You'll find babbit there 'fee. You have the right idea bro (****, I can't believe I said that!). Look up the 734 Speedster series. They were your ch***is and the big Super 8 motor. The added length was an illusion by using longer hoods and the coachwork set back. This is a simple explaination that was really accomplished in the actual build of the body. Sorry safari-wagon...no intakes for that that I've ever seen but I know a guy that can fab one up. He built a car outta pallets I think and ran outta room for the radiator! Just ****in with ya 'fee. Anything I can do to help lemme know. You might need to block out some time in Feb for the Packard Winter Weekend in Dayton. In fact, I insist
That looks like a fabric body. There were a few similar bodies on 6½ Bentleys. I like the "sports saloon" look you're getting in your Photoshopped version. How about losing the running boards in favour of small oval step plates?
Hey Highlander, I've been studying the various coachbuilders (per your suggestion) and have found a Brewster bodied club sedan built for one Mr. Macaulay (p.59 of the "The Coachbuilt Packard" book). It's based on the 745 ch***is and has a great low look to it. I have also been using a scale to check window heights and some of the coachbuilt cars defenitely are chopped 2". Perhaps I should say they have a lowered roofline as Packard folk don't seem to like the word "chop" for some reason. Highlander, it would be great to get you on board, your shop is just a few miles north of me. Ned, you are correct, the Minerva is covered in fabric. The drawing in your avantar is wicked cool. I'm not sure about losing the running boards, I think they give a nice flow from the front to rear of the car, besides where would I stand with my tomygun while performing a drive-by? T
I'm so glad you're keeping the original engine. Are you gonna try to get a few more ponies out of it?
Yeah man, that Brewster is one of the top examples I've been waxing on about. There's a good spread on it that shows the hand carved wood moldings on the inside as well in the 'big' Packard book. I think we might have to design an individual custom coachbuilder's tag for it when you're done Kinda scary in a wierd way... FWIW Packards were not so much gangster cars as were other makes. Some dealers would outright refuse to sell them to known 'public enemies' at their own peril. Most lived to tell and it's well noted in Packard lore. Somewhere it's do***ented that ol scarface was turned away from a Chicago Packard agency. To them money wasn't everything.
wow, very cool. mine was rotting in my friends back yard. he advertised it for sale and a restorer came and brought a few parts and didnt want the rest. i took it and deleted the front doors as they were huge. its a 1929 model that was once used as a taxi. i havent got very far with it as work comit,ments have got in the way and my T bucket is my priority @ mo.
funny thing, when i was a school boy, i did a project on prohibishion (yeah, i spelt that wrong but you know what i mean) and the gangster era. i was fasinated by Al C and his buddies and the cars they drove. when i saw my first chopped old car, i thought it must be a gangster car, lol. sorry for the ****py pics, i took them with a ****py camera a few years back. heres where the 29 lives at present. its sitting on my spare T bucket ch***is.