Lot details
Registration No: UN-REG
Chassis No: 10971122
Mot Expiry: None

Jim Ward Packard and brother Bill made electric bells, dynamos and lamps, and it was in their Warren, Ohio, workshops that the first Packard automobile was completed in 1899. Packard's first vehicle was built as a direct result of his dissatisfaction with a Winton he had bought in 1898. So, assisted by ex-Winton employees George Weiss and William A Hatcher, the first Packard, the Model A, took to the streets, being powered by a large horizontally-mounted single-cylinder motor of 2337cc capacity with two-speed epicyclic transmission and single-chain drive.
In 1901, Packard sold 91 cars, during 1902 179. Their first advertisement to employ what was to become their famous slogan "Ask the Man Who Owns One" hit the newsstands in October 1901. Among early famous owners was the New York millionaire William D Rockefeller. The company's first of many 'Straight Eights' - offered fitted to chassis of two different lengths of wheelbases and with four-wheel braking for the first time on a Packard - came to market in June 1923. The 1926 Packard Eights were the first to be offered with custom coachwork with different designs of body being offered on the 143 chassis. By the late 1920s, Packard had become of one of the most respected American marques both on their booming home market as well as overseas.
This Packard - a Super Eight with 524cc capacity eight-cylinder engine producing 135 bhp and Dietrich phaeton bodywork by Rollston of New York - first left the Detroit works in Michigan in 1936 and comes to our sale today direct from a Belgian owner. Today, the four-door cabriolet with righthand drive is finished in Emerald Green, and has magnolia leather, beige carpeting and canvas soft-top and a wood dashboard. The whole car has been the subject of a recent and extensive restoration to both cosmetic and mechanical areas by a leading Dutch specialist, the work being carried out to concours standards and the huge and impressive engine bay having been fully detailed.
The chassis is said to be very sound having been the subject of that frame-off restoration, both coachwork and paintwork described currently as being 98 per cent and the leather interior new. Both 5.2-litre in-line eight and three-speed manual gearbox are reportedly newly rebuilt and in good order, and the electrical equipment overhauled.
The period radio is claimed to be working well. The Packard clock is still present as are factory-supplied heater and defroster. It is not certain, however, whether the 80,000 kilometres displayed on the odometer when entered for this sale is the genuine total mileage.
Packards, such as this, are not only truly exceptional American automobiles, but are mighty rare and even more rarely come for auction.