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Rob ~ Robert C. McLellan, gave me some interesting information regarding a car that I have never heard of before, and perhaps many of you have not either. It is the Packard Pan American 1 Show Car and there were 6 of them reportedly made. 4 are accounted for. Here is what Rob had to say.
"Hello Ray, On Saturday, we had a very enjoyable local AACA luncheon meet and the Thunderbird preformed beautifully. Although the weather looked grim, we had no rain until we got back to the house. About a hundred attended but we had only 10 cars of which four were prewar. The big star was a 1930 Cadillac, with air conditioning!
Did you see the Hemmings blog today? This is a 1952 Packard show car.
Best wishes, Rob"
The following information was received from Leon Dixon, a new user on our Forum and the author of the article in Hemmings. He has given us written permission to post it. His article and the photographs are copyrighted. Here is his commentary on that information posted in Hemmings.
"Hello...
Interesting posting. I'm unsure of the background of this post within the Thunderbird realm, but two things I notice right away:
1.) There appears to be some confusion here about which wire wheel is which in relationship to the information snipped from the Hemmings Daily Blog. The original wire wheels on Packard Pan American #1 were made by Kelsey-Hayes, but as I stated in the Hemmings blog, those wheels were cobbled together just for show purposes. They were never intended for driving. The second set of wheels installed on the car (I see my description posted) were indeed made by Motor Wheel Corporation–as were all factory postwar Packard wire spoke wheels. The description text in your forum here is my writing. And there was never a problem with the wire wheel in terms of it being "another company with a wire wheel problem." The only problem here was that Pan American #1 was originally fitted with a set of wheels that had been quickly cobbled together out of old parts just for the purpose of exhibition at a show, not for actual driving.
2.) I wrote the blog and I provided the photos in the posting.
As for how many Pan Americans are accounted for, that number is four. Since I have been keeping up with them from the time they were new, I don't think anyone else so far knows more.
The 1952 Pan Americans, some say, inspired the look of the rear of the 1955-57 Thunderbird. Some of these early T-Birds as well as the 1958-60 Thunderbirds were seen from time to time with wire spoke wheels. But these were different from the type used on the Pan Americans and other postwar Packards.
The cherry on the cake is that the world's first complete history on the Packard Pan Americans will be available later this month in The Packard Cormorant magazine, which is the glossy publication of The Packard Club. It is the first time ever that the full and accurate history of these cars has been written and published. So this is also a milestone.
Your forum might also find interest in the fact that I have detailed information and photos on the 1960 Thunderbirds made of stainless steel. My information is contrary to popular stories in publications and on the internet. But my information is accurate and came from the people who actually worked on these cars. I have photos in both color and black & white. Some of these were published along with background information in the book, "Creative Industries of Detroit–The Untold Story of Detroit's Secret Concept Car Builder" which is available in major book stores like Barnes & Noble and on Amazon. Or you can order an autographed copy directly from me at $40 + $7.95 postage (via PayPal to my email address)."
"Hello Ray, On Saturday, we had a very enjoyable local AACA luncheon meet and the Thunderbird preformed beautifully. Although the weather looked grim, we had no rain until we got back to the house. About a hundred attended but we had only 10 cars of which four were prewar. The big star was a 1930 Cadillac, with air conditioning!
Did you see the Hemmings blog today? This is a 1952 Packard show car.
Best wishes, Rob"
The following information was received from Leon Dixon, a new user on our Forum and the author of the article in Hemmings. He has given us written permission to post it. His article and the photographs are copyrighted. Here is his commentary on that information posted in Hemmings.
"Hello...
Interesting posting. I'm unsure of the background of this post within the Thunderbird realm, but two things I notice right away:
1.) There appears to be some confusion here about which wire wheel is which in relationship to the information snipped from the Hemmings Daily Blog. The original wire wheels on Packard Pan American #1 were made by Kelsey-Hayes, but as I stated in the Hemmings blog, those wheels were cobbled together just for show purposes. They were never intended for driving. The second set of wheels installed on the car (I see my description posted) were indeed made by Motor Wheel Corporation–as were all factory postwar Packard wire spoke wheels. The description text in your forum here is my writing. And there was never a problem with the wire wheel in terms of it being "another company with a wire wheel problem." The only problem here was that Pan American #1 was originally fitted with a set of wheels that had been quickly cobbled together out of old parts just for the purpose of exhibition at a show, not for actual driving.
2.) I wrote the blog and I provided the photos in the posting.
As for how many Pan Americans are accounted for, that number is four. Since I have been keeping up with them from the time they were new, I don't think anyone else so far knows more.
The 1952 Pan Americans, some say, inspired the look of the rear of the 1955-57 Thunderbird. Some of these early T-Birds as well as the 1958-60 Thunderbirds were seen from time to time with wire spoke wheels. But these were different from the type used on the Pan Americans and other postwar Packards.
The cherry on the cake is that the world's first complete history on the Packard Pan Americans will be available later this month in The Packard Cormorant magazine, which is the glossy publication of The Packard Club. It is the first time ever that the full and accurate history of these cars has been written and published. So this is also a milestone.
Your forum might also find interest in the fact that I have detailed information and photos on the 1960 Thunderbirds made of stainless steel. My information is contrary to popular stories in publications and on the internet. But my information is accurate and came from the people who actually worked on these cars. I have photos in both color and black & white. Some of these were published along with background information in the book, "Creative Industries of Detroit–The Untold Story of Detroit's Secret Concept Car Builder" which is available in major book stores like Barnes & Noble and on Amazon. Or you can order an autographed copy directly from me at $40 + $7.95 postage (via PayPal to my email address)."