1930 Packard Series 740 Custom Eight

The Great Depression of the 1930s tightened its grip on America and the automobile industry, and Wall Street crashed and taken everyone's money with it. The future looked bleak and businesses were closing. The U.S. automobile industry was particularly hit hard, and after a decade of growth during the roaring twenties, cars began to backlog and linger in the parking lots of factories. Some of America's best car builders were out of business before the Depression was over. Packard struggled and managed to outlast the depression, being one of the few luxury car manufacturers to endure.

To help weather the Great Depression and to market their product to a wide audience, Packard developed a lower-priced Light Eight, while its polar opposite, the new Twin Six V12, was aimed at the financial elite. Both were introduced as Ninth Series 1932 models.

Wearing designs by Ray Dietrich, the Seventh Series Packard models were introduced on August 29th of 1929, on the heels of its most successful year 1929. They were lower with sleeker lines and flowing front fenders, emblematic of the Classic Era. Notable stylistic changes included new headlamps and the relocation of the lights from the cowl to the front fenders. Most Packards were production cars, but the catalog included a wide range of custom bodies tailored to meet the demands and needs of their wealthy clientele. Alvan Macauley, president of Packard Motor Company from 1916 until 1939, had advocated bringing custom coachbuilding in-house and 1931 was the year his plan was implemented. Despite the company's success with providing high-quality chassis from custom coachbuilders, Macauley believed that Packard's body-building capabilities, craftsmanship, and quality were on-par, if not better than, independent coachbuilders. Macauley hoped that better coordination between chassis construction and custom coachbuilding would bring economies of scale, increasing efficiency, and operating margins.

1930 was the first time Packard did not build its own carburetor, instead, it employed a Detroit Lubricator updraft unit to feed its eight-cylinder engine. The three-speed gearbox received a new low gear, creating a smooth-starting four-speed. The slightly sloped grille received thermostatically controlled shutters, five more lubrication points were added to the 1930 models, and cooling was improved by a redesigned water pump with dual fan belts. Packard claimed that the standard Bijur lubricator dash control with its 'Pull Daily' handle accomplished the work of '43 men with 43 oil cans.'

The 1930 Packard 740 Custom Eight had a wheelbase that measured 140.5 inches. Power was from a 385 cubic-inch L-head inline eight-cylinder engine rated at 106 horsepower. It had a four-speed manual transmission, solid front and live rear axles, and semi-elliptic leaf springs. Four-wheel mechanical drum brakes were located in the front and back. Bodystyles included Phaetons, roadsters, coupes, and sedans. The popularity of open cars was beginning to decline due to the price of closed cars becoming much more reasonable. Standard equipment included dual mount spares on the 745 and optional on the 740.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2019