1935 Packard 1201-819 Coupe Roadster - Amazingly Original Car!

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1935 Packard 1201-819 Coupe Roadster offered with a reserve

Here we have an original. unrestored 1935 Packard 1201-819 Coupe Roadster. Packard built about 200 Standard Eight Coupe Roadsters and it's estimated that about a dozen of these cars still exist in various conditions. One thing that's for sure - this is one of the best. if not the best original car of this model and it's is surely one the finest. original. pre-War Packards in existence. anywhere.

This car is solid and remarkably rust free. The car has never been taken apart. the doors and all body panels line up just like when the car was new. All of the wood; in the body. doors. top bows - everywhere - is factory original and in outstanding shape. The doors do not sag and they close with just one finger. The door handles do not 'droop'.

The engine runs smoothly and quietly - as a Packard should. It jumps to life at the touch of the starter - hot or cold. After periods of long storage - pump some gas into the carburetor hit the starter and presto! No hard starting here. There's a 6 volt Optima battery installed in the original location under the rumble seat floor. which easily turns over the massive 320 cubic inch straight eight engine.

This car was delivered to it's original owner on June 28th. 1935 by the Packard Motor Car Factory Branch in New York City. The owner. a lady physician from Manhattan. kept this car at her family's estate in East Hampton. Long Island and drove it only during fair weather. At the inception of World War II. the car was put up on blocks. wrapped up in brown paper and stored in the carriage house. for the next quarter century.

In the early-1960's a local Long island collector. who was also a charter member of the Classic Car Club of America. was given a tip about the car and he decided to pursue the lead. He contacted the owner and shortly afterwards travelled with a friend to view the car. The caretaker at the property (who was also the former limo driver) opened to doors to the carriage house. and before them stood a gigantic package - THE PACKARD! The car guys could hardly contain their excitement and when the wrappings were removed. before them was the most incredible. all original Packard. The odometer read just 34. 00 miles. The radiator had been drained before storage - the radiator cap was missing and one tire had been donated to the war effort. decades before. The cap. wheel and sidemount cover were located closeby. fortunately.

All the way home. they could not stop talking and dreaming about the car. It turns out that the owner was very reluctant to part with the car. even though she had not used it for years. It was not until her mechanic. who had previously maintained the car. retired to Florida that she agreed to part with her cherished auto. figuring that no-one would be able to get it running again. and be able to maintain it.

The collectors returned to retrieve the new treasure one weekend with railer in tow behind their '57 Chevy. With some fiddling. the pair of Packard enthusiasts were able to get the car running. After bringing the car home in 1964. some engine work was done. along with an extensive detailing of the interior and exterior. including plating of the bumpers and grille. The new owners and his buddies got the car running well. in the middle of the night preceeding the CCCA New Jersey Grand Classic in 1965. The judges were so impressed with the car. that it scored 92 points and earned CCCA Senior Badge Number 244. which you see displayed on the corner of the hood. (The early Senior badges didn't have the number engraved. as they do now. )

The car was used on car club tours and displayed at a variety of shows in the New York/New Jersey area until it was sold to a collector in New York City in 1971. That collector only had the car for about two years and then sold the car to a gentleman in Connecticut. from an ad placed in Hemmings. The car seemed to have disappeared at that point. as the Connecticut owner garaged the Packard and only drove it about 200 miles over the next 28 years! (You'll note the lubrication sticker from October 1967. when the odometer read 50. 20 miles. The odometer now reads just 56. 99 miles. )

We have many more photographs of this car. please click on any image to be taken to our full-size image list!
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