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Welcome to Packards of Oregon
2008
Oregon National Tour
The
hunt, the find, the kill-----THE ADDICTION!!
By Mike Gudge
Another
die hard Ford fan has bitten the dust. Not sure how or when I acquired
my interest in the classics, Packards in particular, but I have
always admired the elegance of, particularly the big marks, of the
late ‘20’s, the ‘30’s and the early ‘40’s.
That’s where my interest in Fords has always been and that’s
where I seem to have settled in with the Packards. Of all the people
who influenced and educated me in the world of “big”
cars, Ray Foster made the greatest contribution to my addiction.
I have known Ray since the early ‘70’s and was always
intrigued by his cars, his stories and his knowledge of these cars.
It must have been about 5 years
ago that Ray and I started “hunting”! I’m not
sure why I decided I needed a Packard but I started picking Ray’s
brain on what was what, where I might find a big open Packard, what
years and features were most attractive and desirable, what were
the values, and on and on. Ray’s pretty laid back, casual
but cautious about who he knows and the cars he knows but he’s
a good friend and he started steering me in the right direction.
He turned me on to several of his best connections, George Choban,
Vern Howell, Dave McCready, Gordon Apker, Tom Crook, Don Letson,
Steve Sauer and a few others, as time went on. I am a very careful
buyer and hungry for all the information I can absorb about these
cars. Over time I visited most of these people, picked their Packard
brains, gathered all the knowledge I could, and researched on my
own where Ray left off.
I
looked at a ’36 Packard 12 Phaeton of Gordon Apker, nice,
nice car but way over my budget. Then a ’36 Packard Super
8 Convertible Sedan that Tom Crook advertised for quite some time.
Ray and I drove up to look at that car twice and spend “hours”
crawling in, under and all over that car with me quizzing Ray as
to what was good, bad, right, wrong, anything I could think of to
broaden my knowledge of these cars. Tom said he had never had anybody
go over a car quite so thoroughly in his entire career of selling
the classics. On one occasion, he said he had to excuse himself
as he had things to do and left us on our own to continue our “inspection”!
I really didn’t yet know what I was looking at or I probably
would have bought that car but I was unsure and still learning.
I had, however, pretty much zeroed in on ’35 or ’36
and definitely “Packard”!
I scoured Hemmings Motor News, even old, old issues and called on
some old ads just to further my knowledge about what was available,
what conditions, what prices, what to watch out for. Again I gained
knowledge and interest. I figured if I did find a car, at least
I would have a better idea of what I was looking at.

Okay,
Ray shared another lead with me, he had mentioned this guy and his
car some time ago but we never followed through with it until now.
He called Bert Barbur up in Castle Rock, Washington to see if we
could drive up and see his collection and what we had heard, might
be for sale. Bert used to carry a big board of photos to the local
swap meets, of Packards he had for sale. I think I had seen these
photos at one of the swap meets but at this point had not tied the
photos to Bert. So, off we go to Castle Rock and Mount Saint Helens.
Now all these people I have mentioned know Ray and seemed to have
a great deal of respect for Ray as a serious car guy and I felt
privileged that Ray would share these people with me. Bert has a
great spread out in the forest, 10 or 20 acres and probably a 100
X 200 foot barn------FULL---------of Packards and parts, and signs
and books and mementos you wouldn’t believe. I was overwhelmed
and like a kid in a candy store. But, I was an open car man, had
open Fords I had acquired back in ’71-’72 and had always
zeroed in on the open cars. Ray told me about Bert’s ’36
convertible sedan Packard and that is the car I was most interested
in seeing. Well there it was, dusty and unused but striking in black
paint, red stripes, white top and the widest, whitest, wide white
wall tires on the reddest red wheels you ever saw-----absolutely
striking if you could look beyond the dust and lack of attention.
It was squeezed in with maybe 40 other Packards like a crowded used
car lot but it was the only car I could “see”!
There
again, I knew more now about these cars than when I first started
looking, but still didn’t really comprehend what I was looking
at. Again, Ray and I crawled inside, outside, under and over this
car, me asking a thousand questions along the way and Ray patiently
sharing his knowledge, considerable knowledge, with me and reluctantly,
carefully, giving me advice and his observations as I grilled him
on every facet of the car. I think over the next few weeks/months
Ray and I went back to Berts two or three times, I went with another
car friend, just to share my find, and even George Choban went up
with me once although George was really going to look at another
car. Bert and I talked about parts, what was correct, what might
not be correct, possible trade, price, offers, and on and on and
on. Bert is a great guy and has really put his dream together up
there including his balcony back bar and all his collectibles and
“treasures”. It was always a pleasure to visit and Bert
had all the time in the world to share his collections and cars.
He was most patient with my drooling over his ’36 Packard
12 Convertible Sedan, He shared all the history he had and we speculated
on what he didn’t know.
