, but it appears that his time may have finally run out.

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Packard plant property may soon change hands … again

Intake: Detroit’s iconic Packard plant property could have a new owner by year’s end. In the latest twist in a years-long plan to bring new life to the abandoned grounds, The Detroit News reports that Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo hopes to sell the site within the next several months. According to Larry Emmons, a senior managing director for real-estate firm Newmark, there are interested developers with “users in tow.” The property, which consists of two 20-acre sites, has an asking price of $5 million. Palazuelo bought the complex from Wayne County for $405,000 at a tax foreclosure auction eight years ago. In 2017, he broke ground on a plan to redevelop the plant into a mixed-use site. After initial cleanup, the plant’s iconic bridge collapsed in 2019, and about a year ago Palazuelo scrapped his initial plans.

Exhaust: And so it goes for the Packard plant site. The luxury automaker ended production in 1956, and a number of smaller businesses worked out of the buildings on the property until the site was shut down in the late 1990s. Left unprotected from vandals and scrappers, it became a dilapidated eyesore. Palazuelo’s purchase and his initial enthusiasm brought hope for a happy ending. Looks like someone else will have to carry that optimism through to completion.

Mark your calendar: Goodwood announces 2022 dates

Intake: As the sun was setting on an a hard-fought Ford battle between a Capri and a Mustang in the Gerry Marshall Trophy at its 78th Member’s Meeting the Goodwood Road Racing Club revealed the schedule for 2022’s action. First off will be the 79th Members’ Meeting held April 9 and 10, with the Festival of Speed taking place from June 23 to 26, and the Goodwood Revival bringing events to a close September 16 through 18. As always, the Members’ Meeting is only open to Fellows and Members of the Goodwood Road Racing Club, while the Festival of Speed and the Revival are public events. Tickets will be on sale to the general public from November 8, with Members and Fellows getting earlier access.

Exhaust: This year’s events felt like a welcome return to normality, with enthusiastic and dapper crowds enjoying spectacular on-track action, although the number of foreign visitors was considerably lower than previous years, for obvious reasons. Goodwood will, no doubt, be looking forward to welcoming its U.S. fans back in 2022. We hope to see you there.

GMC readies updated Sierra for battle of the full-sizers

Intake: GMC has begun teasing the new Sierra full-size pickup truck ahead of its October 21 debut. While details are sparse, expect the new Sierra to feature many of the same updates as its recently unveiled Silverado sibling. Swanky upgrades are likely to include a new 13.4-inch central infotainment screen with built-in Google Assistant and Google Maps. Because the Sierra is the pricier proposition of the two, don’t be surprised if you see a few high-end luxury options tacked on for good measure. We know for sure that it will boast GM’s Super Cruise hands-free highway driving technology. We’d also expect some sort of off-road-minded AT4 option on the new Sierra, potentially cribbing tech from the Silverado ZR2.

Exhaust: The teaser video above calls the new Sierra the “the most advanced and luxurious pickup in its class.” That feels like a tall order, considering that the GM twins have lagged behind the lavish offerings from Ford and Ram in recent years. But as we’ve seen with the new Silverado, GM seems to be taking the correct steps to bring the Sierra and Silverado back on par with its cross-town rivals. We’re looking forward to seeing what the new Sierra has up its sleeve.

Toyota allots $3.4 billion for U.S. battery production through 2030

Intake: About a month ago, Toyota announced its global plan to allocate $13.5 billion toward EV battery development. Today, the Japanese giant divulged that a $3.4-billion-slice of that pie will be coming to America specifically. The move effectively localizes and bolsters Toyota’s EV supply chain operations in the states. The lion’s share of the funds ($1.9 billion) will go toward constructing a new plant, which aims to start production in 2025, and create 1,750 new jobs. Details of the project are yet to come. “This investment will help usher in more affordable electrified vehicles for U.S. consumers, significantly reduce carbon emissions, and importantly, create even more American jobs tied to the future of mobility,” said Ted Ogawa, CEO of Toyota Motor North America. Toyota has been manufacturing in the United States for the better part of 35 years and currently has 10 plants.

Exhaust: The arms race has begun for mass battery production in America. The sentiment seems to be: Hit heavy or not at all. Just today, Stellantis also revealed it’s kicking off a joint venture with LG for a new manufacturing plant that it wants up and running by early 2024. Lest we forget, GM and Ford are already investing in similarly aggressive EV infrastructure trajectories. The landscape of mainstream American auto manufacturing is about to look quite different in just five years’ time.

Ford Bronco gains snorkel and winch next summer

Intake: Beginning next summer—if all goes well, anyways—you’ll be able to spec a Bronco with a factory-installed winch and a snorkel. As of this writing, it’s unclear whether Ford will allow buyers to spec either (or both) of the goodies on any Bronco configuration—à la the Sasquatch package—or if it will restrict the snorkel and winch to a single “Everglades” trim alongside the Outer Banks, Badlands, et al. Whatever its final manifestation, the Bronco Everglades represents the first time Ford’s offered a winch or snorkel on a Bronco from the factory, yet another signal that the Blue Oval is serious about encouraging its trail-happy customers to duke it out off-road with the Wrangler.

Exhaust: Supplier mishaps and production delays be damned—Ford just keeps scrambling to the next fun Bronco milestone: first the Bronco Raptor, confirmed for 2022 last month, and now this Everglades model. Kudos.

Porsche to launch new 15-strong range … of hotels

Intake: The idea of spending the night in a Porsche just got a whole lot more appealing as the German sports car maker has partnered with Steigenberger to launch a new chain of stylish hotels. Plans are in place for 15 of these Steigenberger Porsche Design Hotels in major cities around the world including London, Shanghai, Singapore, and Dubai (Porsche’s home town Stuttgart is noticeably absent from the list). Each hotel will boast 150 rooms, suites and penthouses with both exterior and interior design by the 911-makers. It’s not the first time Porsche has got into the architecture game, having previously delivered a 60-story apartment building in Miami.

Exhaust: This is, quite literally, brand building on a massive scale. “The brand perception factor is becoming increasingly important for customers. In hotels we convey the brand experience in a unique way, and this makes it possible to introduce additional differentiation to the market,” says Dr. Jan Becker, CEO of Porsche Design Group. 

Ford pours $315M into U.K. facility to build EV powertrains

Intake: Anticipating Europe’s appetite for electric vehicles, Ford is retooling its Halewood transmission plant—which lies southeast of Liverpool—to build EV powertrains beginning in 2024. Ford of Europe is putting £230M (roughly $315.7M) into the venture, for which it has also received government funding. Ford plans for 250,000 such power units per year once the plant reaches full capacity. (In electric-vehicle parlance, “power unit” denotes the powertrain but not the battery pack.) Halewood will be the first Ford facility in Europe to built EV componentry—but it won’t be the last. Ford of Europe wants 100 percent of its passenger-vehicle lineup to be all-electric by 2030, along a commercial line that’s two-thirds all-electric or plug-in. Ford’s pouring even more money into an Electrification Center in Cologne, which should be active by 2023 and will serve as the firm’s volume hub for European-based vehicle manufacturing.

Exhaust: Given Europe’s ready adoption of EVs, this announcement is no surprise. Local production will save Ford vast amounts compared to shipping Mach-Es across the Atlantic.

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Airships and automobiles. What could they possibly have in common? Aside from the occasional sighting of the Goodyear blimp floating above the Indy 500, there may not be much to link cars and dirigibles in current times, but step back to their beginnings and the two technologies were closely aligned.

Major players in the modern automotive world, from Fiat to Mercedes and Maybach to ZF and Porsche, were all involved in the development of these lighter-than-air giants of the skies.

Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche was actually responsible for Austria’s first aircraft. As technical director for Austro-Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in 1908, he designed a semi-rigid airship powered by a four-cylinder air-cooled engine. A year later, a 100-horsepower, air-cooled, six-cylinder engine took over—and we all know how that ended.

Fiat

The hydrogen in early airships could only do so much heavy lifting, so the powerful engines required to propel these massive flying machines needed to be (relatively) light. It was Fiat which first saw the opportunity to fit one in a motor car, in a bid to capture the land speed record. The 1910 Tipo S76, nicknamed “The Beast of Turin,” was the result. The 300-hp, four-cylinder, 28.4-liter engine was virtually undriveable, but a number of brave souls did their best, with American Arthur Duray achieving an incredible speed of 132.27 mph in Belgium in 1913. It was indeed the fastest recorded speed at the time, however Duray was unable to manage a return run for the record to be officially recognized. The Beast survived World War I but was dismantled soon after. Fortunately, British Edwardian-era enthusiast Duncan Pittaway set about recreating the Beast with an original chassis and an S76 engine. The reborn Beast is a regular favorite at the Goodwood Revival, as you can see in the video below.

Maybach & Mercedes

Both Maybach and Mercedes made engines for early Zeppelin airships. Mercedes’ 15.9-liter, four-cylinder J4L produced around 140 hp and had a power-to-weight ratio of 6.6 pounds per hp, making it perfect for airship propulsion. Maybach, meanwhile, made its rather more sizeable 21-liter, 180-hp Type AZ engine, which was first installed in the 1910 Zeppelin LZ6 and subsequently in the LZ10 Schwaben in 1911. The engine even made its way into a car, a Belgian Métallurgique, which was upgraded in 1919. The car was last seen at a Bonhams auction at Goodwood in 2019, where it failed to sell for a million-dollar-plus estimate.

Between the wars, Maybach revived its link to the historic aircraft with its DS7 and DS8 Zeppelins. The DS7 launched in 1928 with a seven-liter V-12, but it was the DS8 that better lived up to the Zeppelin name. With an 8.0-liter version of the V-12 putting out 203 hp, it was one of the most powerful cars of the day. The coachbuilt body came as a two-door cabriolet, a four-door cabriolet, and a four-door saloon. With a top speed of 106 mph and the world’s first eight-speed transmission, it was quite the innovator. A brochure from 1930 described the car’s purpose: “To create only the very best from the very best—a car that fulfils every last wish and stands out for its supremely refined elegance and power.”

When Mercedes-Benz revived the Maybach brand, it also wanted to make the best car in the world. The very best of this very best would be the Zeppelin. Just 100 examples were built in 57 S and 62 S long-wheelbase versions. Special two-tone paint, unique 20-inch chrome alloy wheels, aerodynamic mirrors, and Zeppelin logos distinguished the car from lesser models. Inside, the cars could be optioned with California beige or Stromboli black diamond-quilted leather, lambskin carpets, and a special perfume dispenser. The most expensive cars sold for €473,200 in 2009 (the equivalent of almost $800,000 today).

