I went into the woods looking for cellar holes dating from the 1730s and 40s. What I found was a car built two hundred years later.
I could find no badges identifying its manufacturer or model, so I returned to our museum to share my photos with volunteers who are even older than I am. After much hemming and hawing they reached a verdict: “It’s a 1938 Packard.”
I was impressed by the specificness of their reply. The two men didn’t say “late 1930s” – they said “1938.” Were they correct? I believe they were, and the evidence is in my photos below.
The car’s engine had been removed, so I cannot tell for certain whether it’s a Packard Six or an Eight. The wheelbase would have been a clue, but I hadn’t thought to carry a tape measure. The front fenders look more Six-ish than Eight-ish to me.
You’ll want to read J. P. Cavanaugh’s post about the Packard Six that explained how this “Packard Junior” model came to be. It’s the tale of a manufacturer of premium luxury automobiles which went downmarket during the Great Depression.
For the 1938 model year, Packard used a V-shaped windshield divided by a chrome strip that extended into the roof. The groove in the roof is visible in this photo; the chrome strip was lying on the ground. The earlier 1937 model had a single-pane windshield, which is more modern to my eyes but less attractive, and in 1939 the chrome divider stopped at the top of the windshield.
The split rear windows, external trunk-lid hinges, and taillights identify a 1938 model.
Unfortunately, the engine, hood, and once-magnificent grille were nowhere to be found. In 1938 the 245 cubic inch straight six produced 100HP.
What did the car look like when new? This nicely restored 1938 Packard 1600 was for sale at Gateway Classic Cars of Tulsa.
No collapsible steering column, no padded dash. Definitely no airbags.
The gearshift would be mounted on the steering column after 1938.
Is this what is meant by “leaf springs”?
All photos of the blue car are from Gateway Classic Cars of Tulsa.
Someone liberated the red Packard badge from the trunk lid. The license plate was illuminated from below.
Hydraulic drum brakes weren’t power-assisted. Neither was the steering.
A rear-hinged “suicide door” made entry and exit easier for backseat passengers. If you accidentally opened the door at highway speeds, you did not want to lean out to close it, as you wouldn’t have been wearing a seat belt.
I believe that this Packard was originally painted black. Now it has developed a green-brown patina to blend in with its surroundings. I wish I knew how it ended up in the woods!
Sometimes you think “why and how did someone drive that car into the woods?” but who knows when it was parked there on this forever spot. My mother-in-(out)law has sold a small estate with a number of weekend huts a few years ago, centered by a small pond which was fed by a minor creek. The new owner had neglected to keep the inflow clear, causing the pond to fall dry and now trees are growing on the former pond bottom.
From the pics above, it looks like that spot was relatively clear just a few years ago, and the condition of the car may hint that it was a wreck long before being abandoned there.
Sad but true: in the German AutoBild Classic magazine was an article about someone trying to salvage a MB W114 from the woods but it was too rotten for the method the “savior” had used – pulling it out with a rope and a tractor. All he got in the end was a twisted hunk of metal…
Still has a slight bit of Packard majesty about it .
-Nate