If I recall correctly it took about three years
to put something together with Bert. I wasn’t sure I wanted
to sell my first born, mortgage my house and cash in all my 401K’s
to put this deal together. Also about that time I went on a new
job out of the country and kind of put this whole thing in the back
of my mind. Ray was still coaching me, I was still researching,
looking in Hemmings, keeping in touch with Gordon Apker, Tom Crook,
George Choban, Vern Howell and anybody else I could gleen some knowledge
from. Then two years ago next April, I came back from my project
with a pocket full of greenbacks, not near enough but more than
I had when I left, and I called Bert, “you still got that
old Packard convertible?”. “Still got her, still available,
come on up!” I think I was hoping he would have told me he
had already sold it! Not the case, I’m hooked; here I go,
back to Castle Rock!
Well, I had a ’56 T-Bird, we talked trade-in
but couldn’t quite get there. I made an offer, and he put
me off, said it would take a bit more. By now, I really was hooked
but pretty much over extended without a trade. We emailed back and
forth for a time and finally he wrote me a counter offer. He was
impressed that I was so interested and admired the car so much and
we put it together. Wow, what have I done? This ain’t a Ford
and it was way beyond anything I had ever done before but I convinced
myself that it was the right car and it was doable. To
tell you the truth, I didn’t care if I had a Super 8 or a
Standard 8 either. Ray had even told me that an 8 might be a better
choice, “you don’t have any idea what it costs to go
through a 12!”. Well, how many ’36 Convertible Sedan
Packards have you ever seen available at any price with any engine?
As it turned out the Packard gods were smiling on me, this was one
of 25 or 27 ever produced with the 12 flathead. At least it was
a flathead as were all my Fords!

On
my last visit prior to making the deal, I had told Bert I wanted
another look and we were trying to sort out a fuel issue. When I
got there, he had the top down, first time ever for him in the 10
years he had had the car! That was a thrill and I had never driven
the car at that point. It was a clear but cool day so we took her
out. Mind you I had never driven a car with a 20’ long hood
before; I was a bit intimidated and nervous. I was amazed at the
power and the torque and the vacuum assisted brakes were every bit
as good as the brakes on my ’97 Buick! I was a bit overwhelmed,
ecstatic over the elegance of this huge Packard Classic. The Armstrong
steering was probably what I had expected but not all that bad,
what a thrill! So, the deal was made shortly after that and a date
set to take my trailer up to pick up the car. I asked Ray to come
with me and he was more than willing. I told him later, “Ray,
you would have paid me to come along!” I think he would have!
Okay, so I have a new trailer and am not used to
maneuvering it by this time but I managed to snake it down Bert’s
gravel drive to a point where he could drive up on the flat and
then into the trailer. Bert was worried that it wouldn’t start
or would die after it did while we were trying to load it. It did
have fuel problems and a “sometimes” battery if the
fuel problem presented itself and you had to crank on it too long.
Well, it loaded just fine and I strapped it down with a grin from
ear to ear and a fear that the bank might soon want their half of
it back! Now, I was high on excitement and adrenalin and Ray was
hungry, it was late afternoon and we hadn’t eaten all day.
So, while Ray went in for sandwiches, I drooled over my new acquisition
there in the doorway of the trailer. What had I done, I dunno but
it felt good! I was a Packard convert, BIG TIME!!!
I tracked down as much history on the car as I could,
back to it’s CCCA First in 1956. It used to reside in Gross
Point, a very exclusive area of Detroit. I found most all the owners,
some collectors, some speculators but found very little about who
had done what and when. Still not sure of the mileage but it seems
to be just a maintained collector car that was just taken care of
and kept on the road. Some of the work done on the car over the
years was good, some not anything special. It is, however, a great,
solid, rust free Packard 973 with a great running 12! Dave McCready
just spent a couple of weeks helping me install a new wiring loom
and he fluffed and buffed the 30 or 40 year old paint and he spoke
quite highly of he car. He made me proud and it was a quite pleasant
experience working with Dave. However, it was a more pleasant experience
getting to know Jeanette and savoring more than one of her scrumptious
dinners, quite talented in the kitchen and a very nice person, that
gal, much too good for the likes of Dave!!!
So, what does the future hold for this elegant Packard? Enjoy, admire,
drive, show, share, tinker-----that’s what it’s all
about isn’t it. I love the car, I love the people “and”
I still have a couple of Fords left! What more could anyone ask???
That’s my story, hope to participate in at least part of the
local tour in June and isn’t it appropriate that it concludes
right up in my own back yard on majestic Mount Hood!!!
KEEP THOSE PACKARDS ON THE ROAD! THANKS TO ALL FOR GETTING THIS
ONE BACK ON THE ROAD!
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