ZF transmissions

Zahnradfabrik GmbH was founded in Friedrichshafen, Germany, in 1915—the home of the Zeppelin—to solve vibration and noise issues caused by the bevel gears of the early German airships. Swiss engineer Max Maag was recruited, and his method of producing mathematically accurate ground gears was adopted. Now ZF is one of the biggest suppliers of transmissions to the automotive industry.

Packard

When the U.S. Navy needed an engine for its first rigid airship, the USS Shenandoah in 1922, it turned to Packard for power. The company’s 25-liter, six-cylinder Model 1A-1551 engine was picked for its hefty 300 horsepower and its reasonable fuel and oil consumption compared to rivals. Just 13 of these engines were built, and six were fitted to the craft. The Shenandoah was a rigid airship, and unlike its German rivals it used helium instead of flammable hydrogen. The Shenandoah had a range of 5000 miles and was the first airship to cross North America. Sadly it crashed in a squall over Ohio in 1925.

Goodyear

Tire maker Goodyear launched its first blimp in the 1920s, advertising the brand across the skies of America. During the Second World War and into the 1950s large, Goodyear-built airships patrolled the U.S. coastline and served as mobile radar stations. The blimps soon began to serve as aerial platforms for TV broadcasting and got progressively larger to cope with the loads of cameras and crew. Today the company no longer builds its own blimps—they’re made by, you guessed it, the German Zeppelin company.

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Packards from 1957 and ’58 are not really true Packards. Sure, they had Packard badging and were sold in Packard dealerships, but a series of poor decisions and lack of funds resulted in an unfortunate merger with Studebaker (a very long story, something I’ll perhaps touch upon at a later date) and what may be the very first badge-engineered car. The 1957 and ’58 Packards were meant to be a stopgap model until an all-new model could be introduced, a Packard worthy of the name. Sadly, it was not to be and the 1958 “Packardbakers” were the last of the line. It was a rather ignominious ending to one of the finest luxury car makers in the U.S. and arguably, the world.

At the end of World War II, Packard was in very good shape. Lots of lucrative war contracts had left the company healthy, and it was eager to begin automobile production and continue its success in peacetime. Packard had one of the most modern-looking car designs, the 1942 Clipper, and even though the 1946 and ’47 models were little changed, they were very attractive and fresh for a prewar design.

Then the ’48s came out. They basically took the ’47 and filled out the sides, resulting in a modern envelope-style body, but also looking rather, shall we say, fat. Not bad by any means, but folks didn’t exactly flock to them.

These Packards continued through 1950 with pretty minor changes. An interesting variant was a wood-trimmed Station Sedan that is very collectible these days. Perhaps the best-looking of the 1948–50 Packards.

Redesigned “three-box” style Packards, designed by John Reinhart, came out in 1951 and were very modern looking and stately for the time. The 1951 250 Mayfair was Packard’s first hardtop coupe and the Caribbean custom convertible was introduced in 1953 and most attractive. But despite the new design and features, all Packards continued to use the old straight eight, at a time when OHV V-8s were all the rage. Many other medium-priced and luxury makes had V-8s by this time, and Packard was caught without one.

By 1954, Packard sales had been on a downward trajectory for a few years, and although the automaker was not in debt at the time, it was decided to merge with Studebaker Corporation. The thought was that with a broader product line and more factory space, Studebaker-Packard could cover a greater share of the market and better insulate themselves from the Big Three’s sales war of 1954. It’s a long and involved story, and many books have been written on the subject. Richard Langworth’s Studebaker 1946–1966: The Classic Postwar Years gives a good account of it. But in a nutshell, Studebaker was using some creative accounting, and Packard didn’t look hard enough at the books. The net result was Studebaker was able to go on for another 12 years or so, at Packard’s expense.

Despite all the trouble, a very heavy facelift of the 1951 bodyshell and new V-8 resulted in a very attractive Packard for 1955, the Caribbeans in particular. But rushed assembly led to very un-Packard like quality, and the resulting disaster turned off the last few loyal Packard buyers. In 1956, an agreement was reached with Curtiss-Wright to try to get the company back on solid ground. One of the conditions was the closure and sale of the Packard facility. Ultimately, the Detroit Packard factory, a hugely impressive facility that had been building cars since 1911, was shuttered in 1956 after 28,835 genuine Packards were produced for the model year. But Packard was not done yet. It may have been better if it was.

There were plans for an all-new 1957 Packard, based on the Predictor dream car. Many designs were drawn up and a running prototype was built. Sadly, funds were lacking and the whole project was unfeasible. Plan B was to purchase the tooling for the 1956 Lincoln from Ford Motor Company and restyle it into a Packard, but that fell through as well. As S-P intended to continue the Packard name, it was decided to issue a Packard based on the 1957 Studebaker President, their fanciest model at the time.

I don’t think anyone intended these to be a proper replacement for the 1955–56 models. The ’57 was actually fairly attractive, although clearly based on a Studebaker. It was available only as a Clipper, in sedan or wagon versions.

Every ’57 Packard was equipped with a 289 V-8 with McCulloch supercharger, good for 275 horsepower, the same engine used in Studebaker Golden Hawks. Despite the power and upgraded interiors, most people weren’t fooled and only 4809 were built. Then came the ’58 …

The 1958 Packard was one of the busiest designs of the ’50s. Due to lack of funds, fiberglass headlight pods and fins were tacked on to the largely carryover ’57 sheetmetal. The design of the 1958 was handled by Studebaker stylist Duncan McRae. I have no idea what he was thinking.

The wildest design feature was a fin-on-a-fin rear quarter design. While the 1957 Clipper had quite a few Packard design cues, and actually used ’56 Clipper taillights, the 1958 had no resemblance whatsoever.

Quad headlights were new, as well as a two-door hardtop. While the Golden Hawk-based new-for-’58 Packard Hawk retained the 275-hp, supercharged engine, the “regular” Packard sedan, wagon, and hardtop used a normally-aspirated 225-hp 289.

The 1958 Hawk was the only Packard with a model name, as the other three models were just plain Packards—not a good sign. Studebaker-Packard was in really bad shape by ’58, and the recession that year made a bad situation even worse. Packard sold a total of 2622 cars: 1200 sedans, 675 two-door hardtops, 588 Hawks, and a mere 159 station wagons.

I’m sure it didn’t help when that rare ’58 Packard owner found himself sitting next to an ultra-basic Studebaker Scotsman at a stoplight, using the same basic body as his luxury Packard. After the train wreck of 1958, Studebaker decided to go in a completely different direction and modified the ’58 body shell to become the new compact ’59 Lark. With that, the Packard name was retired, although the corporation’s name remained Studebaker-Packard until 1962. A sad ending for a great marque.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this 1958 hardtop in downtown Rock Island, Illinois, way back in 2012, sitting next to a transmission shop. It’s hard to get a sense of the gaudiness these cars had, as this example is missing its chrome and gold mylar side trim, and three of its four fins.

While I was taking the photos, a man driving by stopped and wanted to know what kind of car this was. It turns out that he knows the guy who owns this Packard, and hopes he gets it fixed up one of these days.

We talked Studebakers and Packards for a while, then went our separate ways. I hope the owner restores this too. It’s definitely not the grandest Packard ever built, but it is the last of its kind and worthy of being preserved. Good luck finding parts though.

I saw it again later, in the same spot, albeit somewhat changed.

Our Midwestern super-storm during the winter of 2013 seemed to have shredded it quite neatly, giving me the opportunity to get a couple of shots. Good thing the windows are now up, since they weren’t when I first saw it in February 2012.

It appeared to have been kept sound. I hope it does get restored, or at least put on the road. A while later I was driving downtown and stopped to see if it was still there, but it was gone. Wonder if it has a new owner and is being enjoyed these days? I hope so.

Final note: Special thanks to my pal Sal Darigo, Jr., in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for taking the pictures of the immaculately restored maroon ’58 that graces this post. It was so much nicer than the rough one I spotted in town. Sal, you’re a gentleman and a scholar.

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If you’re an AMC owner and get tired of questions like “Why did they install a Chevy engine in an AMC?”, this story is for you. Ditto Studebaker folks who must deal with people asking about the Ford 289 in their Lark.

It wasn’t only Independents who used engines that shared displacements with a mill from another manufacturer, of course. General Motors had several 350- and 455-cubic-inch blocks over the years, though they didn’t always measure exactly as advertised, as we recently laid out in this article. Here are six engines that shared similar dimensions yet hailed from different manufacturers. We even tossed in a special Mopar example that has long confused enthusiasts.

327

Chevrolet’s 327, which powered the most pedestrian and the most sporting of Bow Ties, is legendary. However, the Chevy was preceded by Rambler’s 327, which debuted in 1957 in the celebrated Rebel. In the Rebel, the 327 put out 255 hp with mechanical lifters, a Carter four-barrel carburetor, and 9.5:1 compression. (A Bendix-developed electronic fuel-injected unit upped the rating to 288 horses but never reached production.)

The Rambler 327 also was available in swan-song Nash and Hudson models but, though it still made 255 hp, featured hydraulic lifters and slightly lower (a half-point less) compression. Alas, the limited-edition Rebel lasted but one year, though the 327 would continue to play the role of AMC’s big gun, powering American Motors’ senior Ambassador models through 1966; for 1965–66, the 327 was also available in mid-size Classic and Marlin models. Kaiser-Jeep also adopted it for several years. Peak horsepower during this era was 270 thanks to a Holley four-barrel and 9.7:1 compression.

In contrast to its Rambler counterpart, Chevrolet’s 327 was a solid middle-of-the-road offering for most of the decade. Debuting for the 1962 model year in full-size and Corvette models, the 327 evolved from the 283 and, in Chevy’s engine hierarchy, sat just below the big-blocks. It came in 250- and 300-horse variants, both of which used four-barrel carbs. In its final appearance in 1969, the 327 was only available in 235-horse, two-barrel guise.

The 327 truly shone in the Corvette. In addition to the 250- and 300-horse pair, Chevrolet also offered 340- or 360-hp versions, the latter sporting fuel injection. Horsepower peaked in 1965 with the 375-horse Fuelie, but the 1965–68 L79 with 350 horses was a popular compromise between horsepower and drivability.

