Tag Archives: Eight

Dual Cowl – Packard 1104 Super Eight Sport Phaeton

Production of Eleventh Series Packards commenced August 1933 with 120 hp Eight, 145hp Super Eight and 165hp Twelve engine options available on three different chassis lengths with 17 custom body options by LeBaron and Dietrich.

Packard 1104 Super Eight Phaeton, Niello Concours at Serrano

The Super Eight powered 1104’s were all built on the 141 7/8ths inch wheelbase chassis and were available with 11 different body styles.

Packard 1104 Super Eight Phaeton, Niello Concours at Serrano

New features for the 11th series included and oil cooler and fuel filler hidden in the tail light assembly, while a vacuum tube radio was offered as an option.

Packard 1104 Super Eight Phaeton, Niello Concours at Serrano

Today’s regular Concours award winning featured 1104 was built with a rare, now most highly collectible, dual cowl Sport Phaeton body.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing these photographs taken at last years Niello Concours at Serrano.

Thanks for joining me on this”Dual Cowl” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a modified FIAT 500. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Centralised Chassis Lubrication – Packard Model 745 Deluxe Eight Club Sedan

With sales plummeting in the wake of the Wall Street Crash Packard offered three top of the range Seventh Series models in 1930.

Packard Model 745 Deluxe Eight Club Sedan, Blackhawk Museum, Danville, California,

The 733 Standard 8 and 740 Super 8 powered models were built on a 140″ wheelbase chassis, and the long wheel base 745 with Super 8 power on a 145″ wheelbase chassis as seen on today’s featured Deluxe Eight Club Sedan.

Packard Model 745 Deluxe Eight Club Sedan, Blackhawk Museum, Danville, California,

New features on the Seventh Series Models included laminated shatter proof window’s, thermostatic radiator shutters for the 106hp straight eight engine, Bijur centralised chassis lubrication, Watson shock absorbers and hypoid rear axle for a smoother and quieter ride.

Packard Model 745 Deluxe Eight Club Sedan, Blackhawk Museum, Danville, California,

Today’s featured 745 is one of 3007 such models Packard built and has a body by Ray Dietrich who’s Dietrich Inc was founded in 1925, Ray likened himself to automobiles as an architect to a building.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing these photographs taken at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, California.

Thanks for joining me on this “Centralised Chassis Lubrication” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for FIAT Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Sixth Series – Packard 640 Custom Eight Roadster #168397

In 1924 Packard replaced it’s V12 powered top of the range Twin Six models with more powerful and economical straight eights.

Four years later Packard production peaked at 55,000 units in 1928 and in August of that year the company introduced it’s Sixth Series with either 140 inch wheel base 640 chassis as seen here or 145 inch wheel base 645 chassis.

Packard 640 Custom Eight Roadster, Bonhams, Quail Lodge, California

Power for the sixth series came from a single block straight eight with side valves and a seven bearing crank with a capacity of 384.8 cui / 6.3 litres that produced 106hp at 3,200 rpm.

Today’s featured car is equipped with a three speed manual gearbox, semi eliptic springs and drum brakes for all four wheels.

Packard 640 Custom Eight Roadster, Bonhams, Quail Lodge, California

A contemporary report in The Autocar noted “… the big car has the power for traveling right up to a high speed without fuss, without suggestion that the engine is doing much work, without harshness, yet with plenty still in reserve.”

Known history of this car starts with collector Richard C. Paine, Jr who owned from at least 1990.

Packard 640 Custom Eight Roadster, Bonhams, Quail Lodge, California

Mr Paine left instructions for this car an several others from his collection to be sold upon his passing to secure the future of the Seal Cove Auto Museum near Bar Harbor, Maine.

After being bought by a European Museum in 2008 the car is seen in these photographs by Geoffrey Horton waiting to be put under the Bonhams hammer for a second time at the 2013 Quail Lodge Auction where it sold for $126,500 including buyers premium despite requiring “mechanical re-commissioning”.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs.

Thanks for joining me on this “Sixth Series” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for FIAT Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Coffee Croissant & Cars #09/14 – Avenue Drivers Club

Despite a modest drop in ambient temperatures and overcast skies there was another good turn out for Sunday’s Avenue Drivers Club meeting at Queen Square on Sunday.

Mercury Eight, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Highlights included this hot rod 1949 Mercury Eight with lowered roof and modern running gear.

Land Rover, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

The blurb in the window of the 80″ wheel base suggested it was the 388th of the production line in 1948.

Cadillac de Ville, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

This 1965 Cadillac de Ville Convertible featured a nicely recessed aerial.

Ford Escort Sport 1300, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Built from 1971 to 1974 the Ford Escort Sport 1300 was the most basic of factory hot versions of the popular Escort range powered by a motor producing 75 hp, the one above was built in 1972, check out this link for the incredible amount of work many of these cars require to keep them on the road.

