1930 Packard Series 745 Deluxe Eight Convertible Sedan

This is a very rare and highly desirable automobile, custom-built by Brewster, best known for coachwork on Rolls-Royce chassis. The original owner is not known, but it was sold in Philadelphia in November of 1930. In 1966, the car joined the Andrew Darling Collection in Minnesota. It was restored in 1970. The car was sold at auction in 1997 to Dr. Glen Hamilton and put on loan to the Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio. John MacArthur purchased the car and it was featured in many concours. The present owner is Steven Schultz of Chicago.

The Packard 745 models were elegant cars that sat atop a 145-inch wheelbase and were excellent specimens to receive custom coachwork. Delicately concealed under its long hood was a 385 cubic-inch eight-cylinder engine that produced over 105 horsepower. The Packard 845 models of 1931 had the hood shortened by five inches and the cowl moved forward. This created more body space but it took away from the long and powerful appearance of the hood.

The Packard cars were catered to the wealthy with many selling for more than the typical house. This 1930 Packard 745 Convertible Sedan with chassis number 182411 is believed to be one of only two ever built. It has coachwork by Brewster & Company, a firm that was well known for its work on Rolls-Royce vehicles. The Brewster Company was formed in 1810 in New Haven Connecticut and created coachwork for carriages. As the automobile grew in popularity, they gradually switched their business to accommodate these changes. By 1905 they were building bodies in New York City. By 1911 they had moved to larger facilities in Long Island City, New York. Three years later the company was working with Rolls-Royce, importing the chassis from England and creating custom designs for its customers. Rolls-Royce bought the company in 1925.

There were ten bodies built bearing the chassis numbers 1030 through 1039. This example shown is 1037. The other surviving example is 1033 which can be found on the west coast of the United States.

In 1995 it earned its CCCA Senior Award with a score of 99 points. It was offered for auction in 2006 at Meadow Brook by RM Auctions. It was estimated to fetch between $175,000 - $225,000. When all was said and done, it had found a new home for $209,000.

By Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2019