The L79 was also available in the 1965–68 Chevelle (strangely skipping the ’66 model year) and the 1966–68 Chevy II, though the lesser, four-barrel versions were available too.

352

The styling worn by Packard’s all-new 1951 series’ quickly became outdated, and the brand’s dependence on its straight-eight was similarly out of touch with the times. When the redesigned 1955 models hit the streets, they signified more than just redemption—though history would prove that the vehicles arrived too late to save the company. The V-8 available in 1955 Clippers Customs and senior Packards measured 352 cu-in and was rated at 245–275 horsepower; the highest-rated versions used dual-quad carbs for ’55. The 352 also appeared in the 1956 Clipper, Nash Ambassador, and Studebaker Golden Hawk.

Worthy of the best Packard tradition, the over-engineered 352 featured, according to Mac’s Motor City Garage, “a beefy cast crankshaft with six counterweights, fully machined combustion chambers with generous squish/quench area, and symmetrical cylinder heads with siamesed exhaust ports.”

In contrast, Ford’s 352 began as a solid big-block in the all-new FE series but settled into an unremarkable offering though 1966. When it first appeared in 1958, the 352 produced 300 hp; in 1960, Ford offered a 352 with NASCAR in mind: 10.6:1 compression, an aluminum intake, mechanical lifters, and 360 hp. However, a succession of 390, 406, and 427 upgrades through 1963 relegated the 352 to a popular-yet-ho-hum big-block in the low/mid-200-hp range until 1966.

289

Studebaker’s 1951 232 V-8 has a burly reputation, which is ironic given that its engineers drew their inspiration for the 232 from Cadillac’s high-compression, lightweight 1949 OHV V-8. (Studebaker engineers were even allowed to visit Caddy’s production facilities.) The 232 boasted a forged crankshaft, large main bearings, mechanical lifters, and a gear-driven camshaft. By 1956, Studebaker had bored and stroked the mill to create the 289, which offered between 195 and 225 horsepower. In 1957–58, the Golden Hawk featured a supercharged 289 with 275 horses. Not until 1963, however, did Studebaker truly give the 289 an injection of performance: The 240-horse R1 (standard in the Avanti) with 10.25 compression, and the supercharged 289-horse R2, with 9.0 compression. These engines, as well as the more pedestrian 289s, lasted until Studebaker abandoned South Bend for Canada, but not before it set several speed records.

In contrast, Ford’s modern, thin-wall 289 weighed approximately 150 pounds less than Studebaker’s. It appeared in the spring of 1963 after debuting as a 221 for the 1962 Fairlane. With 8.7 compression and a two-barrel carburetor, the 289 was rated at 195 hp, though it rose to fame as the 271-horse 289 High-Performance introduced midyear for the ’63 Fairlane. This engine, available for Ford and Mercury compacts and the Mustang through 1967, featured 10.5 compression, mechanical lifters, screw-in rocker-arm studs, cast-iron headers, and dual-point ignition. The 289 (mostly in two-barrel form) enjoyed widespread popularity in compact, mid-size, and pony-car Fords and Mercurys, plus full-size Fords, though 1968. The 289’s high point was the 306-horse 1965–67 Shelby GT350, with an optional supercharger adding another 80 or so horses in 1966–67.

Bonus round: 383

OK, so these two engines are not technically “brothers from another mother.” The Chrysler Corporation offered two big-blocks with identical displacements that hailed from similar-yet-different series. The first 383 to appear was in 1959–60 when Chrysler replaced the first-generation Hemi. As part of the RB (raised block) series, the 383 appeared only in lower-line U.S.-spec Chrysler models, with either 305 or 325 horsepower depending on carburetion. After that, Chrysler used the 361 and B-series 383 for lesser Chryslers.

That B-series 383 became the evergreen big-block that powered many Mopars throughout the decade and was later made famous by the 1968 Plymouth Road Runner. Compared to the RB 383, the B-series 383 featured a different 4.25 x 3.38 bore and stroke and lacked the raised block. It first appeared as one of two D-500 options for 1959 Dodges (with 320–345 horsepower, the highest-rated boasting dual quads). Ram induction appeared the following year yielding 330 hp, a configuration which was also available on the ’60 DeSoto and ’61 “Sonoramic Commando” Plymouth. A 343-horse cross-ram version of the 383 was available for Dodges and Plymouths in 1962, and then there was little effort to pump up the 383 until the Road Runner in ’68. After 1971, the 383 was replaced by the 400.

Can you think of other engines from different OEMs that shared similar dimensions? Post them in the community below, and we’ll perhaps gather enough examples for another iteration of this engine-geek investigation.

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The festivities surrounding Paris Rétromobile may be postponed this year, but several auction houses are nonetheless holding sales in modified form. Along with its usual crop of race cars, Paris’ annual February sales are in normal circumstances a major destination for pre-war vehicles and their enthusiasts. Pre-war cars in particular deserve to be seen in person to fully appreciate their craftsmanship and engineering, but we’ll do our best to bring them to life with their fascinating histories. Here are seven pre-war cars we’re eager to see cross the auction block in Paris next month.

1913 Brasier 16 HP Panoramic limousine by Marcel Guilloux

Estimate: $49,000—$73,500

Brasier was very successful in competition in the early days of the motorcar, winning the famous Gordon Bennett Cup in 1904 and 1905. One of the lauded French brands in the years before 1914, Brasier is noted for its excellent build quality. Based on the 16HP chassis, which was the company’s mid-range offering at the time, this automobile wears an elegant and innovative body with panoramic corner windows, made by the coachbuilder Marcel Guilloux de Châlon-sur-Saône. The interior is completely original, boasting horn handles, automatic roller blinds for each window, folding seats, and electric lighting.

This remarkably well-preserved example spent 60 years hidden behind a wall in a shed. Its first owner sealed it off in the shed before he headed out to serve in the French army in the first World War. He was killed in the conflict, and so the car was left untouched until the 1970s, when the new owners of the property discovered it when they knocked down a wall to extend their living space.

We can only find record of five Brasiers going to auction, and 60 percent of those have been in Europe. A very early 1906 car sold for $81,500 in 2016—the highest sold price. A 9HP tourer sold for $15K in 2019. These don’t come up often, so it’ll be interesting to see if any Brasier fans come out of the woodwork to claim this 108-year-old machine.

1932 Bugatti Type 55 by Van Vooren

Estimate: $4.9M—$7.4M

Produced by Bugatti from 1932 to 1935, the Type 55 is the road-going version of the Type 51 Grand Prix car. The Type 55 was introduced at the 1931 Paris Motor Show; just 38 cars were produced in total. The majority of Type 55s had factory bodywork designed by Jean Bugatti, with 16 of the 38 being two-seater roadsters bodies and another seven with coupe bodies, also of the younger Bugatti’s design. Of the remaining fifteen, eleven of the cars were bodied by outside coachbuilders and the other four are unidentified. None of the factory-bodied cars had doors, which made them rather less practical than the cars bodied by external coachbuilders, most of which did have doors.

The Type 55 on offer here, Chassis 55204, was the first chassis of this new model ordered and paid for by Dominique Lamberjack, Jr., Bugatti’s agent in Paris. Every other chassis was to have gone to Lamberjack, and he sent a deposit of 500,000 francs to seal the deal. When Lamberjack had not received his allotment despite the first five private clients having received theirs, he phoned the factory to inquire why. He was told by Bugatti’s accountant that as soon as Ettore had received the money, he had squandered it all on tapestries. Eventually the situation was resolved and Lamberjack received his cars. Of the six Bugatti Type 55 chassis delivered to Paris, five were bodied by Vanvooren and one by Figoni. 55204 was sent to the Vanvooren workshop in Courbevoie to be given a very attractive two-seater cabriolet body. This car was the winner of the first Lyon-Charbonnières Rally. The chassis, engine, gearbox, and axle are all numbers-matching; 70 percent of the wooden frame and bodywork are original. The car has been totally restored to very high standards.

Most recently, in March 2020, a Type 55 Super Sports Roadster sold for $7.1M at Amelia Island, and the record for this car is $10.4M, sold with Gooding back in 2016. This exact car last sold in 2015 for $1.35M at Rétromobile, so any sale within the estimated range would be a big jump.

1931 Bentley 4½-Litre Supercharged Tourer

Estimate: $4.97M—$6.06M

Vintage Bentleys, or “W.O.s,” were produced from 1919 to 1931 under the auspices of founder Walter Owen Bentley at Cricklewood, in Northwest London. In 1931, Rolls-Royce purchased Bentley and moved its works to Derby. Cars produced in Derbyshire from 1931 until 1940 are known as “Derby Bentleys” and have little in common with W.O. Bentleys. These W.O. Bentleys established the company’s legendary reputation, and today, more than 100 years later, they are still the most desirable of all Bentley models.

This car, chassis number MS3938, is one of only 50 factory Supercharged 4½-litre Bentleys, and retains much of its original mechanical features including its the chassis, gearbox, front and rear axle, and steering box. Presented in British Racing Green, it features dual Brooklands-type Auster windscreens perched above an engine-turned metal dash instrument panel containing period-correct Jaeger instruments including a working clock.

The 4½-Litre Supercharged Bentleys remain among the most sought-after models from the legendary marque. Highly desired for their performance, these cars are come into their own when driven at speed on the open road. The new owner will be warmly welcomed to the club as well as to the finest concours and driving events around the world.

In 2018, a Bentley came to Goodwood auction and failed to sell at a high bid of $2,368,811 versus an estimate of $2.7M—$3.4M. Bentleys like these will be in high esteem as long as people are enthusiastic about pre-war cars, so we could see this W.O find a new home at RM Sotheby’s Paris sale.

1934 Packard Series 1101 Eight Rumble Seat Coupe

Estimate: $91,000—$120,000

Packards are commonly referred to as the American Rolls-Royce. The brand was one of the “Three Ps” of the great American cars of early motoring, along with Peerless and Pierce-Arrow. Founded in 1899 in Warren, Ohio, by brothers James Ward and William Doud Packard, the company moved to Detroit in 1903 after Henry Bourne Joy enlisted a group of investors to purchase the company. In the 1920s, Packard exported more cars than any other in its price class, and in 1930, sold almost twice as many abroad as any other marque priced at more than $2000. Between 1924 and 1930, Packard was also the top-selling luxury brand in America. The company survived the Great Depression only by launching a lower-priced model, the 120, which kept the company afloat but also diluted the brand by looking so similar to its more expensive stablemates. Sadly, the automaker failed to thrive in the years after World War II and ceased to exist in 1958 after an ill-advised merger with Studebaker.

