1st Concours d'élégance Paleis Het Loo 1999

Packard was the top luxury car marque of America before the second World War. This factory regularly outproduced its main competitor Cadillac during 1925-1940 and its cars were regarded as the "social standard of America". The brand name was so appealing that by 1929 there were far more Packard stockholders than people that actually owned a Packard car.
Starting with model year 1924 Packard introduced a series number to designate each year's model line, so this stately 1929 4-door sedan is referred to as a series 6 Packard. Although Packard has built a diverse range of engines, the company relied on 8 cylinder power for most of its models until the sad end by the hand of the Studebaker company in 1958. The Custom Eight depicted here is powered by a straight 8-cylinder 6303 cc unit producing 106 hp. The Custom models were very well-trimmed and expensive and only topped by the DeLuxe models and of course the rare and sporty Speedster models.

This series 8 Packard with beautiful sport phaeton bodywork is based on the standard Eight chassis. The standard chassis had a smaller wheelbase (342 cm) than the higher priced Custom (357 cm) and DeLuxe (370 cm) chassis. It also had a smaller engine: an 8-cylinder 5255 cc in-line unit delivering 100 hp.
It may have been the standard model, it was by no means cheap. The selling price could also have bought a very nice house and that meant that production figures remained limited. Only 6,096 series 833 Eight models left the factory and lots of them were fitted with exquisite custom bodywork.

Looking slightly more down to earth is this ninth series Packard from the 1932 model year. In this year Packard expanded its model range both upward and downward. On top of the range the rare Twin Six appeared, an exotic V12 model only built 549 times that year. On the other end of the range the Light Eight was added, a more middle-class model aimed at surviving the economical difficulties of that era and raising sales. Still 1932 wasn't a very good year for Packard with a total car production of under 6000 units.
The 1932 standard Eight (the 902 chassis) was fitted with the usual 8-cylinder in-line engine, now with a 6303 cc capacity and offering 135 hp. Wheelbase was a larger 347 cm and general styling had become more streamlined, yet remained very "upright". The one in the picture shows a nice coupe roadster bodywork with a glass mascot on top of the radiator, a popular extra on Packards in the 1930s.

Far more streamlined were the 1934 Packards, the eleventh series. Here you see a standard Eight coupe roadster complete with skirted fenders, spare wheel covers and the "dickey-seat" (offering 2 extra seats by means of a foldaway bench in the trunk). And a very appealing creamy color scheme too.
In 1934 the standard Eight 1101 chassis featured a 5242 cc, 120 hp 8-cylinder in-line engine; an unit that had already been in production for quite a number of years. About 5,120 standard Eights were sold in 1934, still a very limited number that was to change soon...

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