I Bought A Packard!
 

Now, I really thought I was more level-headed than this, always over-thinking every little purchase or life decision. Last weekend, with hardly any deep thought, I bought this 1949 Packard Deluxe Eight. I can't decide yet if this was insanity or brilliance on my part :)

A fellow down the street has owned the car for maybe 5 years; every time I'd drive by his place I wondered why he never used it. Oftentimes I was thinking this while motoring by in my '51 Fordor. (If I drove the old girl any more frequently she'd be a daily-driver). The Packard had been hibernating in his garage so long that I figured he might have gotten rid of it. Then, last week I spotted it in his driveway and a few days later it was advertised in the local classifieds. I had to walk down and take a look, then a test drive. My wife was surprisingly supportive though she did insist that, if I bought it, I had to sell the Ford. Now that I have the keys to the '49 we are both pretty emotional about saying goodbye to the '51 (perhaps the favorite of every vehicle I've owned). A friend of mine, the nephew of the Ford's original owner, had given me what amounted to a standing offer on the car back when I got it. I called him the other day and he was just a little less excited than I hoped he'd be. If the deal falls through I'm not sure which way I'll go as I know he'd keep the Ford in original condition & take good care of it. Anyway...

The Packard has a 288 straight 8 that's as smooth running as I'd imagined. Nice & quiet, and easy starting. (The automatic choke is tuned in pretty good, maybe a little rich for a "cold" start in July but I'd prefer that to the alternative.) The interior is all original and has held up very well for a car nearing its 70th birthday. A previous owner really loaded it up with mothballs & it's terribly strong despite them being long since removed. I've put boxes of charcoal briquets in the car to see how that does. The worst thing about the car is an old re-spray that's failing in places. This brings me to a problem I've never had: I grew up in the family auto body business and whenever we had a project like this we just waited for a slow spell and pulled it in the shop. Well, I closed the doors 5 years ago. Egads, I'll have to actually PAY somebody to paint this car! At least the body is solid, with only surface rust here and there. I'm wondering if it was a problem from the factory as I've seen others online this color that haven't held up.

Most of my work right now is tracing down some little gremlins and such. The master cylinder was replaced in the last year but they never bled the brakes so I guess that will keep me busy for a while on Saturday. Some of the lights aren't working, it needs an oil change, etc. I didn't think I needed something to keep me busy...

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Wow that's sweet! Congrats. Should have kept the Ford too!

That is awesome! I hope the Packard gives you as much enjoyment as the Ford has in the past.

Ask The Man Who Owns One
 

You have a fine motor car there. Congrats!

They really DID build them better back then!

Schweet!

I had the exact same car years ago but it was a junker. What amazed me was even how big the car was that the engine just barely fit, LOL Nothing runs smoother than a straight 8. Enjoy!

Just one year newer than Doc Brown's convertible, nice.

Very classy car, I'm definitely envious! Does the tube radio work?

Also, studying the photos I noticed the speedometer "goes to eleven". Spinal Tap reference aside, can such an old car really do 100mph? It would be wild to have that old machine cutting through the air so quickly.

My Grandfather, Ed, was in management at Packard from 1939 until 1954 at which point he became a manager with the Post Office. The handwriting was on the wall so to speak...

His last Packard was a '54 Caribbean and he drove it until it literally fell apart in the late 60s, as he felt a Cadillac or Imperial was beneath him. Packard was truly the last of the American luxury cars.

Congrats on a wonderful purchase. That straight eight is one of the finest engines to ever come out of Detroit.

Packard-Philco radio.
 

I had a radio from a Packard like that.
It seemed strange that the radio was located that far from the driver.
The radio was painted with a brown metallic paint. It had eight Loctal tubes, with push-pull 7C5 outputs. The last Packards came through with Delco Radios.

The Packard can do at least 90 mph. The lowly 1949 Olds Rocket 88 could reach 97 mph. A 1949 Buick Roadmaster with the terrible Dynaflow slushbox could hit 110 mph. Going back even further, a Model T in a custom speedster body can reach expressway speeds, as could a bone stock 1906 Ford Model K.

