PackardClub.org

by **Dave Czirr** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:23 am

The 20th annual Warren Packard meet will soon be upon us, July 20th thru July 26th. If you need information about registration, contact the National Packard Museum, 1899 Mahoning Ave NW, Warren OH 44483, FAX 330-394 7796, or <National@Packardmuseum.org>. The signature event this year will will be Opus II: The 1937 Showroom featuring nearly fourty of the different Packard models available in that year.

I hope to see many of you there.

by **Randy Berger** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:15 pm

Dave, I will be there in my 400 - no Caribbean yet :cry:

and I hope to meet some new Packard fans. I'm sure a lot of regulars will show up also. It is a good show and event and only a two-hour drive for me. Anyone attending should feel free to come over and say hello. I may even have the train running in the trunk :lol:

by **Dave Czirr** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 8:05 am

Well, I just heard that two of our North Jersey travelers to Warren have had their problems, one didn't get out of the starting gate yet due to a failed battery, and the other has apparently suffered a broken generator pulley out in PA somewhere. Let's hope they arrive safely though late, and perhaps they'll come along and tell us of their travails.

by **John Harley** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 7:40 pm

Dave

I'll try to make this short-It's been a long day. After a month of giving me warning, my battery was stone cold dead this morning. After 2 hours of trying to find a 2E battery in the early morning, my mechanic said he would have one at noon. I was supposed to caravan out with Ole Book, but he left without me. He called me at 11AM with news of a split generator pulley. (!)

The battery showed up at 2:10 instead of noon, so it was 2:45 by the time I got it home and on the road. The car charged like crazy for about an hour then lost interest. This was alright, of course, until I had to use my lights. After 30 minutes of running on Route 80 in the fog, in night construction, with the trucks, I found a hotel with 3 rooms left.

I was warped enough to bring a battery charger, so I snuck it up the back staircase like a Marx Brothers Movie . I'll make it to Warren fine.

Otherwise, the car (1950 Eight) ran like the proverbial Pennsy Railway locomotive. 70 mph, 16mpg steady as a rock

Ole made it to Warren sometime before me

Regards

John Harley

Annoying details left out in the interest of readibility....

by **John Harley** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 5:17 pm

Hi All

We'll see how much I can condense this. For some reason I couldn't post from my hotel room.

Terry Martin recommended a garage with expertise to solve my charging problems- F+S Auto on Pine Avenue in Warren. The gentleman's name is Fred Flowers, He had the correct equipment to diagnose the problems, which was somewhat elusive. No more problems with the car, except losing a hubcap on Route 80 at the Delaware Water Gap coming home.

Art Jame's idea of the 1937 show room was brilliant. A very large tent was donated. Not all the cars expected showed up, but there were about 40. Even a few cars that had supposedly disappeared were there. The range and variation of vehicles offered by Packard in 1937 is truly astonishing when they are all together. Particularly moving was a Twelve Miller Hearse and a Super Eight flower car that have spent their entire lives together. Bravo Art!

The museum had 8 of the remaining 21 one cylinder Packards on display for about 48 hours. Your obedient servant wrangled a 10 minute ride in the tonneau of a 1902 Model F. "It was great fun, but riding that bronco across country overloads one's imagination.

It was great to catch up with old friends and make new ones. There were even a few surprise guests. I rode on the tours with Ole Book through Amish country and to visit 2 collections.

The museum and the volunteers (150 of them!) did their usual job up to Packard standards. The building of the expansion to the museum is starting this Tuesday the 28th.

Unfortunately Warren itself is a little worse for wear right now. Delphi is employing about 5 % of what it did in the 1980's and the effects are apparent.

Another well done event by Warren and the National Packard Museum

Regards

John Harley

by **Dave Czirr** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:31 pm

Lots of photos to post, a few at a time. Here we see Howard Schaevitz' (NJ) 1902 Model F. Photo by John Harley.

by **Dave Czirr** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:43 pm

Here's a few more, photos again by John Harley. Upper left is a 1st series 8 touring driven to Warren from WVA and then driven extensively on all the tours, a true marvel of original preservation. Below pix taken inside the 1937 showroom is a very rarely seen body style, the 5-passenger coupe sometimes called a coupe-victoria on the Super 8 chassis. Upper right is the 633 limousine used at Don Hanlon's for "shuttle service" to his other site. Below is Don's 1941 160DE convertible sedan, recently scored 99.75 pts at a CCCA Grand Classic after having been driven over 200 miles to get there. Colors, especially the top seem distorted by film processing and/or illumination, the car is Chicory Green, and among the best restorations I've ever seen.

by **Dave Czirr** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 3:40 pm

Again from Warren, here's a couple of photos take at Gene Taraschawty's. Photos by this writer.

by **Dave Czirr** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 3:42 pm

Here are some repeat photos but with better color rendition than the photos above. Also some new ones, a 39 Twelve with optional column shift, a 37 Six coupe (Packard's cheapest car ever at $795), and a 54 Henney Jr. Also Mrs. Packard's 1941 LeBaron limo which has lived virtually it's entire life in Warren, and the first series 8 touring. Photos by the writer.

by **Dave Czirr** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 11:38 am

A few more pictures from Warren, these from the "1937 Showroom" event. I found the 1937 Twelve phaeton particularly interesting because 1936 was the last year for a factory-bodied phaeton, those that followed generally being Rollston or Derham bodied. But this one has centerpost-hung door and is a Dietrich; the body is a left-over 35 or 36 (confirmed by the thief-proof #) Dietrich body updated to 1937 nose and other details. The red 37 convertible coupe victoria is by Rollston as is also interesting as it was "saved" with what could only be near-superhuman effort and much cost from a misguided hot-rod conversion and returned to original powerplant, transmission, front suspension, etc. I will never understand why someone hot-rods a Classic, all the worse when it's a one-off.