Vehicle Description
1934 Packard 1101 7 Passenger Touring
In 1935, the Blake Brothers both teenagers at the time, opened
their first ice cream shop in Springfield, Massachusetts and named
it "Friendly." The name was a promise that the shop would be a
friendly place for families to create lasting memories while
enjoying handcrafted ice cream that was made fresh daily. Coming up
with such inventions as the "Fribble", and the take home half
gallon container of ice cream.
For consignment a car with provenance in the form of being owned by
one of the founding brothers of Friendly Ice Cream, Curtis L.
Blake. A long history of the owners of this car is provided, as
well as meticulous documentation for restorations, work done to it
over time, and some interesting factual information regarding the
car. We give you the "Friendly" 1934 Packard.
Exterior
Benefitting from a body off repaint and restoration in 1995-96,
this car still presents very nicely. It comes to us draped in
Packard Blue and has very straight steel panels overall. This
beautiful long 4-door carriage is flanked by very tasteful curving
wheel surrounds complete with dual encased spare tires neatly
tucked into each front fender and connected by a pristine running
board. Nice chrome plating exists on the massive grille fitted with
the Packard Goddess of Speed hood ornament, big headlights, bumpers
and a rear trunk rack, and is not marred or dimpled. The trunk rack
has an actual trunk which has a cover for it. An equally long cloth
convertible top showing in tan, moves up and down effortlessly, and
has a glass rear window. A note to the wheels, which are
contrasting yellow painted steel, and have very rare chromed
Packard Eight center caps. These caps are only known to exist on 3
cars throughout the world, and two of them are in India, one over
there only had 1 with wheel that has it. This car has all 6 of
these caps. Perfect wide white sidewall tires frame these wonderful
wheels and caps.
Interior
Maintaining most of its original charm, a smoked brown bench, which
has been recovered in leather runs the length between the black
leather door panels, that appear original with their nice patina.
The rear seat was recovered in 1952 when Mr. Blake owned the car
and is in tan vinyl and blue leather with white piping. Two folding
jump seats in brown leather magically pop out from within the back
of the front seat. Upfront a beautiful burl dash with a center
mounted instrument cluster displays beautifully. The huge steering
wheel is original and has been restored. Nice carpet upfront in
dark brown, and a lighter brown for the back seat.
Drivetrain
As with the exterior the large engine which is amazingly a 325ci
inline 8 cylinder and produces 120hp, presents also as a work of
art, much like the exterior. Everything has been restored, and
reams of paperwork accompany this car explaining all the work that
has been done over the years. This Inline 8 has a 2-barrel
carburetor, and a 3-speed manual transmission.
Undercarriage
Beautifully preserved and has aged like a fine Chambourcin wine,
all expertly maintained, and showing no rust of any concern
anywhere. Frame is very sturdy, and body hangers look almost like
new.
Drive-Ability
We had the pleasure of driving this fine automobile and can report
that it is very smooth, with seemingly no mechanical problems we
could perceive. The car has a silky ride, and transmission a
wonderful sound of the gears smoothly getting you up to speed.
With an interesting history, and very well documented since the
Blake ownership, this stunning 7-passenger convertible gives us a
glimpse of life of this who were most likely listed within the
Social Register. Be assured that with yearly trips to Hyannis Port
for summering, the legs of this car can certainly be stretched.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 450 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.