In 1934, the company offered no fewer than 13 models in its Packard Eight lineup, and this rare “Rumble Seat” coupe features room for up to four as well as dual side-mounts spare wheels and a side hatch for storing golf clubs. This Packard first came to Europe in 1999, and between 2001 and 2003 was treated to a complete “chassis upwards” restoration in Germany. The engine and transmission were completely rebuilt, the clutch was replaced, and a new differential was manufactured to replace the original. The interior was retrimmed in dark blue leather, and since the aforementioned restoration the car was repainted in its current dark blue livery to match. Following its restoration, this Packard won several prizes at Concours d’Elegance competitions.

On average, we see about four of these at auction per year. One sold in Scottsdale 2017 for $126,500, then resold in 2019 at RM’s Phoenix sale for $100,800. Four of the last seven to come to auction in the past two years have sold, for a sell-through rate of 57%, and the average sale price in the last five years is $140,000. In that context, this could be a chance to snag a sinister-looking American classic at a relative bargain.

1938 Peugeot 402 Darl’Mat Special Sport

Estimate: $420,000—$670,000

Art Deco is a style of visual arts, architecture, and design that made its first appearance in France just before World War I. Art Deco had a profound effect on the design of buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, and cars. A sleeker form of Art Deco, called Streamline Moderne, appeared in the 1930s; it emphasized curving forms and smooth, polished surfaces.

The car offered here is a wonderful example of the style, and is one in a series of streamlined roadsters, coupes, and cabriolets styled by Georges Paulin and built by the French coachbuilder Marcel Pourtout for Émile Darl’Mat, whose Paris-based company was one of the world’s largest Peugeot agencies. Pourtout built approximately 105 of these streamlined cars for Darl’Mat between 1936 and 1939 (53 roadsters, 20 coupes, and 32 convertibles) and examples of the roadster ran competitively at Le Mans in 1937 and 1938.

One of an estimated 30-or-so survivors, and one of the very few in original condition, this appealing French beauty was manufactured on June 2, 1938. The current owner purchased the car at the Le Mans Classic auction in July 2012. Since then, the Darl’Mat has been treated to expert mechanical and cosmetic restoration at a cost of some $60,000.

A Darl’Matcame to Artcurial’s Rétromobile 2019 auction and sold for $354,779, but the highest price paid was at Gooding & Co’s 2017 Pebble Beach sale, when one changed hands for $742,500. These beautiful vehicles look like almost nothing else on the road and are sure to turn heads in any context.

1933 Lagonda 16/80hp Sports

Estimate: $130,000—$170,000

The Lagonda company was founded in 1906 in the United Kingdom by American-born Wilbur Gunn. He became a British national in 1891 and worked as a speedboat and motorcycle engineer. He named the company after the Shawnee Indian settlement “Lagonda” in modern-day Springfield, Ohio, the town where he was born. The company produced a number of various models, including the 1925 14/60 with a twin-cam 1,954-cc four-cylinder engine and hemispherical combustion chambers and later, in 1937, the legendary Rapide. Boasting a 4,480-cc V-12 good for 180 hp, the car was said to be able to go from 7 to 105 mph in top gear. Financial problems plagued the automaker throughout its existence, and in 1947, it was sold to David Brown, who had also recently bought Aston Martin.

The car on offer here is one of just twelve 16/80hp two-seaters bodied by Vanden Plas for Lagonda Motors and now, reportedly, one of only eight surviving worldwide. It was registered on the June 1, 1933 and was originally fitted with a Crossley 2.0-liter, six-cylinder engine. In the mid-1950s, the car was fitted with the present 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine (from a 1932 supercharged Lagonda). This engine now runs sans blower, inhaling through period-correct twin SU bronze-bodied carburetors. The car was kept on the road until the late 1960s, after which it went into storage for some 30 years. In 2004, the car was sold to David Acon, a well-known Aston Martin and Lagonda enthusiast, who had the restoration completed by the leading pre-war Aston Martin specialist Ecurie Bertelli and John Batt, a leading U.K. Lagonda specialist, at a cost north of $35,000.

The average price for a 16/80 in the last five years has been $58,000. The most recent sale is in November 2020 for a four-seat tourer that went for $58,300, and a two-seater sold for $93,702 in 2014. The target buyer here is = likely a die-hard Lagonda enthusiast who appreciates this vehicle’s history, provenance, and restoration quality.

1926 Salmson GSS Sports Tourer

Estimate: $120,000—$170,000

Salmson was established by Émile Salmson in Paris in 1890, making steam-powered compressors and centrifugal pumps for railway and military purposes. The company became one of the first to make purpose-built aircraft engines, starting before World War I. After World War I, the company looked around for other work and started making car bodies and then complete cars. In 1929, the company founded a British branch company, Moteurs Salmson in Raynes Park, London, as a manufacturer of airplane engines for the British Empire market. In 1930, it was acquired by a group of investors led by British sports car racer Howard Martineau. They renamed the company British Salmson Aero Engines Ltd and continued production of the airplane engines under license. Faced with dwindling sales, the company extended the license deal to include local production of cars from 1934. After manufacturing war supplies during World War II, it ceased car production, moved to Glasgow, Scotland, and produced printing machinery.

This car was sold new in the U.K. in 1926 and boasts an illustrated competition history covering its earliest days at Brooklands up to more recent VSCC events in Britain, as its many scrutineering tags in the cockpit attest. The seller describes the car as being in very good condition throughout, with matching chassis and engine numbers.

On average, pre-war Salmsons cost $90,000, but the top sale for one was back in 2015 when a “San Sebastian” Grand Prix sold for a whopping $363,000.

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My “Drive of the Year” for 2020 was in my 1937 Packard convertible sedan. In its day, Packard was known for some of the most elegant and stately machines on the road. The automaker’s clientele came from the cream of society, bankers and financiers in particular. With big, L-head V-12 engines and long wheelbases—144.1 inches, in the case of my ’37—Packards were a perfect reflection of their owners: imposing and powerful. I like to imagine what it was like at the time to be a Packard owner. How did they live? How did they spend their time? What did driving cars like this mean to them?

I love chauffeuring people around in the Packard. This particular day in July involved my 85-year-old mother, Louise, and my 24-year-old daughter, Olivia. COVID had limited our time together, so we decided to take a spin up the long, narrow peninsula where we live. With its top down and oceanic back seat, the Packard was perfect. And so was the weather.

Until, suddenly, it wasn’t. A massive storm blew in from Lake Michigan and we were caught with the top down, miles from home. If you’re wondering, “Why didn’t you just put the top up?” my response is only half-joking: “Because it takes three people about 45 minutes to get the top up on a ’37 Packard.” And it was already raining heavily. So, we made a run for it, away from the storm but also further away from home. Fortunately, nearby was a friend’s vineyard with lots of outbuildings with attached overhangs. Sure enough, one was unoccupied. We pulled in and rode out the storm there, laughing, telling stories, and listening to jazz on Olivia’s phone. The rain really came down, but we (and the Packard’s wool upholstery) were fine. And bad weather always passes.

It’s amazing how many memories include our cars. Who doesn’t remember their first car? Who doesn’t have a road-trip story, a going-too-fast story, or, yes, even a caught-in-a-storm story that, in retrospect, wasn’t so bad after all?

Cars are part of us and our lives. It’s hard to imagine that ever changing, yet autonomous vehicle technology is supposed to kill the car as we know it. Just like the horse was replaced by the car, the car will be replaced by other forms of transportation. That’s what “they” say. But they don’t know everything. Horses, for instance, haven’t gone away. They’re a $120 billion industry in the U.S. Why? Because people like horses. Horses and people build memories together. It’s the same for cars.

So, no, cars and drives away from rainstorms aren’t going away, not on our watch. At Hagerty, saving driving for future generations is our purpose and mission. It’s why we print Hagerty Drivers Club magazine, teach teens to drive a manual, and have given grants to struggling auto shops during COVID. It’s why we sponsor motorsports, create cool driving tours, support organizations like the Historic Vehicle Association, and much, much more. We have even bigger plans for 2021 and beyond (including getting 25,000 newbies to try competing in amateur motorsports). But none of it would matter without you. You are our partner in spreading car love, and we thank you for that. Together, we are saving our beloved pastime and preserving it for future generations. Sounds good, right? My mom thinks so.

Here’s to making more memories in the new—and hopefully better—year.

McKeel Hagerty is the CEO of Hagerty. He still drives his first car, a once-dilapidated ’67 Porsche 911 S that he restored with his father, on the same northern Michigan roads that he did as a teenager.

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No, that’s not a typo, it’s Packard that’s for sale, not “a Packard.”

Did you know that there are holding companies that specialize in reviving what are known as “distressed brands,” which is to say, brand names that due to either corporate error or neglect are no longer top-shelf goods? That’s because brand equity lasts forever. There are hundreds of millions of people born after 1966, when the nameplate was last attached to newly assembled automobiles (in either Canada or Israel, it’s a complicated story), who recognize the name Studebaker. Likewise, although the Beatles’ hairstyles may have made men’s hair products uncool for half a century, plenty of baby boomers remember Brylcreem and its slogan, “A little dab’ll do ya!” People also still remember the humorous Burma Shave roadside signs, which may mean there’s an opportunity to be had; that brand’s longtime competitor, Barbasol, has been rejuvenated and is now a market leader.

You might ask, if Studebaker still has brand equity, why has nobody ever tried to revive that brand? Well, to begin with, having a cosmetics manufacturer package a legacy recipe under contract isn’t quite the same as investing a billion dollars in a new mass-market automotive platform, plus another billion or so if that new platform is going to have a new engine to go with it. The risk is much higher.

Come to think of it, has anyone ever successfully revived a car brand? Lots of people have floated the idea. But BMW’s buyout of Mini seems to be the only that comes easily to mind. Actually, that may not really count, as there was only a brief hiatus between the end of production for Alec Issogonis’ Mini in 2000 and BMW’s from-scratch take on the brand the following year.

We recently looked at the 1956 Packard Predictor, the last concept car Packard ever made. Although it didn’t save Packard, it did portend many automotive styling trends of the 1960s. Studebaker tried to save itself by merging with Packard, but the automakers’ combined red ink gave them an even lower chance of succeeding against the Big 3. Studebaker made a half-hearted effort with some very peculiar looking “Packardbakers” and then just killed the brand. While the Packard enthusiast community has been fairly active and strong since the company’s demise, there was less interest from corporate America in reviving the brand, which has since passed into the public domain.

