Restoring the Packard

Since Outrage passed away I've elected to spend more time with my Family, mainly my Dad, as he has taken it very hard (he walked, played with and fed him, every single day for 11 years). So now every Sunday I go home to Burgess Hill and help my Dad restore the Packard.

It's a magnificent luxury car- Made in Detroit, Michigan, early in World War Two, it is now 66 years old. It is full of simplistic, but beautifully engineered wartime technology, like the valve radio which when removed resembles the field radio kits that GIs used to haul around on their backs in the bocage of Normandy.

When you drive it, you sit far above all the other cars- It literally sails along, listing and rolling on it's huge suspension. It's bonnet is as long as a whole Smart car and as my bother Peter says: it has huge crumple zones- The other cars. Looking at the front of the chassis underneath the bodywork, it looks as if it were purpose built as a battering ram.

When you climb inside , you sink into one of the two huge leather sofas- with no divisions, up to 8 people can fit in (Perfect for a picnic). My Dad told me how he used to slide across with his right hand still guiding the steering wheel & give left hand signals out of the passenger's window!



















My Dad has owned the Packard since before I was born; I never before had an interest in learning about it, but now I think a combination of maturity and a driver's license has sparked a bit of a passion for it.
The beauty of these amazing vehicles is that no specialist equipment is required, there is no on-board computer to calibrate, no impossible to reach bolts that were tightened by robot appendages; All you need are a few jacks, an engine crane and a bunch of spanners. Nothing beats spending the day outside, helping and learning from your Dad, getting grubby with paint and grease and smelling that great smell of engine oil.



















Hopefully, this summer I will be able to post a video of its first few revs out on to the road!