Hot Rods Packard V-12 in Hotrods?

How about a V-16 Cadillac!!

 

Or this one!!

 

Here is another shot of the Cad

 

My straight eight Buick

 

Packard stopped selling the V12 just plain because they were expensive to build, expensive to buy, and they just weren't selling them by the boatload. 1939 was the last year for them.


I notice in this month's Street Rodder a small pic of a super high-zoot showcar '34 Packard (looks like mostly hand-fabbed body) that it says has a Packard V12 bored out to 500 CI for power. In the Detroit Autorama coverage, maybe it will turn up in other mags too.

 

I've had a '73 Jag V-12 motor & trans sittin' in my storage unit for many years ,,it was the 4 carb ,300HP model ,,only 56XXX miles ,,i just sold it to a guy thats gonna put it in a '39 Chevy two door Sedan,,,,,outa be pretty neet when it's done ,,
i've had several Jags with V-12's ,,,two XJ-12 4 door sedans and two XJS coupes ,,love that motor ,,all 326 cubes of it ,,

 

Just about all the PT boats in the war against the japs had to be torched... kinda makes me wonder which U.S. Navy officer gave that order???

 

My Dad was on P T Boats in the Phillipines 'till '46,,,the Phillipine Government wanted to buy all those P T Boats ,,at a few pennys a pound ,,bringing several hundred P T Boats back home was gonna cost too much ,,and our Government felt the Drug & Gun runners would end up with em if they sold em ...SO ,,,our Commander of the Pacific Fleet ordered em scuttled ,,my Dad took part in that deal ,,not all were tourched ,,a bunch were takin' out to deep water and the plugs pulled ,,they sank with all the guns ,ammo ,equitment and torpedos on board ,,the ones that were tourched were stripped first ,,
the P T 109 replica in President Kennedy's parade was taken out into the bay offa New York and was used for target practice ,,
there are three original PT Boats with full WW II equipment left ,,two in museums in Battleship Cove back east ( one on display inside the Aircraft Carrier ) ,and one the Sea Scouts in Washington State owns ,,
there are several that have been converted to Luxury Yahts in Florida,,

 

BUT ,,i wonder what happened to the several hundred P T Boats we gave to Russia in the "Lend Lease Program" to patrol the Beiring Straights off of Alaska ,,word was many years ago ,,the boats and tons of spare parts & engines are stored in wherehouses in Siberia ,,Hhmmm ,,,only trouble is ,,Russia won't let us go to Siberia ,,too many Prison / Internment Camps there ,,

 

The P T Boat the Sea Scouts have in Washington never went to War ,,it was a training Boat at the Brimmerton ,Wash. Navy Yards ,,my Dad trained in it ,,the Sea Scouts bought it and 6 spare engines in the late '40's from the Navy Surplus, ,,for peanuts ,,now,,they want a Million bucks for it ,,

 

Thanks for that info!! Ya learn something new every day.

 

Can anyone checkout Rodders Digest from back in the late 90's? There was an article about a 12 cylinder Pierce Arrow at Bonneville. It was a really neat car, had many changes, it ran twin turbo's and fuel injection. Owned by Dee Howard of the Dallas area.

 

I was fortunate enough to be able to work on and ride in a Marmon Sixteen a number of years ago. Amazing technology for it's day, and faster than anything but an SJ Deusey...

There is another v12 out there that can be had for reasonable money. 5 liters, all aluminum, and really does look like a beautiful baby Allison once you get all the EFI stuff off. We've bought 4 of them (running cars) and haven't paid over $1000 yet. I'm building a rod around one right now (with 5 1bbl carbs on a log manifold and aircraft style headers).

(Pulling pin on grenade...lol) they are BMWs out of the late 80s-90s 750 luxury sedans. Not traditional, but functional and elegant IMO. Sorry I got your thread closed...

 

Hey french. Any chance you could post more pictures of your V-12 Deuce??? Thanks bud!

 

After the input early on in this thread from knowledgeable Packard guys, I have to agree with RustyNewYorker that the Packard V-12 had run out of market steam. It wasn't the prestigious motor of demand for the elite buyers anymore (mainly 'cause even rich people in the late '30s weren't throwing as much money around! It was also one of the most complicated V-12s and a friggin' bear to do vale-adjustments on! People didn't want to mess with the obligations of owning them (at least in any marketable numbers) anymore.

Though I regret Packard dropping it, I have to admit that it was EXPENSIVE to build OR buy. SO, Packard had to cancel it.

 

But anyway, does ANYBODY have a pic of that bad-ass Parkard V-12 coule CUSTOM Rust referred to at the Detroit Auto Show? I saw pix, and now I can't find them again!

 

Street Rodder, July 2010, P. 46. I'm sure it will see a feature sooner or later, too.

 

I found this at the internet the other day. Not really a custom, but nice nonetheless!

Also, Dale Adams project seems exciting...

And last but not least; Klick here for a OT, but cool '55 Chev with a merlin....

 

Hey, Sjiefaa, all of those V-12 Packards are super-KOOL, man. The '34 reminds me of the project one HAMBer is doing. Also with front lengthened, he's prepping a 906 Seagrave V-12 (derivtive of the Pierce Arrow V-12, as you probably know). I think he plans side mounts, too. If not mistaken, I think his Packard is a coupe. I'll have to go and check-see if he's posted any progress of late.

 

Awesome machine! Too bad that '55 Chev nose doesn't swing away. It would be great to see some more detail pix of the RR-Packard V-12.

 

I was there. My jaw dropped. Here are some photos of the Roxas car.

Vintageride

 

Here are a few more pictures of the car before and during the built. Let me know if you need more pictures.

Thanks !
Frenchy

 

for you Packard experts; is it possable the reason Packard quit building V-12's for cars is because of his commitment to the War effert ?? he supplied the P T Boat engines clear into 1946 or 7

all us auto and aircraft production was turned over to war material use, no cars were made until 46, which is why 46 fords look like 41's. in fact, almost all us industry was converted to war production. don't they teach US history anymore?

 

THANKS, VintageRide! What I liked about the Packard was that it blended the BEST of the old and the new. It is, at ONCE, vintagse AND contemporary. TIMELESS!!!

 

On youtube you can see a lot more detail of the '55. Of course he wasn't the first (think of john dodd's ''the beast''), but it sure as hell looks better!

Anybody have more info of the V12 dragster below?

 

I bought a V12 from a SeaGrave fire engine and was going to put it in my 28 Willys, until I realized parts are near impossiable to get and that the motor weighed almost as much as my truck. Then I decided to go the BMW route. This is what I ended up with, but I do love the look of a flathead V12

 

Now, Packard's last V-12 was for the '40 models, right?

 

Jimi-1939 was the last year of production V12s for Packard. Someone may have shoehorned one or two in customs on the west coast though.-Jim

 

Dick Saunders built several customs powered with a Packard 12. One of them used a super eight chassis, a 1937 Junior convertible coupe body and a 1941 front clip.

The engine was bored to at least 490 cubic inches and used domed custom pistons. It also had an overdrive transmission.

It was built on the east coast in the fifties. I would love to hear from anyone that knows the whereabouts of this car.

Vintageride

 

For JimDillon: Hi, Jim! Thanks for the info. What I was driving at is this: If Packard had already decided to drop the V-12 after '39, THEN the WAR had probably nothing at all to do with that decision, am I correct?

From this thread, I can understand LOTS of reasons WHY the V-12 wasn't practical for Packard to keep offering. I just can't believe the then-far-off war was much of a factor, if ANY, in 1939.