In the late 1970s, Lima, Ohio-based customizer and coachbuilder Budd Bayliff reregistered the Packard trademark and started using it for Buick Rivieras, Mercury Cougars, Ford Crown Victorias, and even some hearses that he graced with an approximation of Packard’s signature “tombstone” or “horse-collar” grille.

After some years, a Canadian by the name of Roy Gullickson enters the scene. A former farmer and pilot who had worked as an engineer for truck maker White Motor Car and tractor maker Massey-Ferguson, Gullickson co-founded a farm equipment company in Alberta called Keho Products and made it successful enough that he sold his share in it for $2 million in 1992.

That same year, Gullickson purchased the rights to the Packard brand from Packard Bayliff Coach for $50,000. He would go on to spend many times that amount trying to revive the brand. Unlike many automotive startups, whose proposed vehicles have existed only on paper or in pixels, Gullickson seems to have gone about renewing Packard in the correct way, with an actual car. He started with a fully functional prototype he could show to investors, potential dealers, and customers.

After buying the rights, Gullickson incorporated the Packard Motor Car Company in Arizona, saying that he wanted to build “ultra-luxury, high-performance full-size American automobiles.” Thus began the dream of the Packard Twelve.

Gullickson hired designers Arunas Oslapus and Don Johnson, late of the neoclassic Zimmer Quicksilver, to style an all-new four-door aluminum body harkening back to the 1941 Packard Clipper. By 1996 they had produced a full-sized model. Gullickson and former Packard engineer Lawrence Johnson, working with another four engineers and technicians, developed a 119-inch wheelbase aluminum spaceframe chassis that used state-of-the-art high-strength aluminum extrusions. Suspension parts were also made from aluminum and tested with dye penetrant and X-rays to ensure strength. Disc brakes at each corner featured relatively large 13.2 inch rotors.

Power was supplied by a 525-cubic-inch, all-aluminum V-12 from Falconer Racing Engines, using mostly GM engine management systems, that produced either 440 or 573 horsepower, depending on the source quoted. The engine was backed by a GM 4L80E four-speed automatic, and full-time all-wheel drive was effected by a Borg-Warner transfer case with a viscous clutch and a 65/35 rear/front torque split.

The one-off 1999 Packard Twelve prototype is a large car, but due to all of that aluminum it weighs just 3750 pounds, which explains the claimed 0-60 mph time of just 4.8 seconds and an ability to do the quarter mile in 12.5 seconds.

In their day, Packards were America’s leading luxury car, and Gullickson had his 12 prototype fitted appropriately, with a full-leather interior, hand-finished walnut veneers and trim, power seats, windows and locks, along with climate control, fully functional modern instrumentation (with a 1930s aesthetic look) and an AM/FM radio with a CD player and changer.

The prototype was completed in 1998. Original reports said that the concept vehicle cost Gullickson $800,000 to build though he later revised that figure to $1.5 million. Hemmings quotes him as saying, “and that doesn’t include my time.”

Unfortunately, Gullickson may have turned off some of the brand’s most enthusiastic fans by sending out cease-and-desist letters to Packard club members selling merchandise with the Packard logo. Also, as impressive as the Packard Twelve prototype is from an engineering standpoint (certainly up to historic Packard standards) it could not be considered widely attractive. Trying to evoke the 1940s Clipper makes it look a bit dumpy awkward. To be frank, Dick Teague did a much better job evoking the traditional Packard grille in the Predictor than Gullickson’s team did with the Twelve. Of course that’s a matter of taste, and your tastes may differ from mine.

Still, the business plan seems to have been sound. According to an article in the February 2000 edition of Forbes, Gullickson’s plans included raising $30 million within three years so he could start producing as many as two thousand $160,000 ($248,000 in 2020 dollars) Packards a year by 2010.

Gullickson showed the Twelve extensively in 1999, at car shows and Packard events celebrating the centennial of the company’s founding in 1899 in Warren, Ohio.

In 2000, Gullickson told Forbes that he had orders for 70 cars, but in the end he was never able to raise enough money to start production. “We knew we didn’t have the capital to go into production,” Gullickson later said, but as part of the original business plan, his team had long considered bringing in outside investors or selling the brand outright. By 2007, Gullickson and his wife were at an age when most folks consider retirement. In 2008 he put a $1.5 million price on the entire package, including the one-off Packard Twelve, related engineering materials, and rights to the Packard brand:

“We are interested in selling the company by way of selling all of the issued shares of the company, now held by my wife’s and my holding company, Packard Holdings Inc. Purchase of those shares would give the buyer 100% control of the company, and ownership of all of the assets, consisting of the Packard name trademark for automobiles and parts, the prototype Packard automobile, a certain amount of toolage, and all of the engineering drawings and calculations, suppliers names and contact information, and spare parts. The asking price is $1.5 million, which is significantly below the amount of investment in the project. The company is debt-free and has no legal encumbrances.

We wish to sell because we are both well into retirement age, and would really like to see new Packards in production. That, in fact, was the main impetus for going into the project, and we have always planned on bringing outside capital into the project, or selling to a capable buyer. There is an excellent basis for making a very attractive business case. We are receiving strong interest in the company, but are not committed at this time.”

Gullickson said he had a few tire kickers, but nothing solid ever happened. “We always had a lot of interest, but no combination of interest and capability,” he said.

In 2014, Gullickson and his wife sold the prototype Packard Twelve separately at the RM auction held in conjunction with the Concours of America at St. John’s in Plymouth, Michigan, just outside Detroit. That venue was likely chosen because that concours always brings out a number of classic-era Packards and plenty of Packard fans. The car sold for $143,000, less than ten cents on every dollar it took to build it.

If you have dreams of owning a car company, rights to the Packard Motor Car Company are still for sale. And according to Gullickson, you had better move fast. “We have had serious inquiries and we are currently working on one which we expect to close early next year,” he told us.

The automotive world has seen many new startups in recent years, particularly in the EV segment. When asked what advice he’d give to anyone contemplating starting their own car company, Gullickson had sound guidance. “I would advise them to have a good chunk of funds to begin with and bring in funding partners with good and extensive experience automotive-wise.”

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Lovecraft Country is a story about magic, time travel, shapeshifting, alternate dimensions, plus monsters old and new. Misha Green’s show creates its own mythos, one that revises H.P. Lovecraft’s reactionary horror. What’s scariest and most poignant about this adaptation of Matt Ruff’s novel isn’t invented, though—it’s rooted in history. Lovecraft’s virulent bigotry is baked into his work, and Lovecraft Country flips that lens around, turning people that Lovecraft would have vilified into the story’s heroes and shining a light on the true monsters.

**(Warning: Spoilers for Episode 1 follow)**

Lovecraft Country is also, at its heart, a story about family. It centers on Atticus ‘Tic’ Freeman (Jonathan Majors), who sets off in search of his lost father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams) when the show begins. Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) and Tic’s childhood friend Letitia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett) accompany him on his journey from Chicago—through Jim Crow America—to a place called Ardham. Along the way, they face dangers both familiar (like racist cops) and strange (like Shoggoths).

To get to Ardham, they take Woody, a beloved car belonging to George and Hippolyta Freeman (Aunjanue Ellis). For this unique hero car, the show didn’t choose the obvious, opting instead for a 1948 Packard Station Sedan over the garden-variety Oldsmobile, Chevy, or Ford. Woody is lovingly nicknamed after its body style (a woody wagon), with northern-birch paneling, a solid-wood tailgate, and a cormorant hood ornament. It’s somewhere between a station wagon and a Packard sedan, and its generous use of steel sets it apart from other woodies of the period; Packard promoted it as “the successor to the station wagon” when in practice it proved a precursor to the many steel-bodied station wagons that followed. Packard’s “all-occasion beauty” was manufactured for only a short period of time, from 1948 through 1950. The four-door, six-passenger sedan was a comfortable car, and a popular one, winning awards like the New York Fashion Academy’s Fashion Car of the Year in ’48.

Cars have always been both practical objects and status symbols, but for the Freemans, it’s more than that—having a car is about protection. It’s a safeguard. Production designer Kalina Ivanov told Variety: “There’s an article about driving as Black, but it talks about why Black people focused on buying cars in the ‘50s—because it was a matter of survival. If you were on a bus, it was dangerous, so the cars had emotional and visual impact.” During trips for their guide for Black travelers, the car helps George and Hippolyta stay out of harm’s way in uncharted territory, and through the course of the show, it conveys them through even stranger worlds.

Woody exists in stark contrast to the icy and sleek Bentley S1 Standard Steel Saloon driven by one of the show’s antagonists, Abbey Lee’s Christina Braithwhite. The spectral silvery-gray Bentley is a new model; it’s more expensive, more luxurious, more stylish, and it handles better than the Packard. The Freemans, in contrast, are “very proud lower middle-class people,” according to Ivanov, and Woody reflects that. It’s warm and cozy, a wholly American car. Up against the Bentley, Woody is an underdog car for underdog heroes—a second home and a member of the family.

Lovecraft Country’s pilot episode contains the season’s two best car chases, and the first one stars both Woody and the Bentley. On their road trip, George, Tic, and Leti decide to stop for lunch. George got a tip about a nearby diner called Lydia’s, but they find the Simmonsville Dinette in its place. What once was a red-brick building has been painted white to hide ominous burn marks, and its owner has been replaced. When they realize the diner was set on fire and something terrible happened to Ms. Lydia, they make a hasty retreat. Thus far on their trip, Leti’s been relegated to passenger, but she finally gets to drive and ultimately saves everyone’s butts. The terror is heightened by the fact that it isn’t anonymous strangers who pursue them—it’s the city’s own fire department.

Christina intervenes, her first appearance. Her Bentley materializes on a parallel road, then merges between Woody and the fire truck—a 1955 Chevrolet Task Force. Our heroes don’t know whether she is friend or foe, foreshadowing the uncertain relationship they’ll have throughout the series. When the Chevy crashes into a protective magic shield that she’s formed around her car, she effectively saves their lives.

