1931 Packard Model 845

Packard's Eighth Series chassis was introduced in late 1930 as both the 840 and 845 DeLuxe Eights. Most of the 1,053 examples of 845 DeLuxe eights received formal factory coachwork and 94 were delivered to custom coachbuilders as bare chassis. LeBaron built approximately 50 examples of the Convertible Coupe wearing a design by Hugo Pfau, with the vast majority applied to Packard's 845 Deluxe chassis. The Packard company was so impressed with the design that it was virtually copied for use on their 1932-1934 factory-built convertible coupes. Other coachbuilders included Rollston, Brewster, Murphy, Derham, Waterhouse, Dietrich, and Locke.

The Packard 840 had a 140-inch wheelbase while the Packard 845 was longer, at 145 inches. Changes to the design for 1931 included the cowl being moved forward, resulting in more body space for increasingly luxurious coach-built bodies.

The eight series, eight-cylinder aluminum side valve, L-head engine, displaced 385 cubic inches with fuel supplied to a carburetor manufactured for Packard by the Detroit Lubricator company and developed 120 horsepower at 3200 RPM. Fuel is delivered by a mechanical fuel pump, which replaced the previous vacuum tank. The engine was large, silent, well-balanced, and smooth with nine main bearings and backed by a four-speed manual transmission. The chassis had Bijur automatic lubrication, four-wheel mechanically-actuated drum brakes, and a solid front axle with leaf springs and a live rear axle setup with leaf springs.

In 1931, Packard pioneered a system called Ride Control, which made the hydraulic shocks adjustable from inside the car.

There were two body styles for the Packard 845 in 1931. There were a total of twenty-three body styles overall, with one for the Model 826, eleven for the 833, and nine for the 840. There were 12,105 Standard Eights and 3,345 Deluxe Eights sold during 1931. These low figures are due to the Great Depression which crippled the luxury car segment. The 845 sedan-limousines originally carried a sticker price of $4285 but were reduced to $3600, another example of the hard times.

The 840 and 845 had been consolidated into one line and were available on either a 140.5-inch or 145.5-inch wheelbase. The larger wheelbase was reserved for the seven-passenger sedans and limousines. The fenders were long and sweeping which had been seen in the prior year on the 745 DeLuxe Eight.

The Deluxe Eight was Packard's most expensive and exclusive automobile in 1931, and despite the Great Depression, the company was forced to answer the call of the cylinder wars, spurred on by the mighty Duesenberg, and the sixteen-cylinder Cadillac and Marmon. Packard introduced the Twin Six in 1932, with prices beginning at $3,650. Peerless production ceased in 1932 and by 1938, Franklin, Marmon, Ruxton, Stearns-Knight, Stutz, Duesenberg, and Pierce-Arrow had all closed. Packard's legacy would continue through the mid-1950s.

by Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2006