1931 Packard 845 Deluxe Eight,385 CID inline eight-cylinder engine

Description

1931 Packard 845 DeLuxe Eight Sedan

“Ask the man who owns one.” Will you be the next owner who fields questions from curious passers-by and onlookers about what kind of car you’re driving? You will if you buy this elegant, classic and stately 1931 Packard 845 DeLuxe Eight Sedan presented by MotoeXotica.

Delivered on September 24, 1930 to Stuyvesant Motor Sales in Kingston, New York from Packard’s factory in Detroit, Michigan, this fine, two-toned sedan still impresses with its length and bulk. The car’s beige and gray paint is in fair condition and shows cracking upon close inspection but all of the glass panels clear and intact and are in good shape for being 85 years old. The foglights on the front fender are inoperative but the fog light lenses and car’s other lights are in one piece and haze-free. Rolling on eight-lug, color-keyed, solid steel wheels, nestled within Lester high-pressure, whitewall tires plus there are two spare tires and wheels riding shotgun on the front fenders, ahead of the running boards, which are still in good shape. All of the body panels are straight and in good shape but the rubberized fabric on the roof may need to be refreshed. The engine bay is clean and the battery is in good shape. The bumpers are in good shape and there is an external storage trunk perched above the rear bumper.

Inside, the plush brown front bench seat greets the driver after he opens the door. The carpet and headliner could use some attention and the wipers are inoperative but dashboard, steering wheel, door panels, mirrors and shifter are in good shape. The car has no radio but all of the gauges work as designed. Behind the front bench are two “jump seats” that fold down for additional rear seating.

The Packard Eight was a luxury automobile produced between 1930 and 1938. Offered in three models, the Standard, Custom and DeLuxe, it was powered by a low-compression aluminum-head L-head inline eight (hence the name) producing 100 to 120 horsepower, depending on the model. Advertisements bragged the engine “floated” on new rubber mounts. The Eight offered optional (no extra cost) four-speed manual transmission. Like other Packard’s of this era, it featured Ride Control, a system of dash-adjustable hydraulic shock absorbers. The Eight also featured automatic chassis lubrication and “shatterproof” glass. The Packard Eight used a very rare swivel accelerator pedal, patented by Pat Au back in the early 1900s. Production of the DeLuxe Eight was less than 10 cars per day and it was available in 11 body styles.

By maintaining a single line and interchangeability between models, Packard kept its costs down compared to Cadillac and Lincoln. Packard did not change cars as often as other manufacturers did. Rather than introducing new models annually, Packard began using its own “Series” formula for differentiating its model changeovers in 1923. New model series did not debut on a strictly annual basis, with some series lasted nearly two years while others went as short as seven months. In the long run, though, Packard averaged around one new series per year.

The Eighth Series Packards were introduced on August 14, 1930 with the Standard Eight engine displacing 319.2 cubic-inches and producing 100 horsepower. The DeLuxe Models had a 384.8 cubic-inch engine and 120 horsepower. DeLuxe Eights rode on two wheelbase sizes, a 140.5-inch for the open and five-passenger closed cars as well as the Individual Custom models and 145.5 for the seven-passenger sedan and sedan-limousine. The 1931 Packard’s featured larger hubcaps, deeper fender lines, thicker running boards, modified steering wheels and bumpers; different from the 1930 model year. The gearbox was a four-speed manual and had a live axle with semi-elliptical leaf spring suspension and four-wheel mechanically-actuated brake drums.

The Eight was factory priced between $2,425 and $2,885 for the Standard, $3,190 to $3,885 for the Custom and $4,585 to $5,350 for the DeLuxe. The five-passenger sedan was Packard’s best-selling model for years, helping Packard become the best-selling luxury brand between 1924 and 1930, as well as selling almost twice as many abroad as any other marque priced more than $2,000.

Raymond Dietrich was the individual responsible for designing some of the great Packard masterpieces. He began working for the Packard Automobile Company in 1925 under the direction of Alvan Macauley, the company president at that time. This 1931 Packard Eighth Series was one of the last designs Dietrich created for Packard. Due to reorganization and management changes, he resigned in September of 1930, the same month this car was delivered to New York.

The Packard 845 was available as a sedan or sedan-limousine body style, and though it was taken off the market a few years later, the hefty markup and matching luxury style were well worth it for the buyers, who still turned out to purchase the vehicle, which was reliable and truly well-built. The Waterhouse Coachbuilding Company contributed the body, but though the company itself had a short life-span, it earned a legendary reputation in the luxury car market. After building nearly 300 custom body styles for several car manufacturing companies, it discontinued the service in 1933.

From a former Packard TV advertisement:

Ride, ride, ride, ride, ride along/ in your Packard, in your Packard/ In a Packard you’ve got the world on a string./ In a Packard car you feel like a king/ Ride, ride, ride, ride, ride along/ in your Packard, what fun!/ And ask the man, just ask the man/ the lucky man who owns one!

Competing 1931 models to this Packard include Buick’s Club Sedan, Cadillac’s Town Sedan, Chrysler’s Imperial Straight Eight Sedan and Pierce-Arrow’s Model 41 Sedan.

Current mileage on the odometer shows 46,477 miles. It is sold as is, where is on a clean and clear, mileage exempt Texas title. GET OUT AND DRIVE!!!

VIN: 188694

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