At the end of this years Hershey meet I had the chance to tool around our feild in the Jesse Vincent Packard speester. Col. Jesse Vincent was a chief engineer for Packard, and this car was a test mule of sorts in the development of the 734 series of Packard for 1930. I might just have to post more info about the car later as the excitement of the chance to drive the same car that was driven (or piloted!) by Charles Lindberg mostly defies description. I figured most of you would enjoy this contrast to the "Hershey Nightmare" post. I've been promised the opportunity to take it out to lunch on my next visit to the Packard museum in Dayton. I'll post that too and full photo shoot as well, but for now:
Let me be the first to say I HATE YOU! What a great once in a lifetime opportunity to see history,, much less drive it. HRP
Who let that "hot rod" in to an AACA show!!! Man, you officially STINK, you lucky stiff!... so how was it (I've only had the chance to drive a 726)?
That is a great piece. It was restored back in the eighties by a friend for the owner at that time. Dale Lyons. I went to the Kruse auction several years back with the restorer and we were surprised at the lack of real interest. They had it in a roped off area but it did not bring big money. Good in one respect because it allowed the Pckard Museum the chance to showcase it in their collection without paying an exorbitant price tag. When you think of the history of the car and especially Jesse Vincent, it is great you got the chance to drive it. Plus the picture will look great on the wall. Kudos-Jim
I know just how you feel, last year the owner of a 1913 MERCER Raceabout stopped at my flea market spot got out and told me to get it and drive it over and into his trailer. I saw the Packard but didn't stop to do a walk around, please post a detailed history on the car. Sad thing today is that there are a lot of "Speedsters" for lack of a better term that, make you question provenance of a lot of cars. That's the real deal and needs a full history lesson.
It's raw. It's light. It's loud (no mufflers). It's a huge hot rod that corners like it's on rails. History coming...I promise.
I swapped a 1928 443 Roadster project for my 1912 Model T Ford in 1983.............and still think I got the better deal. Project was a rough money pit and the T was restored in 1950.
What a *****in car. I'm a little confused, what the hell is the difference between that car and a vintage 32 Ford highboy which wouldn't be allowed in the front gate? Politics!
No, Packards are considered a"cl***ic" automobile- prewar, limited production, etc... not worth going down this road again.
This piece of history was built by Packard Motor Company as a 1 off test vehicle, or prototype. A genuine Packard.
That's Killer... To see Jesse Vincent and some more of Packard Race History there is a link below. Vincent is in the 2nd pic down standing on the far right. http://www.king-of-the-boards.com/Packard International DePalma and Packard.pdf
Awe struck! I feel like an addict that needs a fix. Please post more info and photos when you find the time. I love it. So, it's a factory hot rod, I could live with that.
Col. Jesse Vincent was vice president of engineering at Packard Motor Company. He was known as a Master Motor Builder throughout his life and the things he'd done at PMC were no exception. Having built the 1st diesel engined aircraft that actually flew with Charles Lindberg as the pilot it was a natural for Lindberg to take his hand at the speedster prototype as well. According to various historic records Lindberg recorded a speed of 112mph, amazing in 1929. Col. Vincent with the help of his brother also developed the 2.5 mile test track in Utica, MI. What came of this particular car was the remarkable and truely ***y 734 series Packards. There was a speedster victoria cpe, a speedster phaeton, a speedster sedan, and finally the speedster runabout (boattail). These cars had finned exhaust manifolds, dual throat Detroit Lubricator carburators, and a whopping 135HP. The staggered seating arrangement in the runabout was carried over from the prototype and allowed for lean and light coachwork. Here's a close up of what the final look was in those cars: The 734 speedster (sorry for the pic quality): The 734 speedster runabouts are now icons of early cl***ic Packard design, and all of the 734 speedster series cars are unique and immediately notable from the rest of the line. To actually drive the prototype was simply awesome. The noise, the smells, the vision, one can only imagine the adreniline rush felt by Vincent and Lindberg as they flew around the concrete oval in Utica. I wish I could convey more what it was to be part of that brief moment in time. The detail in the engineering of the car is present everywhere. Very simple and yet very stylish, 1st cl*** in all respects. As promised, I will indeed do a full shoot when I return to the museum in a few weeks. Anyone near or going by Dayton, OH should stop in and take a look. I'm both pleased and proud to share this with all of you. Here's a better pic of the car from the 02 Ault park Concours:
Thanks again HIGHLANDER! Would love to see some shots under the hood, especially of the intake/carbs.
We've been friends for 30 years, so I'm glad that one of us got to drive this bit of history. It should have been me though! (just kidding) (I think)
I didn't mean to be disrespectful of the Packard, it's very cool and a peice of history, but so are some of the old hotrods with some history being restored today!
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