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HomePick of the DayGrand classic Packard Phaeton

Grand classic Packard Phaeton

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For those who’ve always desired a classic pre-war luxury car but were scared off by the lofty values, the Pick of the Day offers one of the greatest names in vintage motoring for a relatively attainable price.

The 1929 Packard 640 Super Eight Phaeton is one of those grand classics from a bygone era that still turns heads and excites enthusiasts today.  The four-door convertible has dual windshields with wind wings, side-mount spares, period running lights and a “sliding boy” mascot mounted on the radiator cap.

Packard
The fabric top provides minimal foul-weather protection, but certainly looks cool

“The older restoration has held up very well and the Packard can now be driven on any current tour with confidence,” according to the private seller in St. Louis, Missouri, advertising the Packard on ClassicCars.com. “The straight-eight engine performs extremely well, as expected of a Packard.”

The Phaeton was originally sold new in Pennsylvania to a Mr. Fairchild, and was restored in 1964 by his son, the seller says in the ad.  A “well-known collector in Indiana” bought the car in 1994, and the current owner purchased it in 2014.

Packard
Both windshields have wind wings

“From 2014 until the present time, it has been maintained and upgraded by restorer Bob McKeown in Ohio,” the owner says.  “The focus was to make it ‘tour-ready’ and retain the charm of the older restoration.

“Items replaced included the wiring harness, heavy-duty battery cables, added turn signals in the running lights, a rebuilt water pump, radiator, etc. etc. “

Packard
The simple dashboard looks nicely preserved

The 1929 Packards were noted as substantially improved mechanically over previous model years, and maintained the brand’s reputation for style, comfort and durability.  These was expensive luxury vehicles, and after the 1929 stock market crash and resulting Depression, Packards struggled to survive along with other high-end vehicles.

This Phaeton looks very nice in the photos with the ad, and apparently is holding up well after its long-ago restoration.  The seller notes that “a personal inspection will also disclose how well the paint and chrome have been maintained over the years.”

The asking price of $120,000 seems fair enough for this 89-year-old beauty.

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.

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Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen
Bob Golfen is a longtime automotive writer and editor, focusing on new vehicles, collector cars, car culture and the automotive lifestyle. He is the former automotive writer and editor for The Arizona Republic and SPEED.com, the website for the SPEED motorsports channel. He has written free-lance articles for a number of publications, including Autoweek, The New York Times and Barrett-Jackson auction catalogs. A collector car enthusiast with a wide range of knowledge about the old cars that we all love and desire, Bob enjoys tinkering with archaic machinery. His current obsession is a 1962 Porsche 356 Super coupe.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Alright Bob you’re capturing my interest again. It’s nice to see accolades given to real rolling works of art. The prices of these cars are not far from the cost of some modern-day plastic. Besides the fact I don’t know of any modern-day car you can cross your leg in.

  2. Packard, Peerless, Pierce-Arrow; out of the pre-war "big three", it’s always been Packard for me… these were classics when they rolled off the line. 90 years later, I think they hold their mystique and aura far better than Peerless or Pierce-Arrow, as Packard built a rep for bulletproof perfection, where a well-heeled owner could enjoy his automobile without the aid of a chauffeur- or could rub his neighbor’s noses in the fact that his Packard always started and always ran, limited only by the tires of the day.
    Beautiful in blue. I’d love to have the money to drive this daily, because that’s what it was made for…sigh.

  3. Bob,

    A lesson in definitions…

    A Phaeton has side curtains and no roll up windows; therefore, it will never be a convertible.

    A convertible has roll up windows; therefore,it will never be a phaeton.

    Pass this on – these definitions are being lost to history.

    Thanks….

    M.R. Simpers
    Cocoa, Florida
    member – Packard Club (1941 Convertible Coupe) and Model "A" Ford Club of America (1928 Phaeton)

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