Vehicle Description
1940 Packard 120 Convertible coupe brought to you by Zoom Classic
Cars. From a Private Collection. Burgundy with brown leather
interior in great condition. Tan Convertible top. L Head 8 cylinder
engine and manual transmission. NIce paint, chrome in great
condition, clean and solid undercarriage. Runs and drives well.
HISTORY OF THE PACKARD 120: The Packard One-Twenty (also One Twenty
and 120) was produced from 1935 to 1937 and from 1939 through the
1941 model years. The One-Twenty model designation was replaced by
the Packard Eight model name during model years 1938 and 1942. The
One-Twenty is an important car in Packard's history because it
signified the first time that Packard entered into the highly
competitive mid-priced eight cylinder car market. Packard
enthusiasts view the production of the One-Twenty and the
Six/One-Ten models as the start of Packard losing its hold on the
market as the premier American luxury automotive brand. The
introduction of the One-Twenty (and later the Six/One-Ten models)
was a necessary move to keep Packard in business during the final
years of the Great Depression. The reason the company decided to
forgo the development of a companion brand name to sell the less
expensive models may have been linked to its single production line
capability at its Grand Avenue manufacturing plant as much as to
the expense of launching a new brand of automobile. By making the
One-Twenty a Packard, the car could be brought to market quickly,
and would afford buyers the cachet of owning a Packard. This car
introduced the independent front suspension to the Packard line. As
could be expected from this prestigious firm, the design had a
special characteristic unique to Packard. The so-called
"Safe-T-Flex" suspension was a unequal upper and lower A-arm type
with the largest possible lower A-arm composed of two different
arms bolted together at a ninety-degree angle. The support arm was
a heavy steel forging reaching a few degrees forward of lateral
from the front wheel support to as close to the centerline of the
car as is practicable. An integral pad socketed the helical spring,
whose upper end reached a high frame cross-beam. A tubular, hence
lighter, steel torque arm was bolted to the support arm somewhat
inboard of the wheel to permit a sufficient steering arc. It
reached the frame nearly at the dashboard with a spherical rubber
bearing. The upper A-arm was conventionally welded and oriented
parallel to the lower one. Between it and the frame was an
old-fashioned horizontal shock absorber whose two cylinders were
side by side. The support arm carried all the load; the torque arm
carried the accelerating and decelerating torque; the upper A-arm
controlled the camber. Advantages claimed for the system included
superior maintenance of wheel alignment from the wide spread of the
lower A-arm, a permanent fixing of the caster angle, and an
increased percentage of the braking force transmitted to the frame
through the torque arm. In its introduction year, the Packard
One-Twenty was available in a broad array of body styles including
two and four-door sedans, convertible and Club Coupe. The
One-Twenty was powered by Packard's L-Head Eight cylinder engine
producing 110 bhp (82 kW) at 3850 rpm. Prices for the car ranged
from $980 for the three-passenger business coupe to $1,095 for the
Touring Sedan. Introduced in January 1935, the car was an immediate
success with consumers with Packard producing 24,995 One-Twentys
compared to 7,000 of all other type Packards for the year. Call
Jeff for more information on this beautiful Packard and to inquire
about other cars in the collection. Thanks for looking.
