1935 Packard Super-Eight Coupe Roadster

This 1935 Packard Super-Eight coupe-roadster was one of a small number of open cars sold by Packard at the height of the Great Depression, when the company’s very minimal total sales volume of luxury cars consisted mainly of conservative sedans, limousines, and similar closed models. Rather than bother with making open bodies in such small numbers, Packard contracted with famed custom coachbuilder Dietrich Inc. to produce a few coupe-roadsters in 1935. Only 1392 Super Eight Packards in all body styles were sold in the 1935 model year. The 1935 Packard Super Eight coupe-roadsters shared the same bodies and dimensions as the top-of-the-line Packard Twelve: 139-inch wheelbase and 222-inch total length. The 385 cubic-inch (6.3 liter) straight-eight, nine-main-bearing, engine produced 150-plus horse-power at 3200 rpm. This two passenger automobile seats two additional passengers in the spacious rumble seat when opened. The golf bag compartment is accessed through small doors behind the main doors on both sides of the car. This pristine Packard is one of only seven remaining 1935 Super Eight coupe-roadsters (in various degrees of preservation and restoration) listed in the current directories of the Classic Car Club of America and the Packard Club. It is finished in Packard “Centennial Blue” with gold accent lines, and is equipped with every extra-cost option available from Packard in 1935: “Cormorant” (or “Pelican”) hood ornament, whitewall tires with chrome trim rings, side-mounted wheels with Packard metal covers with rear-view tire mirrors and locks, “Sportlite” search light with inside control, auxiliary front “Trippe Safety Lights”, Packard reversing light, deluxe stabilizer front bumper, bumper guards, trunk rack, heater, working Packard radio, Packard rubber floor mats, and Packard license plate frame. The chassis serial number is 859244 and the engine number is 755855☆C – all matching numbers. The car was totally restored about a decade ago by Packard specialists Hibernia Auto Restorations of New Jersey and remains in truly excellent condition. This car has been entered in concours judging only once since then, when it won “Best American Pre-War” at the 2015 Americana Concours.1935 was the first year for Packard’s “New Cycle of Style”, with all aspects of the body designed as a single entity in the “Streamlined” style, with rounded lines and pontoon rear fenders. Packard sales catalogs boasted of “delightful new styling” and that “the company’s artists have cunningly blended the undying lines of Packard identity into a design that is pleasingly modern.” 1935 was the final year of Packard’s majestically upright radiator, which in subsequent years angled more and more backward. Included in this offering are a custom car cover, clear vinyl cover for the convertible top when raised, owner’s handbook, service manuals and other period service information, Packard jack, radiator parking cap (without mascot), and front license plate bracket. An original 34-page prestige-edition of the 1935 Packard Super Eight color sales catalog is also included. The current owner is well-known in pre-war “Classic Car” circles, having served as a national director, author, and in other national roles, in the Classic Car Club of America, the Rolls-Royce Owners Club, and the Society of Automotive Historians.