1930 Packard

edited by David Barth, 14 February 2009.
Courtesy The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Photos were taken in January 2009.

The Packard Company roared through the "Roaring Twenties" with a succession of beautifully designed cars and some of the highest sales figures in the company's history. Although the company's founder, James Ward Packard, died in 1928, the company continued to move forward until the Great Depression caused sales to drop.

From a high in 1928 of nearly 50,000 cars produced, by 1934 Packard was making only 6,000. The Packard cars of the Depression era are considered to be the most classic of all Packards.

Packard was a high-end automobile, built for those who wanted luxury and status. The company was one of the "Three P's" of automotive excellence, along with Pierce-Arrow and Peerless.

The 1930 Packard was little changed from the previous year. It featured centralized chassis lubrication, a hypoid rear axle, and front wheel brakes. Also new in 1930 was a four-speed transmission and shatterproof, laminated windows.

Packards were available with a number of standard bodies styles constructed by the factory or with 15 different custom body designs by coachworks such as Brewster and Sons, Murphy, Le Baron, and Dietrich. Sixteen body colors were options, but any color the customer wanted could be had at no additional cost. In 1930, Packard built 6,200 Model 740s and 1,789 Model 745s.

This Model 745 Packard is essentially unrestored, although it has been repainted an reupholstered. It was donated to the Crawford Museum in 1977 by Dr. and Mrs. Hudson Fowler, Jr. The car was such a treasured part of their family that it even appeared on a family Christmas card one year.

Model: 745
Body Style: 4-Passenger Sport Phaeton
Original Factory Price: $4,885
Brake Horsepower: 105
Displacement: 384.8 cubic inches
Bore: 3 1/2 inches
Stroke: 5 inches
Cylinders: 8, in-line
Wheelbase: 145.5 inches
Manufacturer: Packard Motor Car Co.
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA

Donor: Dr. and Mrs. Hudson D. Fowler, Jr.