To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The Guyton
Collection event, 4 - 5 May 2019.
- Rare body style with plenty of room for one's family and
friends
- An ideal tour and CARavan automobile
- Older restoration in attractive color scheme
- Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Full Classic
"Ask the Man Who Owns One." For most of Packard's 58-year life, the
slogan was an integral part of the company's existence. No mere
cocky catchphrase; it was simply the automaker's best advice to its
customers. Packard buyers were almost religiously faithful to what
they drove, as they appreciated the company's unique combination of
slow but steady refinement, high-quality conservative engineering,
and unparalleled standards of craftsmanship and construction. If
one needed to know why he or she should buy a Packard, all they had
to do was ask someone who already had one.
The company's 1935 line offered something for every taste. Most
prominently presented was a wide range of eight-cylinder models,
from the new, medium-priced One Twenty to the vast and luxurious
Super Eight. In between was the so-called "standard" Eight, which
boasted a nearly identical range of both styles to its larger
sibling, but it came on a slightly shorter wheelbase and with a
130-hp, 320-cu. in. engine. As the Eight and Super Eight were
nearly indistinguishable to the casual observer, it is a surprise
that the Eight outsold the Super Eight by a factor of three to
one.
Fred Guyton's Eight is a rare seven-passenger Business Sedan model
on the 139-in. wheelbase 1202 chassis, identified by its original
firewall tag as having been delivered new on 26 March 1935, by the
Portland Branch of the Packard Motor Car Company of Boston. Mr.
Guyton acquired it in 1994 from Whitney Miller and Robert C. Gordon
of Mission Hills, Kansas. Invoices in the file indicate that the
car was partially repainted and mechanically serviced shortly
before its acquisition, but it has otherwise a satisfyingly
original appearance, including the factory wool broadcloth
interior, woodgrain trim, and carpeting; there is some moth damage
to the rear compartment, but the upholstery is still serviceable.
The window glass appears to be largely original and is delaminating
in the rear quarters. At the time of cataloguing, the car had
recorded 56,347 miles. It is accompanied by a small file of
invoices and documentation, and a reprinted instruction manual.
This is a handsome and unusual Packard, and with some
recommissioning would be an interesting CARavan automobile for a
new owner, with high style, fine American quality, and charming
originality in equal measure.To view this car and others currently
consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/gc19.
