1930 Packard Series 733 Standard Eight Roadster

The seventh series of Packards were introduced on September 12th of 1929. October 29th was Black Tuesday - the day of the stock market crash. Despite this, Auto Sales had been prosperous in 1929, setting a new record for the industry, with some 4.4 million passenger cars being sold.

The seventh series of Packards were given a new look, courtesy of designer Raymond Dietrich, who had taken the theme of the 1929 Deluxe Eight and applied it to the entire 1930 line. The side lamps were moved from the cowl to the wings and there were new headlamps.

The Packard sales experienced only a modest decrease in the first quarter of 1930. By the time the model year ended the following August, sales were off by a third. The Standard Eight cars had better sales than the Senior Deluxe and Custom Eight, in part due to their lower prices.

This particular Series 733 Roadster has the standard folding and opening windshield, dual side-mounted spares, Pilot Ray driving lights, side curtains, and a luggage rack. The engine is a 319.2 cubic-inch L-head eight-cylinder unit offering 90 horsepower. There is a four-speed manual transmission and four-wheel mechanical drum brakes.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2015