1911 Packard
edited by David Barth, 3 February 2009.
Courtesy The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Photos were taken in January 2009.
Long interested in automobiles, James Ward Packard came to Cleveland one summer day in 1898 to buy a Winton. The car
proved so troublesome on Packard's return journey to Warren, Ohio, that he sent Alexander Winton a list of helpful
suggestions and improvements. Winton replied, in so many words, "If you think you can build a better car,
do so!"
Packard too up the challenge and formed his own automotive company. By the time this Model "30" phaeton was built,
Packard had become the most favored "gasoline" automobile on Euclid Avenue's "Millionaire's Row," if not the entire
country. Packard was one of the comparatively few manufacturers that could tear Avenue residents away from
Cleveland-built products. Along with Cleveland-built Peerless and Buffalo-built Pierce-Arrow, Packard became
one of the legendary "Three P's" of luxury and quality in early automotive history.
This particular Model 30 was owned by James Shankey of St. Paul, Minnesota, and used until 1940. In 1945,
the car was purchased by a sales agent of the Thompson Products Company of Cleveland, for inclusion in the newly
opened Thompson Auto Album on Chester Avenue. The car cost Thompson Products $250, not counting the cost of
shipping it back to Cleveland. It had been modified over the years, and the rear compartment had been cut away
to provide a space for hauling, making the car look a bit like a pickup truck. In 1955, the car was taken into the
restoration shop of the Thompson Auto Album and Aviation Museum, where craftsmen Earl Gault and Cliff Schroeder
performed a complete frame-off restoration of the vehicle over the next few years.
Model: 30
Body Style: Phaeton
Original Factory Price: $5,550
Brake Horsepower: 30
Displacement: 432 cubic inches
Bore: 5 inches
Stroke: 5 1/2 inches
Cylinders: 4, inline
Wheelbase: 123 inches
Manufacturer: Packard Motor Company
Location: Detroit, Michigan
From the TRW Collection, formerly the Thompson Auto Album and Aviation Museum.
