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Before Miller bought the Packard, it hadn't been driven in almost two decades and was up on blocks in a garage.
A winged 'goddess of speed' hood ornament adorns the Packard roadster at Classic Car Center of Spotsylvania.
Marty Miller, co-owner of Classic Car Center of Spotsylvania, sits in a 1932 Packard coupe that the company recently restored. |
ASK GARLAND GENTRY
The two principles at the Classic Car Center off Tidewater Trail in Spotsylvania County mention the lines of the large, luxurious roadster, "each one blending into the next."
They note that the car was made with the best of materials, had engineering decades ahead of its time and an art deco style that made it look perfect with Clark Gable or Jean Harlow at the wheel.
"Or you could just boil it all down and say that the Packard of the early '30s was the American automotive equivalent of the Rolls Royce," said Miller.
That is why the 1932 Packard Coupe Roadster that belonged
And why its recent restoration will get a special reception for invited guests tonight at the Classic Car Center, where the car will be for the near future.
Miller, who started the center with Gentry several years ago to store, sell and restore classic cars, said he learned a while back that the Packard might be for sale.
"It was such a rare car, with
Miller, who personally purchased the car with 77,924 miles on it for a sum he didn't care to share, said the plan is to keep the car at the center for at least six months or so.
"We'd like to give folks a chance to come by and see it, use it for advertising the business and maybe to pick up the occasional client or go to car shows," said Miller. "We put our logo on it and are proud to have it be a very visible symbol of our business."
Miller and Gentry said Sale, who bought the convertible with a rumble seat from its original owner in 1966, did some impressive restoration when he had the car.
"He repainted it himself and had the interior redone in the 1960s," said Gentry, who said the work limited the restoration he and the car center's staff needed to do when they got the vehicle
It still presented a bit of
For six weeks, the car center staff let oil soak in the engine to get it to the point where the long, in-line, eight-cylinder engine--110 horsepower with a displacement of 320 cubic inches--would even think about turning over.
From there, they gave
"In all of this, we replaced or redid only what was absolutely necessary to get the car back to running again, to save as much of the original car as we could," said Gentry.
He noted that the "original crankshaft, and the original bearings, are the ones the car came with almost 77 years ago."
Though the car was in need of considerable cleaning and buffing, it was an easy decision to leave on the vehicle the original chrome on the big grille, headlights and horns.
Ditto for the chrome on
"It's typical of those sort of paint jobs, with tiny hairline cracks all through it, but it has a great patina and look that fits the car of this period," said Gentry, who was tickled to find an original 1932 license tag to go on the car.
Miller pointed out a number of small, intricate details: from locks and straps on the wire-wheeled spare tires to special Packard step plates and even a hinged metal rack for the Packard-brand trunks that stored items safely behind the rumble seat.
Miller says he will probably be tempted to hang on
But he said just having
"Even on the worst day here, when things weren't going right, just walking out back to look at this car and its restoration would put a smile on our faces," Miller said of the whole staff. "It's why we're in this business."
classiccarcenter.net or call 540/370-4474Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com
