Vehicle history

[dmills]

What’s the best way to search vehicle history for a 1931 833 car? I don’t have any history available on the Packard I recently bought. Any people offer research services?

[Dave Czirr]

Your best bet will be information that prior owners have collected and passed along to subsequent owners. Also the Packard Club roster keeper for your year and model might have some history that prior owners provided to him. To my knowledge there is no master database or search service. Generally tracing back thru state motor vehicle agencies has proven fruitless.

What body style is your 833? They are delightful cars and I wish you many hours and miles of enjoyment with it.

[dmills]

Thanks Dave. Have watched your knowledgeable posts that are real helpful. I have a lot to learn about the brand. The car is a Sport Phaeton. I wanted a 1931 open car. The car hit me like a brick when it was introduced to me. The owner died in 2019 and I bought it from family. They didn't have much information; hardly anything to go with. I did connect with some people who had done work on the car over the years. Car has won some awards back into 2007 and 2011 including Greenwich, Fairfield and it has a first prize CCA national competition emblem along with a national meet first from Packard Automobile Classics on the car. I figure someone out there knows some background. Should I reach the roster keeper first?

[Dave Czirr]

You'll be digging for information and new leads to pursue, I don't think there is any particular sequence of inquiry that is optimal. By all means pursue the data on the various awards the car has received.

Pictures of the car would be appreciated, and keep us posted on your quest for history of the car.

[dmills]

https://www.packardclub.org/forum/downl ... aab6d57c1d

[Stuart R. Blond]

That's a pretty car - but it's stuck to the ceiling...

[Stuart R. Blond]

...that is, when you click on the photos.

[dmills]

I tried to fix it. I cant figure out why it posts fine but flips when you select an image. I maybe posted from my ipad; but it does the same thing from my pc. Well; stand on your head I guess...

[Ozstatman]

Looks fine here "downunder".

[dmills]

Found a record with help from CCCA. Car won a first place at 1992 annual meeting. Scored 96.5 which I guess is pretty good for a national. Found the owner who had the car for 20 years. As the owner/family i bought through had the car close to 20 years, it hasn't been passed around much. Had a long conversation with him yesterday. He bought the car at Hershey in the late 70's; it was restored at the time. He detailed his changes and improvements which I found really interesting. I have a name where he got it but I suspect he just traded in the car and never really kept it in his stable. They all have a story.. Really, we're all caretakers of these historical cars just for a while.