Packard introduced its Sixteenth Series Super Eight and Twelve models in September 1937. Most changes were cosmetic including more rounded fenders and veed windshields on many bodies. Packard sales totaled 48,682 units for 1938, less than 1937, but still the best showing of all the independents. Just 556 V-12 models would bear 1938 registration. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who favored Packard's, got a new custom-built one enabling him easier access necessitated by polio. His car included something revolutionary at the time - air conditioning.

This open Packard without windows features custom coachwork by the Derham Company of Rosemont, Pennsylvania. The Derham Body Company would become America's longest surviving coachbuilder producing custom bodies from 1887 to 1974. Derham had a reputation for building fine, enclosed carriages and coaches during the horse-drawn era and the company quite naturally, turned to automobile bodies after the turn of the century.

This car was built for Matthew McCloskey, a prominent Philadelphia construction mogul who was appointed ambassador to Ireland by President Kennedy. This vehicle was built on Packard's 139-inch wheelbase chassis and powered by the 473.3 cubic-inch Packard Twelve that developed 175 horsepower.