Museum Classic: 1939 Packard Twelve Presidential Phaeton by Rollson – The Four-Wheeled Head Of State

We’re back at the Toyota Automobile Museum for a substantial slice (make that a slab, even) of all-American cheesecake in the elongated shape of an open-topped Packard Twelve that used to ferry Franklin D. Roosevelt. Which is going to be a good occasion, beyond the Packard in question, to go over the many cars that this most automotive of presidents was seen in over the course of his unusually long tenure.

A bit about the car first: what we have here is the final iteration of the 12-cyl. Packards – a fittingly grand tribute to the breed, to be sure. Packard pioneered the use of V12 engines in cars back in 1916. They dropped the Twin Six in 1923 but it returned for a clean-sheet second generation in 1932.

Since late 1929, Packard were feeling the heat – the high-end makers, hitherto content with sixes and eights, began to engage in one-upmanship. Cadillac famously went for both a V12 and a V16, the latter also being chosen by Marmon. Twelves were then only seen in a few European rarities, such as Daimler, Voisin or Maybach. In the US, rumour was that Lincoln were getting one ready, soon to be joined by Auburn, Pierce-Arrow and Franklin. Packard could not afford to sit idly by.

The new Packard 12-cyl. model, known for its first year only as the Twin Six, was launched in January 1932. The engine was a side-valve job, very much in the ‘30s vein, with a sizeable 7.3 litre displacement, gobs of torque and a sufficient (compared to Cadillac) 160hp. The chassis was quite similar to the 8-cyl. Packards, with leaf-sprung solid axles and mechanical brakes.

That was all quite normal for 1932, but some changes had taken place by the time our final MY car rolled off the proverbial production line: the engine had grown to 7756cc and 175-180hp, the brakes went hydraulic and the front end became independent. The last innovation included on the Twelve, only seen on the ’39 MY cars as far as I can tell, was the optional column gearchange.

Most Packard Twelves were bodied by external coachbuilders like Brunn, LeBaron or Derham. Our ship of state here was given to Rollson of New York (known as Rollston prior to 1938) and was specially-fitted with armour-plating and bulletproof glass. But it’s still an open-top, because politicians and royals need to be seen waving at things to justify their existence.

And up to his inauguration in 1933, few people had been seen doing as much waving from an open car as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He did so out of necessity, of course. Unable to use his legs due to being stricken with polio in 1921, Roosevelt always avoided to be seen using a wheelchair. Sitting in a car, however, was a perfect compromise, so he was very often photographed either in the back of one or in the driver’s seat, if said car had the special hand controls required for him to drive it.

CC did a writeup of one of FDR’s personal Fords, which details these modifications. Here’s an early version on a 1928 Model A that Roosevelt apparently used around his estate in Hyde Park, NY.

He had several cars with that setup, including this 1931 Plymouth he frequently used in Warm Springs, GA. All of FDR’s personal cars were open-topped, as far as I could tell.

But what of the official cars? We might as well start at the beginning, which would be the inauguration in March 1933. We see the president-elect about to board a Lincoln, on his way to pick up Herbert Hoover. If the newsreels I’ve looked at are anything to go by though, the occupants of this car at the inauguration were Eleanor Roosevelt and Lou Henry Hoover, rather than their husbands. Thanks to heavy steel leg braces, a cane and the support of a strong man (usually an aide or one of his sons), FDR could be photographed standing up. He even managed to walk short distances, but was very rarely filmed doing so.

The White House motor pool also included a Pierce-Arrow – this is a 1932 model, used extensively by FDR in the first months of his presidency. This might have been his ride to the swearing in ceremony in 1933. The presidential fleet was about 25 cars strong in 1933, but soon became larger, as we shall see.

There was at least another Pierce-Arrow added to the motor pool. This one is a ’36 Series 1603 – with a V12 under that long hood, of course.

The Standard of the World was also present, of course. The White House ordered two identical Fleetwood parade cars on a stretched 165-in. Cadillac V16 chassis in 1938. Both cars were given V8s after the war and remained in service until 1956.

The famous “Sunshine Special” 1939 Lincoln Model K (with the 6.8 litre V12, not the Zephyr’s 4.4 litre), fully armour-plated by Brunn. It was given a more modern Zephyr front end sometime around 1942 and was also used by Harry Truman until 1948.

There are quite a few wartime photos of FDR in humble military Jeeps, as well. Not exactly official parade cars, but they certainly count for something.

Packard-wise, we start the count with this Model 901 Twin Six – a ’32 model ordered by the then governor of New York, a Mr Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The only closed car I could find ferrying FDR was this Packard One-Eighty. This photo was found on the White House Historical Association website, where the date was claimed to be 1938 and the car a MY 1935. Given that the One-Eighty only took over top-class limousine duties from the Twelve in Packard’s 1940 range, I have grave doubts about both dates.

There are probably many pictures of President Roosevelt in other cars, but this will probably do for this post. Where does that leave our 1939 Twelve phaeton? It was definitely one of the presidential rides of the times. Proof positive via photographic evidence required a little patience to track down from the Interwebs, but when there is a will…

Two very good photos, both dated 1939, when the car was brand-new. The top pic shows the presidential motorcade visiting Philadelphia; the lower one has FDR and George VI in Washington DC during the King’s state visit in June.

The most interesting period photo of the Rollson Packard I unearthed was this one, taken in August 1942. First, because it shows FDR delivering his speech from the car itself – something he became increasingly in the habit of doing, in his final years. Secondly, this is a rare colour shot, so we can see that the Packard’s wheels were red at the time and its body was originally a deeper navy blue than it presently wears.

Packard’s prestige V12 chassis sold in pretty small numbers throughout its seven-year tenure – about 500 units per year on average, with the notable exception of 1937, when it peaked at 1300 units. Actual chassis production was finalized by September 1938, with only 280 units of the MY 1939 made, including this presidential car.

Beautiful and suitably massive though it may be, I’m not sure this Packard makes my personal top ten US presidential cars, let alone the global heads-of-state transport shortlist. Pompidou’s stretched Citroën SM, Hirohito’s unique Prince Royal, Eisenhower’s glorious Chrysler dual-cowl phaeton, the Mercedes 600 papal landaulet, the Brunei royals’ many Bentleys… The list is very long and the company quite distinguished.

Still, it’s a grand old Packard Twelve and it has an impossibly large hood ornament to show off its presidential credentials. So much more interesting in every way than the “Beasts” that have been in use for the past couple of decades.

 

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