BMW 1502, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Another vehicle which the owner has put in an incredible amount of work is this 1976 BMW 1502 with flared wheel arches, lowered roof and Z3 tail lights. Originally fitted with a 80 hp 4 cylinder motor it now features what looks like an M60 V8 with at least 200hp.

VW 1600 E, Avenue Drivers Club, Queen Square, Bristol

Finally one of my most popular blogs was about a VW Square Back called Kubrik, the 1600 E badge above was on the back of a similarly aged Fast Back. First seen in 1965 the Fast Back was supposed to replace the Notch Back, but customer demand for the later determined otherwise.

Thanks for joining me on this “Coffee Croissant & Cars #09/14” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a prototype 16 cylinder racing car. Don’t forget to come back now !

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One and a Quarter Litre – MG YB

After MG had been taken over by Morris plans were made for the new acquisition to offer four ranges of vehicles , which would be become known as the “W”, “V” “S” and “Y” model lines that were to be built for sale with either 4 seat closed saloon or 4 seat open touring bodies.

MG YB, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

The smallest MG Y series was the last in the range to be developed in 1939 powered by a 1.25 litre / 76.27 cui 4 cylinder motor with a single SU carburetor.

MG YB, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

Gerald Palmer was responsible for the design of the new car whose, body draw’s heavily on the Morris Eight Series E four-door bodyshell in pressed steel but with an MG radiator grill, swept tail and wings / fenders added. The body of the MG Y was mounted on a separate chassis, one of the first to be designed with cutting edge independent front suspension.

MG YB, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

When “Y”Type was launched at the 1939 Earls Court motor show the sales literature boasted “A brilliant new Member of the famous MG breed. This new One and a Quarter Litre car perpetuates the outstanding characteristics of its successful predecessors – virile acceleration, remarkable ‘road manner,’ instant response to controls, and superb braking. A ‘lively’ car, the new One and a Quarter Litre provides higher standards of performance.”

MG YB, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

However almost soon as the model was announced plans to manufacture the MG “Y” Type had to be indefinitely postponed thanks to the commencement of the 1939 – ’45 war. Eight years after it’s first public appearance the “Y” Type went into production in 1947.

MG YB, Summer Classics, Easter Compton

In 1952 the YA saloon / sedan, was upgraded with smaller 15″ inch wheels replacing the original 16″ spec, a new Lockheed brake system, front anti roll bar and stiffer shock absorbers all round.

1031 YB saloon’s, like the 1953 model featured today, were manufactured between it’s introduction in 1952 and the end of production in 1953 when the aging “Y” Type was replaced by the MG ZA Magnatte for 1954.

Thanks for joining me on this “One and a Quarter Litre” edition of Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”. MG blogs will be returning to their usual Tuesday spot next week. I hope you will join me for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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The Spirit that never breaks down – Rolls Royce Silver Spirit.

The radiator grill design and tragic Spirit of Ecstasy mascot makes Rolls Royce one of the few instantly recognisable brands no matter what age or model. The mascot on this model instantly retracts if dislodged allegedly preventing injury to pedestrians and making the item much harder to collect by even the most determined fans of the Beasty Boys.

The Silver Spirit was a development of the Silver Shadow with a new body and suspension that brought RR into the 1980’s.

Sufficiently powered by a 6750cc / 411 cui V8 the Silver Spirit and slightly longer Silver Spur no longer featured the Citroen licensed self levelling suspension of the Silver Shadow but one using a Girling automatic hydraulic ride height control system riding on gas charged shock absorbers.

The Registration of this vehicle suggests that this might be a 1984 model but the alloy wheels to my not so well trained eye look to be of a more recent vintage. The Silver Spirit/Spur series is the twin of the Bentley Mulsanne / Eight series.

The Silver Spirit is the only Rolls Royce model that has ever come in to my hands, albeit briefly in my capacity as quality controller at a Volvo Garage, it certainly is an impressive machine to be seen driven around in, the ride quality is superb but the feel of the car with its spindly steering wheel and column shift left me feeling I was driving a very well appointed 1972 Volvo 144.

It should always be remembered that a Rolls Royce never ‘breaks down’, but if not looked after properly it might ‘fail to proceed’.

Erratum: in response to a question about the Citroen SM suspension on October 20th I stated that ‘Rolls Royce / Bentley took out licenses to use similar (Citroen hydropneumatic self levelling) systems on the Silver Shadow/T, Silver Spur/Mulsanne’ in fact as I have written above the Silver Spirit/Spur have a Girling self levelling systems. Apologies for any confusion that arose.

Hope you have enjoyed your stay, don’t forget to come back now !

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