Welcome to Packards of Oregon

2008 Oregon National Tour

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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!