Would you want to take any car that age that fast is the real question...

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Ever actually driven one ?

My 53 Buick with the straight 8 and Dynaflow transmission was a great running/driving car and the "slushbox" slur is in my opinion undeserved ......

PS , To Brian , Great car that Packard , you'll have a lot of fun with that one :)

"Slushbox" isn't a slur; the transmission is fluid coupled. It's a "slushbox" by design.

I've driven two: a '49 and a '52. The straight engine is nice, and I'll say that the Dynaflow gives very smooth acceleratio. That's where my praise ends.

Buick always had garbage styling, the Roadmaster I drove handled poorly, and a Dynaflow equipped vehicle accelerates too slowly and wastes gas doing it.

Oldsmobile's Hydramatic transmission was vastly superior. The engineers at the Pontiac, GMC, and Cadillac divisions apparently agreed.

Even Chevrolet's Powerglide was more efficient than Buick's Dynaflow.

All that said, Packard's Ultramatic was a better transmission than Hydramatic, Dynaflow, or Powerglide, with the exception of rather serious reliability issues.

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Love that Packard. That's going to give you a lot of pleasure on the road, as it's hard to beat a Packard for comfort and ride.

Concerning the Buick comments: I had a '60 Lesabre with the dynaflow transmission, and it was very reliable and smooth as silk, but slow. It had a substantial V8 engine, but the only way you could get much "oomph" out of it was to pull the shifter down into Low and manually upshift to drive about 40 MPH, otherwise taking off from a dead stop was pretty pitiful. Admittedly, it was the smoothest transmission I've ever driven. Only after owning and driving one did I realize how wise the Buick division was to drop it in favor of the hydromatic.

I've never heard of the term "slushbox" for the dynaflow, but have laughed at the old wag "Slip and Slide with Powerglide"

Very nice car. I'm a classic Mopar guy myself, and used to own a 48 Plymouth Special Deluxe 4-Door Sedan. I'm eyeballiing a 47 DeSoto project (an understatement) that's for sale on CL right now.:scratch2:

I wish I had a '66 Imperial.

:thmbsp: Fair enough answer . The reason I asked is that it has been my experience that folks who denigrated such cars/transmissions were actually looking for something else , something that the car wasn't built to be and never could be . The Buick was basically a Cadillac with less trim and options and as such was specifically built to be "big & floaty" and not any kinds of "performance car" . Folks driving a Buick (or Cadillac) looking for Corvette performance were gonna be very sorely disappointed indeed , whereas people who drove them looking for that smooth ride with no abrupt starts , stops , or turns were getting exactly what the car was built to deliver , a ride akin to a driving BarcaLounger . It was the same with my 61 and 64 Cadillacs , drive them enjoying that big floaty ride and it was like floating on air , drive them expecting cornering like my MG at one's own peril , a couple of tons of car just ain't gonna change direction like a fighter jet ;)

Thanks for the positive comments, guys, makes me feel better about my purchase. To answer some questions:

The radio doesn't work yet, but eventually it will. It came with a spare receiver in the trunk, too. The previous owner never did figure out where they hid the antenna-I've read of a few locations it could be. I hadn't noticed the 110 mph speedometer yet; those dials are painted with phosphorescent paint (I've read radium but don't have a geiger counter handy!) I haven't tracked down the gremlin that's preventing the dash bulbs from working but apparently they're back-lit and pretty cool looking. They glowed pretty good after the camera flash hit 'em. The previous owner said his son drove the car 70 once or twice. I need to grab my GPS and see how accurate the speedo is. I've only had it up to speed once and 60 came pretty quick for a car like this.

I went about bleeding the brakes and after doing the last wheel I checked and had no pedal at all. I'm doing this on my back in the driveway and need to do some more crawling but I suspect something broke loose. Oh, well, better to have it break now.

