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Packard Museum: Custom coach Packards (photo diary) [1]

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Date: 2023-03-19

1930 Convertible Sedan by Brewster

William Brewster, whose family had begun building horse carriages in the early nineteenth century, established an automotive coachworks in 1910 which catered to the top of the market. According to the display:

“Best known for their work with Rolls-Royce of America, Brewster also built bodies for numerous other companies including a line of cars for Packard.”

This car has a 385 cubic inch straight eight 106 horsepower engine with a 3-speed manual transmission. It sold for $7,004 new (note: a house cost $7,145, the average yearly wage was $1,970, a gallon of gas was $0.10, and the average new car cost $700 at this time).

1932 Twin Six Convertible Sedan by Murphy

According to the display:

“The Walter M. Murphy Company of Pasadena, California is primarily remembered for its magnificent creations on Dusenberg chassis, though their coachwork can be found on the chassis of many manufacturers, including Packard.”

This car has a 445.5 cubic inch 160 horsepower engine with a 3-speed manual transmission. It sold for $6,000 new (note: a house cost $6,510 the average yearly wage was $1,650, a gallon of gas was $0.18, and the average new car cost $610 at this time).

1940 Model 120 Convertible Victoria by Darrin

In 1937, Howard “Dutch” Darrin moved his custom coachbuilding operations from Paris to Los Angeles and began building his iconic “Packard Darrins” for many Hollywood movie stars including Joan Blondell, Clark Gable, Errol Glynn, and Rosaline Russell.

This car has a 282 cubic inch straight eight 120 horsepower engine with a 3-speed manual transmission. This car was not offered for sale to the public. This car is the “Last Packard Darrin” and was built in 1971 from castings and molds by Dutch Darrin.

1941 180 Custom & Sport Brougham by LeBaron

LeBaron was one of the few custom body manufacturers to survive the depression and Packard was its preferred car. According to the display:

“The Hollywood set loved custom Packards and the LeBaron 180, with its flawless workmanship and perfectly executed design, was the automobile of choice for Tinsel Town’s most elite stars. Sadly, by the dawn of World War II, the custom body era was coming to a close. This car was one of the last truly custom-built Packards produced.”

This car has a 356 cubic inch straight eight 160 horsepower engine with a 3-speed manual transmission. It sold for $5,385 new (note: a house cost $4,075, the average yearly wage was $1,750, a gallon of gas was $0.12, and the average new car cost $850 at this time).

Packard Museum

This is the last photo diary from the Packard Museum. Here are the others from this series:

Packard Museum: Overview (photo diary)

Packard Museum: Packard trucks (photo diary)

Packard Museum: Early Packards (photo diary)

Packard Museum: The 1920s (photo diary)

Packard Museum: Convertibles of the 1930s (photo diary)

Packard Museum: Sedans of the 1930s (photo diary)

Packard Museum: The 1940s (photo diary)

Packard Museum: The Caribbean (photo diary)

Packard Museum: the 1950s (photo diary)

Packard Museum: Concept cars of the 1950s (photo diary)

Packard Museum: Some specialty Packards (photo diary)

Packard Museum: The Parts Department (photo diary)

Packard Museum: Memorabilia (photo diary)

Packard Museum: Toy cars (photo diary)

[END]
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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/19/2158955/-Packard-Museum-Custom-coach-Packards-photo-diary

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