"Hot Chili And Cool Cars Come To Rocklin" takes place on Saturday, September 17th. L.C. of the Karel Staple Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club will be showing a rare 1958 Packard Hawk - only one of 100 still in existence - at the event.
See the video at KCRA.com.
We had a fun time talking about "Doc" at the Eskaton Summer Car Show and BBQ. Check out the Packard sedan below!
Super-rare find! Love the catfish nose. :-)
"958, the last year of Packard production, brought forth approximately 588 of the fastest, sportiest, Packard-badged Studebakers. Essentially a luxurious version of the 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk 400, and powered with the same 289 V8 topped off with a McCulloch supercharger, the Packard Hawk's controversial styling may have been the reason only 588 were sold. Most of the Hawks were equipped with the Borg-Warner three-speed automatic transmission. This rare Hawk is one of approximately 28 produced with the B-W T85 3-speed w/overdrive manual transmission. There isn't enough to go around, don't let someone else beat you to this true collector car."
View the Packard Hawk listing on eBay.
Cool to find two magazines at Reiff's Gas Station featuring the Studebaker Lark and the Packard Hawk. See the picture below.
"Of all the derelict buildings filling the city of Detroit, one of the most famous is the former Packard automobile plant. As much as the city of Detroit would like to do something about the the 3,500,000-square-foot facility, nobody seems quite sure who owns the dilapidated building... nor is there any consensus on who should foot the bill for the massive clean-up project. Recently, though, the old Packard plant became just a little bit more valuable, leading to a skirmish between an assortment of interested parties.
British-born and highly-secretive street artist Banksy recently descended on the decrepit Packard plant, leaving his mark behind in the form of an image of a young boy holding a can of red paint. Beside the boy are the words "I remember when all this was trees." It seems that Banksy's handiwork has a rather high value attached to it. In fact, Angelina Jolie is said to have paid half a million dollars for a few pieces of the UK artist's previous paintings, and this latest piece is said to be valued at over $100,000. But in this instance, there are questions as to who, if anyone, owns Banksy's work."
Read the full article here.
Below is a camera phone photograph of a '46 Packard Clipper Super taken tonight outside the Tower Cafe in Sacramento, CA. The windows were down and I got a nice look at the beautiful wood dashboard. A wonderful car in very good shape.
Learn more about the 1946 Packard Clipper Super.
Studebaker-Packard fans will enjoy the February 2010 issue of Hemmings Classic Car Magazine; the entire issue is dedicated to Packards. There is an interesting feature about the Studebaker President/Packard Clipper.
More about the 1957 and 1958 Packard Clipper.
There are also some shots of the Packard Clipper on Jalopnik.
I love old photographs of Studebaker dealerships and such. This is the first time that I've seen photographs of new Studebakers on car carriers.
Scroll down the page to see Studebaker pick-ups, 1951 Champions, and a few Packard pick-ups.
See all of the photographs here.
The fierce debate about Packard's demise is worth a good look; see the in-line discussion below the main article. The pictures of the 1951 Packard 200 are also very good. Many thanks to The Truth About Cars for the article.
View the 1951 Packard 200 here.
"Six rare Packard design studies from the private collection of Ralph Marano here are headed for the Fairfield County Concours d’Élégance in Westport, Conn., on Sunday. There they will be joined by another car from the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Ind., and for the first time, examples of all seven postwar concept cars commissioned by Packard will be together in one place."
Read the full article on the New York Times website.
Photo © New York Times
There's an interesting article in The New York Times about the demise of Packard and its barren headquarters in Michigan.
"In its day, when Detroit was the Silicon Valley of the early 20th century, the Packard complex was a center for innovation. In 1905, the architect Albert Kahn designed Building No. 10 with reinforced steel concrete, creating an airy, spacious workspace. Such construction revolutionized the building of factories around the world.
The demise of Packard took place as the city’s industrial base was beginning to unravel. Other notable firms that folded or merged in that era included the Hudson Motor Car Company, Murray Body, Motor Products and Detroit Stove Works. By the end of the 1950s, unemployment had soared, white flight was under way and Detroit’s downward spiral had begun.
Misery has rarely been mentioned as a reason to pass an auto industry bailout. But walk through the Packard plant on a December day and you will know that once a car company disappears, in southeast Michigan at least, nothing comes along to take its place."
See the full article on NY Times.com.
The Studebaker-Packard regalia is gone, but it's known that this hardware store in my hometown of Los Gatos, California, was once a Studebaker-Packard dealer. More can be seen at the "Los Gatos Car Dealerships: Selling the California Dream" exhibit. See the link below for more information.
Quick digression. There is an amazing Packard Dealership neon sign in Grass Valley, CA. A co-worker graciously agreed to photograph the sign for me.
Click on the image below to see a larger version of the Packard sign.
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