1940 Packard One-Ten Station Wagon

Packard's Fifteenth Series in 1937 introduced a new type of automobile to the Packard lineup. It was a six-cylinder model which was 'downmarket' to the traditional Packard persona. The Packard Company was finding new ways to cope with the new economy and attempting to stimulate sales in the post-Great Depression marketplace. In 1939 the wagons first appeared in Packard catalogs. They were considerably late to this design, as many other marques such as Ford, had been using wood-bodied cars for many years, most notably on their commercial line of vehicles.

For 1939, Packard sold a total of 500 wagons. In the early part of 1940, they began buying station wagon bodies from Hercules Body Company of Evansville, Indiana. The Hercules Company was a very established company by this point in history; their initial trade was as a carriage builders. In 1912 they began building body kits that could convert a Model T Ford roadster into a pickup. Their talents were called upon by many other automakers including Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Dodge.

The 1940 wood-bodied Packards were made of ash frames with birch panels. At an additional cost, Mahogany panels could be ordered. For 1940, Packard supplied 358 Hercules bodies for the combined 110 and 120 model lines. The One-Ten models had a 122-inch wheelbase with a six-cylinder engine while the One-Twenty's had a 127-inch wheelbase and an eight-cylinder engine. The body designs were identical with the extra length on the One-Twenty being utilized by the larger engine and the firewall.

This car was delivered in May of 1940 by the Boston Packard dealer and by the mid-1970s had moved into the care of a California resident. It was treated to a restoration by the owner. Upon completion, it was placed in a specially built-alcove in the owner's living room. It appeared on the cover of Packards International magazine in 1989, which is one of its only showings. It later passed to another owner who had it kept in a climate-controlled storage area and treated to another restoration in 2006-2007.

Less than a dozen Packard Station Wagons are known to be in existence with one or two in the condition of this car. In 2007 it was brought to the Gooding & Company auction held in Pebble Beach, Ca where it was estimated to sell for $200,000 - $260,000. Those estimates were not achieved, but the lot was still sold. Including the buyer's premium, the lot was sold for $181,500.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2008