Though the first chase proceeds in standard high-speed car chase fashion, what follows is less conventional. In an interview with Cinema Blend, Jonathan Majors correctly called it, “the perfect scene and the most dopest blend of psychological drama and psychological horror and physical horror.” In this second chase, Leti, Atticus, and George wind up in a sundown town near dark. The sheriff finds them and threatens to lynch them if they don’t get out by sunset. They have only seven minutes, and their hindrances are twofold: they have to escape before dark, but they can’t exceed an impossible speed limit of 25 mph. And all the while, the sheriff follows and batters them with his 1950 Ford Deluxe, trying to provoke them into driving faster. Whenever they look back, the cop car fills their view. Atticus keeps glancing up at the skyline and down at the clock, counting down the time. They escape just in time. But it doesn’t matter. The sheriff has set up a roadblock, and the only thing that gets them out of trouble is the arrival of Shoggoths. It’s a profoundly tense chase that works because of its agonizing slowness, not in spite of it.

In the pilot episode, Atticus explains: “I love pulp stories. I love that the heroes get to go on adventures in other worlds, defy insurmountable odds, defeat the monster, save the day.” People like him don’t usually get to do that, he says. But Atticus and his family have the opportunity to do these things and more, with Woody as their steadfast companion.

Later in the series, the car gets Tic and Leti and George to Ardham, conveys Hippolyta to an otherworldly quest, provides safe haven for road trips and singalongs, and most importantly, it protects them from both monsters and men. It’s like the Mystery Machine or the Millennium Falcon, a home away from home, a character unto itself. The car has been through hell and back, yet it still always makes it out in one piece. Though it has surreal moments (like a brief stint as a spaceship), it’s easy to identify with the characters’ relationship with Woody. Time travel and spells, perhaps not, but the Freeman family ritual of loading up the car for a road trip is an almost universally shared experience. It has its own kind of magic.

Woody shines at the show’s start but sadly takes a backseat for the rest of the series. It’s always reliable, though—when Atticus asks George, “Woody still running?” George tells him, “Woody’ll outlast us all.”

The post In HBO’s “Lovecraft Country,” a ’48 Packard woody is much more than transportation appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Hagerty readers and Hagerty Drivers Club members share their cherished collector and enthusiast vehicles with us via our contact email, tips@hagerty.com. We’re showcasing some of our favorite stories among these submissions. To have your car featured, send complete photography and your story of ownership to the above email address.

Today’s featured vehicle is a 1937 Packard Super Eight formal sedan. Distinguished visually by a four-door layout paired with a solid, padded top, this body style—like all other 1937 Super Eights—rode on a 134-inch wheelbase that shrunk five inches from that of the 1936 cars. The straight-eight engine also downsized for this model year, from 385 cubic inches to 320 and from 150 hp to 130. Assuming you’re not able to calculate displacement on the fly, and given the very subtle exterior design changes, you might glance under the hood and note the placement of the choke actuator. In the ’37 cars, this was integrated into the exhaust manifold.

Despite losing the statistics battle to its ’36 predecessor, the ’37 Super Eight boasts a commanding presence—and today’s all-original example brings with it a truly princely lineage.

This particular formal-wear sedan now belongs to Tom Scheffner of Pennsylvania, who thoughtfully provided us with his car’s pedigree. It was originally purchased in September of 1937 in San Francisco by Virginia Hobart Baldwin, a widow who was comfortably settled thanks to a share in the fortune made by her father in lumber and in silver mining. “She was active in charities and the arts,” writes Scheffner, “and would arrive at events in her signature green Packard.” Chauffeured, naturally.

In 1949, Mrs. Baldwin married the Russian Prince Zourab Tchkotoua, who had managed to escape the Russian Revolution and find a second home in California. Following their marriage, the newly christened Princess Virginia Tchkotoua commissioned two medallions of her husband’s family coat of arms to be mounted on the rear doors of her Packard—in a suitably tasteful fashion.

Unfortunately, the Prince appears to have been impoverished both in loyalty and in cash reserves, and barely a month after their marriage he ditched his wife and moved to New York. Virginia willed the Packard to her life-long chauffeur but, since he died only a week after she passed in 1958, the car remained with the estate and passed through a succession of established collectors—including Mr. Lorin Tryon, one of the co-founders of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Scheffner acquired the car in 2013. Beyond respectful cleaning and maintenance, he has altered nothing on this car. He ends his historical recollection with a quote from Michael Furman’s The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles: “The change in her outward appearance is the sign of a life well lived. A life whose story is worth telling.”

The post Rides from the Readers: 1937 Packard Super Eight appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The infamous Packard Plant in Detroit has had momentum recently with a new owner, Fernando Palazuelo, beginning work to clear debris from the long-abandoned automotive factory in order to start his redevelopment plan. Initially, Palazuelo broke ground in 2017 with the promise of a mix between industrial-style office and workspace alongside more luxurious appointments, such as a spa, hostel, and even a dedicated “techno club” inside the century-old compound. But with some buildings on the facility deteriorating structurally, including the revered bridge over East Grand Boulevard which collapsed in January 2019. Since then, the City of Detroit and Palazuelo have demolished the more unstable buildings, with Larry Emmons, senior managing director for Newmark commercial realty (which manages the site’s leasing) telling the Detroit Free Press that the buildings on their portions of the Packard property will be replaced by “a modern, 21st-Century industrial building.”

Instead of catering to a more cultural experience, Palazuelo and Newmark are now focusing on industrial tenants, with the recently cleaned out and renovated sections of the plant being offered “build to suit” for new tenants, meaning that they can make requests to have custom floor plans and access to various utilities tailored to their needs. “My job is only to find industrial tenants,” Emmons explained to The Detroit News last Thursday. “We’re not trying to do redevelopment of existing buildings for multi-family units or multi-use.”

While maybe not as ambitious as before, it will more importantly be presumably more attainable to cater to industrial uses as the spaces will not have to be built out as comprehensively as they would need to be for restaurants and clubs, all of which have immense overhead and challenges that the renovated Packard Plant would need to feed in order to support those operations. Additionally, new-built industrial spaces are in demand not just for Detroiters to have a fresh space for their businesses and workspaces, but also in the construction jobs generated in order to develop these spaces, according to The Detroit News.

While much has been said about Palazuela, the Peruvian investor who bought 20 acres of the plant from the City of Detroit for $405,000 in the back taxes that foreclosed the building, little is ever mentioned about the Packard Plant’s long-time chaperone, Dominic Cristini. He recently passed away last June from cancer at the age of 61—a rather unexpected end when you consider he was the man who once held an armed stand-off with Detroit law enforcement in a long-fought dispute over rights to the property.

Cristini essentially bought the rights to the property from the defunct Biogenesis company in 1998, which had filed for Chapter 11 the year before, for just $3000. A few months later, however, the Detroit City Council voted to evict the shell of Biogenesis, which Christini had purchased in order to secure the land, and take control of the property by simply sending over its friendly neighborhood gang unit. The initial stand off, as documented by a Detroit News reporter who was with Christini during the event, eventually relented from his office door, but the police staked out the plant by commandeering the guard shack and patrolling the building 24/7, even building a wall around his office with no explanation. Over the years, the City and Christini fell into a diehard legal dispute, with the Michigan supreme court ultimately siding with Christini and rejecting the City’s claim to the land, but it was no matter. Strapped for cash and desperate, Christini had begun selling drugs; he was busted for moving ecstasy and served four years in prison and ultimately fell behind on the taxes—the taxes that Palazuela paid to relinquish the City’s foreclosure and take ownership. “I own up to it,” Christini told The Detroit News back in 2019. “I’m not going to cry about it; I got caught and did my time.”

While the future of the monolithic Packard Plant is still far off on the horizon, the refocus by Palazuela and Newmark should help the plant’s old bones fill with life sooner, working towards an investment into the future of Detroit industry with the new structures rising above the decay and demolition.

The post Packard Plant redevelopment plans change, less cultural and more industrial appeared first on Hagerty Media.

One of the events canceled this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the EyesOn Design Car Show, organized by Detroit’s automotive styling community to benefit the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology and held at the Eleanor and Edsel Ford Estate. In many ways it’s a special car show, not the least of which is the fact that you get to see many of the cars actually being driven as they go up and down the quarter-mile-long driveway to the reviewing stand in front of the estate’s Tudor mansion. I was looking forward to this year’s show in part because I’d get to see the Packard Predictor, the 2020 show’s poster car, in motion.

For much of the early 20th century, Packard was arguably America’s most prestigious luxury automobile brand. Along with Peerless and Pierce-Arrow it made up the “Three Ps of Motordom” that sat at the pinnacle of American automotive luxury. Of course, just because you make luxury items doesn’t mean you’re immune from financial failure. Peerless and Pierce-Arrow didn’t survive the Great Depression. Packard made it out of the 1930s by introducing a line of less expensive cars, and while some Packard purists insist that tainted the brand, dooming it, the fact is the “junior” Packards and Clipper that followed likely made it possible for the brand to make it into the ’50s. By 1954, though, Packard was in terrible financial shape. Earlier, Nash’s George Mason and Packard’s James Nance had proposed a merger with Nash, Hudson, and Studebaker to create a company that would have been bigger than Chrysler and actually might have succeeded. Unfortunately, egos and Mason’s sudden death put an end to those plans. Packard did end up merging with Studebaker to gain access to a larger dealer network and achieve some economies of scale, but the South Bend-based car company turned out to be in worse financial shape than Packard. While the Studebaker Corporation, which was diversified, was profitable, its car-making division was selling about 80,000 units a year, when it needed to sell almost four times that number to turn a profit.

In 1956, Nance resigned and Curtiss-Wright—seen as something of a saving angel—acquired control of Studebaker-Packard. As it happens, Studebaker was a highly diversified and profitable company as a whole, but its car-making division was a financial black hole. Curtiss-Wright shifted Packard’s government contracts to its own defense companies, closed the remaining Packard factory, and for a couple of years tried to sell piscine-looking monstrosities as Packards, although they were really Studebakers with very badly executed face lifts. The last true Packards were 1956 models. Ten years later, Studebaker was dead as well.

Fast forward six decades. Going up to the third floor of the Studebaker museum in South Bend is like entering an alternate automotive universe. There is a display of some mid-’60s Studebaker styling proposals that never came to fruition, like a four-door Avanti by Raymond Loewy and some very sharp-looking sedans by Brooks Stevens that might have brought customers into Studebaker showrooms. Those make a visit to the museum worth the trip (though it’s pretty neat to see Abraham Lincoln’s carriage as well; Studebaker was a very old company), but only a few feet away is possibly the facility’s greatest attraction, and it’s not even a Studebaker.