I tried dropping some hints to the dear Mrs. about keeping both cars but that's not flying. I'd really hate to sell it to somebody who'd rip out that great flathead six. We drove it last night to the demolition derby at the Delaware State Fair (one of the best shows I've ever seen, btw) and I got to show off a mod that Kim has been asking for for years: I rigged up a radio dial lamp underneath the hood ornament so that it glows.

And, Hi-Volt, there is an older lady across town with a 47 Plymouth 4 door rotting away in her yard. If I were serious about it I think I could talk her out of it but I believe it's a bit more than I can do right now.

Not to worry buddy!!!

Whatever make you happy.... She looks pretty :)



Good for you!!

Buick transmission:
 

My 60 LeSabre had a 2 speed Turbine Transmission.Low & Drive:)

Nice Packard. I always liked the fastback version of that car.

Nice Packard!!! "Ask The Man Who Owns One"

Brian,

What trans is in your Packard? 1949 was the first year for Ultramatic and I know a lot, if not the majority, of '49s came equipped with the automatic.

I'm not sure when Ultramatic drive became standard with the manual becoming "delete for credit".

Mine has the 3 speed with overdrive; this is the first experience I've had with an early OD arrangement and it works fairly well. It makes for a very slow take-off if it doesn't drop out when you slow down! That torquey 8 seems perfectly content staying in high gear except for complete stops. One trick I had to learn is the OD is also free-wheeling. If you park with the OD engaged it will roll away in first and don't set the brake (I proved that to myself in a mall parking lot Saturday :yikes: )

The next step up was Electromatic clutch. With those you shifted manually but the clutch worked automatically powered by engine vacuum. Initially I thought the car had it but it seems they installed a dummy switch including the "clutch" label on cars without the option.

The Ultramatic seems to be well regarded among owners. I'm pretty sure my wife would prefer it had one! I'm not sure when it became more or less standard.

If the Ford has an automatic that might be a good way to sell her on keeping both...

The Ford is a 3 speed as well. She's driven it a few times but doesn't have confidence enough to take it out on her own. Part of it, which I understand, is that before we met she had a 5-speed Festiva. She stalled it at a light one day & the woman behind her wasn't paying attention and rear-ended her pretty bad. She still has problems from that wreck.

Many years ago I almost bought a Desoto that had a standard shift , but it was not a full manual shift . When starting from a stop one would use first gear and the clutch as in a normal standard shift , but when it was time to shift to second the shift was done by a huge solenoid that would slam the shifter into second gear . I saw that huge (on the steering column) shifter bang into second , thought about getting a broken wrist if I got my hand in the way , and rejected the purchase .

I would think those "self-shifters" could be a nightmare to get adjusted just right. I would like to see one in action someday, just for the novelty. Years ago I knew an old fellow with a '52 Dodge that was always for sale. Kinda wished I bought it from him; I probably could have picked it up for $2k. The flathead six in that car was the quietest engine I've ever heard. Anyway, I guess one fender had been replaced at some point because the nameplates didn't match and one said it had that semi-auto shift (I forget what they called it). I do have to adjust the kick-down switch on mine (or perhaps replace it) as it's not working. One good thing is there's a great wealth of knowledge online for these cars.

I've really been itching to work on the Packard but the dear Mrs. says I have to get a few more honey-dos finished first. (Somehow that list keeps getting longer!) I wondered why the heater core was bypassed and found the valve leaks (judging by the pieces of cut-off hose remaining in place it must have been like that for many, many decades.) I bought a rebuild kit (just consists of a seal) so need to get it pulled out and taken apart. The other issue is that the car likes to stall, mostly when making turns, and then won't readily restart. My research points to a misadjusted float but I just haven't had time to tinker with it. Someday I'll play with it then drive over the nearby industrial park and do a bunch of hard turns and see what happens. As it stands dear Mrs. refuses to ride in it with me. My friend has been very slow paying for the old Ford so we're still using it every chance I get. Its exhaust donut has developed a leak which makes it seem even more rustic in comparison to the smooth & quiet Packard.