That would be the Packard Predictor. I don’t know if the Predictor would have saved Packard, but in many ways it succeeded in predicting the path that automotive styling took in the late 1950s and into the ’60s.

The Predictor was first introduced at the Chicago Auto Show in early 1956, and in a year that many now-legendary concept cars were introduced, the idea car was an unqualified hit. I’m personally a fan of the last real Packards, particularly the ’56 Patrician. Dick Teague, head of styling at Packard, who would later helm design at American Motors and create the AMX and Javelin muscle cars, had done a masterful job of turning the stodgy body of the early ’50s Packard into something that doesn’t look out of place next to a ’56 Chevy. As classy as I think the last Patricians were, the Predictor looked nothing like the production Packards, in which gentlemen could wear fedoras behind the wheel with plenty of remaining head room. The Predictor was long and low and sleek and stylish.

The idea for the Predictor was from William Schmidt, who came over from Ford in 1955 to become head of styling for Studebaker-Packard. Schmidt was no stranger to forward looking concept cars, with the Lincoln Futura on his resume. The Futura is better known as the basis for the Batmobile used in the mid-’60s television series. In an article in the February 1956 issue of Car Life magazine, Schmidt said, “The Packard Projector is a portrait of styling philosophy. While futuristic in the sense that it features many advanced styling and engineering innovations, the Packard Projector is not a ‘dream’ car. Many of its features are on present Packard models, and those not of the present are in every case practical and under serious study for production models.” Projector? Back in 1956, monthly magazines had lead times of up to three months between a story being written and the date of publication. Just before the concept’s introduction, the name was changed to Predictor. I haven’t yet been able to find out the reason for the name change, but coincidentally Dick Teague wanted to call it the Javelin, a name he would go on to use at AMC.

The, ahem, concept of building forward-looking one-off  prototypes that could be displayed to the public in order to sell more mundane production vehicles goes back a long way. GM styling chief Harley Earl’s Buick-based Y-Job, introduced in 1937, is generally credited as being the first concept car produced by a major automaker, although it followed 1929’s Auburn Cabin Speedster. Virgil Exner liked to called them “idea cars,” and Chrysler’s first two, the Chrysler Newport and Thunderbolt debuted in 1941. During World War II, automotive designers were more likely to be drawing concepts for tanks or missiles than for passenger cars, but General Motors was back in a big way with its Motorama exhibition, which was introduced in 1949 and ran to ’61. The Predictor was hardly Packard’s first concept vehicle. The production Caribbean was based on the 1952 Pan American, styled by Richard Arbib, and Dick Teague’s 1953 Balboa had a reverse slant rear window that may have been borrowed by Lincoln and Mercury stylists later in that decade.

By the mid-1950s, Packard sales had slumped seriously and, combined with Studebaker’s financial shape, rumors were circulating of Packard’s impending demise. To demonstrate that Packard was still a viable, forward-thinking company, Schmidt and Nance wanted a show car that could excite dealers, potential buyers, and, most importantly, bankers who might extend the company some badly needed credit. A two-door hardtop was considered to have the widest appeal, so that was the design brief Teague was given. At the time, Packard was considering making a deal with Ford to use a Lincoln platform as the basis of its next line of cars, so the concept had to be long. The completed Predictor was 222 inches in length. That’s six inches longer than a ’57 Cadillac coupe. Ironically, Teague used a Clipper chassis as the basis for the Predictor, as he thought the larger Patrican frame would have made the car too long. He told Special Interest Autos in 1978 that the Predictor was “long enough to package the things we wanted to get in the vehicle.”

As far as using a concept to introduce production features, the Predictor had features which Packard had recently introduced, such as the company’s own modern V-8, in the Clipper’s 352-cubic-inch, 260-hp version, and Packard’s exclusive self-leveling Torsion-Level suspension, along with lots of push buttons. Push-button operation was big in the ’50s. In terms of aesthetics, Teague eschewed the literal pounds of chrome that typically adorned luxury automobiles in the 1950s, though the Predictor still has fairly massive chrome-plated bumpers and a wide brush-finished aluminum or stainless-steel belt circles the front two-thirds of the car. “This car proves that chrome is not a must for making an automobile look attractive, that beauty can be sculptured in steel,” Schmidt hyped. “The Projector accomplishes this in fine proportioning, flowing lines,and beautiful radiuses, and integration of surfaces in pleasant shapes.”

It’s hard to choose which feature stands out the most. While some people think the Predictor’s “nose” looks a bit like the Edsel’s infamous grille, Teague was giving a nod to Packard’s traditional “horse collar”  or “ox yoke” radiator grille. That prominent proboscis fronts a power bulge in the hood that flows through the bottom of the windshield, creating a binnacle for instruments, a clever and unique design. Above the side windows were one-of-a-kind retractable roll-top steel panels that give the Predictor an al fresco feel and predated T-tops. The oversized Plexiglas windshield had an extreme dog-leg that extended into the passenger compartment. Packard hyped the “picture window” glass, but in fact visibility was restricted by the roll-top roof panels which extended below the roof line. On the other hand, a gentleman could probably wear a fedora in the Predictor with those panels retracted. The C-pillars were cantilevered both fore and aft, reprising Teagues’ Balboa backlight, which, as implemented in the Predictor, could be lowered at the push of a button. The rear end featured the ultimate version of Teague’s “cathedral window” tail lamps (first seen on 1955 production Packards), smartly integrated in flow-through tail fins.

The backlight wasn’t the only feature operated by push buttons. Postwar consumers had their choices of labor-saving devices at home, and with the market success of automatic transmissions and power steering, automakers were big on making everything on their cars easy to use. Schmidt said the Predictor reflected Packard’s “basic development goals, which call for elimination of the human element in motor car operation.” That may fall harshly on enthusiast ears, but Packard was just responding to the market of the day. In addition to the rear window, the side glass, roof panels, hidden headlights, Ultramatic transmission, and other features were operated by buttons, although the swiveling front bucket seats to ease entry and egress were manually rotated. Apparently, to get the seats to swivel meant dispensing with adjustable seat tracks so the Predictor is a bit uncomfortable to drive if you’re very tall or very short.

Fabrication was jobbed out to Turin’s Carrozzeria Ghia, which also was responsible for building many of Chrysler’s concept cars in the 1950s. Chrysler picked Ghia because it was impressed with the quality of the Italian coachbuilder’s work and prices lower than what UAW labor would have cost in Detroit. While Packard was struggling financially, it was committed to the Predictor project, eventually spending $70,000 on it (about 10 times that much in 2020 dollars), so money wasn’t an issue. Perhaps Ghia’s promise to complete the job in three months was a deciding factor. Packard executives wanted the car ready for the 1956 auto show circuit. It’s also possible that Schmidt was just comfortable working with Ghia, which had fabricated the Futura while he was at Ford.

Ghia delivered the Predictor by the promised deadline; it just wasn’t completed. “The electrical system … was an absolute mess. We had all kinds of shorts and fires and smoking wires and noises,” Teague said, and the interior still needed to be fitted. Teague’s team came up with a sharp-looking black-and-white interior trimmed with reversible upholstery, cloth on one side and leather on the reverse. The center console has controls that wouldn’t look out of place in a jet cockpit and possibly influenced a similar console design in the Studebaker Avanti. Additional controls were located in an overhead console as well. Detroit’s Creative Industries, fabricators of many of the Motor City’s concept vehicles, was brought in to fix the wiring issues.

By show-car criteria, the Predictor was a huge hit. It made the covers of Car Life and Motor Life magazines, went on a nationwide tour of Packard dealers, where it drew pretty good crowds, and Packard brass used it to schmooze bankers and other possible financial backers. Unfortunately, Ford killed any chance of licensing Lincoln platforms to Packard, and on June 15, 1956 Packard production ended. Two months later, Curtiss-Wright started the process of selling off Packard assets.

The Predictor could have ended up as scrap metal, but fortunately for automotive history, the concept car was given to the city of South Bend as Studebaker was going out of the car business, eventually passing into the collection of that city’s Studebaker National Museum. In the late 1980s, the Museum had the Predictor sensitively restored by Packard specialists LaVine Restorations of Nappanee, Indiana. Eric LaVine told Hemmings that Ghia’s metal shapers did a good job, though he agreed with Teague’s characterization of the Predictor’s wiring. Stripped down, the Predictor proved to be all steel, with no body filler, and tight panel gaps. Even with 260 horsepower, the Predictor’s performance will not take home any trophies from the drag strip, as LaVine figures that the car weighs about three tons. The doors are about 10 inches thick, with steel inner panels.

Once stripped, the Predictor was resprayed with a period-correct pearl white finish, though modern paints with a white base coat, pearl midcoat, and eight layers of lacquer clear coat were used. The relatively minimalist chrome was replated and the interior carefully cleaned. Little was needed in terms of restoring mechanical components. LaVine refilled the fluids and fuel, and the Predictor started right up and ran, or rather jogged, considering its mass. Apart from the paint, the Predictor is almost completely original. Almost, as the torsion bars in Packard’s trick suspension were sagging from all that weight, so a set of adjustable inflatable air-shocks were added. The original windshield was retained, despite severe crazing, as the museum’s budget for the restoration didn’t include $30,000 for a custom-made windshield.

Since then, the Packard Predictor has been on display at the Museum, which is highly recommended if you’re in northern Indiana or southwest Michigan. Add in the Gilmore Museum, near Kalamazoo, and the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum, in Auburn, and you can make a car museum vacation out of it.

The Packard Predictor may have predicted the long, low lines of many ’60s cars, but it never really had a chance to change Packard’s fortune. Packard’s eventual demise was pretty much baked into the Studebaker-Packard cake. Thousands of car companies have failed over the past 120 years. Most went down without much of a trace, but the Packard Predictor gives us a tantalizing clue about what might have happened had America’s preeminent luxury car brand survived.

The post The last Packard that never was: Dick Teague’s Predictor appeared first on Hagerty Media.

As World War II ended and U.S. automakers resumed production, the buying public was the real winner. Personal luxury cars were in abundance and relatively affordable. Brands like Packard were still afloat and competing with the Big Three. That didn’t last long, but that short timeframe gave us some wildly awesome cars. One example is the topic of this week’s episode of Jay Leno’s Garage—the Packard Caribbean.

Arguably, prewar cars saw more rapid technical advancement year over year, but postwar production was the sweet spot for when cool ideas were able to go into functional and reliable production. Case in point is the self-leveling suspension on the Caribbean. This is something relatively common in modern production cars, but the Packard system is an interesting twist on how the system works—because it works with a torsion bar suspension.

Most modern takes on self-leveling are centered on the fact that the chassis has independent suspension. Instead, this Packard uses a solid bar to connect the front and rear wheels of each side of the chassis. That solid bar acts as the spring but also uses Newtons third law of motion to force the opposite end of the car to react to motion on one end. For instance, if the front suspension travels over a bump, the torsion bar absorbs some of the force, but it also imparts that force on the rear wheel, which works to keep the car more level while rolling down the road.

Those are just the basics of the system. Packards engineers took one more futuristic step and added static load leveling. An on-board processor could sense the attitude of the car and would mechanically adjust the suspension based on how much weight was on board and how it was distributed. Jay shows this by sitting on the rear fender and allowing the car to compensate, then hopping off and showing the car re-leveling. Fascinating, but also battery draining. Jay points out that he and his friends used to enjoy “riding” the Packards they could find in a parking garage until the battery was exhausted.

Sadly, cool tech like this couldn’t keep Packard in business. The market was moving too fast. Packard was old fashioned in a time when the American buying public was all about the jet age. So much of Packard’s production was tried and true, reliable and trustworthy, but the lack of new and exciting was a death knell for the brand.

Luckily, cars like Jay’s Caribbean have stood the test of time and are now exciting again. They stand as testaments from a brand that had so much going for it but ultimately couldn’t make it last, and also that so many ideas we consider hot-to-trot today are actually decades old and just coming around for a second time, because we have better technology to build or control the system. However, we would take this self-leveling Packard over just about any modern car. Would you? Tell us why or why not in the Hagerty Community below.

The post The suspension on the Packard Caribbean was a new twist for 1955 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

While most of America will be distracted by Sunday’s Indy 500, some fantastic cars are going up for auction in Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh Classic Car Auctions is offering more than 230 cars over the two-day event (remote bidding is supported by Proxibid). The mix of vehicles is surprisingly eclectic, which means there’s something here for everyone. We scoured the roster and turned up nine highlights from across the automotive spectrum:

1987 Toyota 4Runner

Average value in #2 (Excellent) condition: $17,500

Arguably the coolest truck of the 1980s has finally been getting the attention it deserves. In just the last year, the value for a first generation 4Runner in Excellent (#2) condition has increased 28 percent from $13,700 to $17,500. This huge jump in value has a lot of sellers thinking now is the right time to cash in, which leads to many low-mileage examples being lured out to auction. This 4Runner has only 94,500 miles (which is nothing for the 22RE) and is fully original—even the red carpets look brand new. This has to be one of the cleanest 4Runners out there.

2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe

Average value in #2 (Excellent) condition: $37,100

One of the final Pontiacs was a good one. The Solstice has found a cult following since the company was dissolved during GM’s bankruptcy in 2010, but no other Solstice is as sought-after as the GXP Coupe. The turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four makes 260 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque, which can get the 3000 pound coupe to 60 mph in just 5.5 seconds. Pontiac only produced 781 GXP Coupes, and that rarity translates into many original owners treating the car at times more like an investment than a sports car. With a reasonable 38,000 miles on the odometer, the new owner of this GXP Coupe can enjoy guilt-free driving.

1984 Subaru BRAT

Average value in #2 (Excellent) condition: $15,800

The Subaru BRAT is one of the weirdest car/trucks ever made. In order to get around the 25 percent “chicken tax” tariff on light trucks, Subaru marketed the BRAT as a passenger vehicle. To convince the U.S. government that the truck-like cargo bed was intended for passengers, Subaru carpeted the bed and welded in two plastic jump seats. “Good enough,” said Uncle Sam. Because the jump seats made the BRAT unusable as a truck, many owners cut them out. This BRAT remains stock, jump seats and all, and even has a rare cargo cover.

1939 Packard Twelve

Average value in #2 (Excellent) condition: N/A

In the late 1930s, Packard moved toward standard bodywork for its cars as custom coachbuilding began to lose favor. That doesn’t, however, render this 1939 Packard Twelve any less of a work of art. That three-foot long hood ornament is a monument to old-school automaking. The listing claims this Twelve Coupe is one of only nine known to exist and was owned by Ken Kercheval from the TV show Dallas, where he played Cliff Barnes (one of the characters who didn’t shoot J.R.). The Packard Twelve is powered by a massive 7.8-liter V-12 good for 180 hp, which made it one of the most powerful cars of its day.

1991 Mazda Miata Special Edition

Average value in #2 (Excellent) condition: $18,170

Every Miata fanatic has their favorite year/trim combination. (The black-over-red 1993 Limited Edition or the 1992 Sun Burst Yellow are this author’s favorite.) But for many it doesn’t get any better than the 1991 Special Edition which was built as a tribute to classic British roadsters. Mazda made just 4000 Special Editions, all painted British Racing Green, each with a unique number plate engraved with the owners name: Susan M. Cargill in this case. Susan was director of Cargill Incorporated, the largest privately owned business in the U.S. (by revenue), so there’s a good chance she had other cars to drive, explaining why this Miata only has 8000 miles.

1984 Mercedes-Benz 300TD

Average value in #2 (Excellent) condition: $33,400

In recent years, the collector car market has increasingly favored practicality and reliability. Few cars fit that description better than a W123 Mercedes-Benz 300TD. These wagons have style, room for all your stuff, and an engine that can withstand hundreds of thousands of miles. This 1984 300TD is an original-owner example with only 81,000 miles; it is likely to sell big. 300TD wagons with odometers reading three times higher can sell for close to $30,000, and if the market continues current trends these family haulers could get even more popular. Since May of 2019, the average #2 value has doubled from $16,900 to $33,400.

1962 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Wagon

Average value in #2 (Excellent) condition: $13,900

This is a pretty rare sight. Although GM made 1.8 million Corvairs, less than two percent were in wagon form. Of the Corvair wagons, the 1962 Monza is the rarest, with only 2362 ever built. You could almost consider this America’s VW Squareback, but with a little more power. The rear-mounted 145 cubic-inch flat-six produced 102 horsepower—more than double the power from Volkswagen’s flat-four. If this Corvair wagon doesn’t do it for you, there are six other Corvairs with various body styles at auction the same day.

1979 Volkswagen Westfalia Camper

Average value in #2 (Excellent) condition: $33,100

Speaking of VW, nothing inspires adventure like a Volkswagen Westfalia. With only 46,000 original miles, this 1979 Westy has a lot of adventure left. The Mexico Beige paint and earth-tone stripes are in perfect condition and the plaid interior is straight from the 1970s. If you’re looking for a cool place to travel the country in style, you’ll get a lot of attention in one of these.

2003 Panoz Esperante

Average value in #2 (Excellent) condition:  N/A

This might be the first time some of our younger readers have ever heard of the Panoz Esperante, unless they fancy playing two-decade-old versions of Gran Turismo. Panoz’s Georgia factory only produced a couple hundred of these convertible sports cars, so they’re hard to come by on the auction block, let alone the street. When the Esperante was new it was often compared to the Qvale Mangusta, since both models employ the same 320 horsepower 4.6-liter V-8 sourced from Ford’s Mustang SVT Cobra. There are few cars more exotic than an Esperante at the price point: roughly $30,000–$35,000 in #2 (Excellent) condition.

There are many other interesting cars that didn’t make it onto this list, including a very rare 1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT Spyder. If you’re looking for the sportier version of that car, there is a low-mile 1991 Dodge Stealth RT Twin Turbo with all-wheel drive and a five-speed. A 200-mile 1975 Bricklin SV-1 time capsule could break the Bricklin record, and a low-mile 1985 Volvo 240DL caused a surprising amount of excitement among Hagerty staffers during deliberations. If you spot any favorites, post them in the Hagerty Community below.

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Former Major League Baseball star Christy Mathewson died nearly 90 years ago, so he’s hardly a household name these days—particularly when the subject is cars. A gorgeous automobile has put him back into the spotlight, however, despite the fact that Mathewson never owned (nor even saw) the vehicle before his untimely death.

One of the most revered and respected pitchers in baseball history, Mathewson amassed 373 career victories (against 188 losses) in 17 seasons in the early 1900s, ranking him third all time. He pitched two no-hitters and won two World Series championships with the New York Giants (1905, 1921) before retiring, then went on to become a respected newspaper columnist.

Mathewson’s life was cut short, however, when he contracted tuberculosis and died of the disease on October 7, 1925. He was only 45.

‘Matty” was one of the first five players inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, joining Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Walter Johnson He was the only one who didn’t live long enough to accept the honor.

Ten years after that inaugural ceremony, Packard presented a stunning 1949 Packard Eight Deluxe Club Sedan to Mathewson’s widow, Jane Stoughton Mathewson, in honor of her husband’s athletic achievements. Mrs. Mathewson owned the car until her death, at the age of 87, on May 29, 1967. It has had three owners since.

Fifty-three years later, on May 2, 2020, the Packard sold for $20,000 on eBay. A similar Club Deluxe Sedan in #1 (Concours) condition carries an average value of $26,700, while one in #2 (Excellent) condition is valued at $14,300.

Packard built only 3375 Eight Deluxe Club Sedans in ’49, and this one is special beyond its connection to Mathewson. It is completely dealer accessorized and has been restored from top to bottom, inside and out. It is finished in Coronet Blue Metallic, has Libbey-Owens-Ford (LOF) Safety Plate glass, and is equipped with a heater/defroster.

Under the hood is a 288-cubic-inch straight-eight that generates 135 horsepower. It is mated to a three-speed manual transmission with overdrive.

The Deluxe Custom Sedan also possesses the following factory options and dealer accessories:

• Goddess of Speed hood ornament
• Dual amber fog lights
• Door-mounted rear view mirrors
• Rare window-mounted vent shade set
• Rear fender skirts-Hubcap medallions
• Stainless wheel trim rings
• Dual clear back-up lights
• Luggage compartment trunk light
• Exhaust pipe extension tip
• Non-glare amber, tilt rear-view mirror
• Push button AM tube radio
• Deluxe ivory steering wheel
• Courtesy lights
• Turn signals
• Cigar lighter and ashtrays
• Trip odometer-Clock
• Oil filter canister
• Oil bath air cleaner

Feeling like you missed out on something very special? Us too.

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