1939 Packard 120 Opera Coupe - Homecoming
January 23, 2002
At 9:30 a.m. the Packard becomes officially mine when I take possession of the title. Twenty-five miles and twenty minutes later I am back at the bus maintenance and paint barn where it has been stored for the past few years. Good friends and fellow car enthusiasts Richard Hall and Ken Talley are due about 10 a.m. with Ken's truck and enclosed trailer to take the car home for me. There are only a couple of problems. First of all, the right rear tire isn't just flat, it is missing pieces, and the good spare inside turns out to be on an incorrect wheel! Happily, yet another spare with a good tire is in the storage barn, so I have the car rolling before Richard and Ken arrive.
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The next problem is a little bigger (right photo) - about the size of the bus which is blocking the main doors and ramp to the open area. If you look close, you can see that it has been prepped for paint, which might have made the owners a bit reluctant to move it out into the rain. However, Ken looked even closer and noted that it was missing the engine! That left only one option - pulling the car out the rear access door which had no ramp, a very tight turn around the bus, and a foot-high lip/drop off to maneuver.
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The solution came in the form of a rolling hydraulic jack to scoot the rear end out and some massive wooden ramps scraped up from somewhere in the terminal by Richard and Ken. Hooking up a chain also scavenged by the dynamic duo to the back of my truck, we pulled the car out tail first. Over the ledge, over the ramps, out of the building, down the HILL! STOP! IT'S ON A HILL! Despite Richard's selfish refusal to throw himself between the Packard and an inconvenient fence, the car survived without a scratch. It was the first time the car has been moved in years. We used the truck to tow the car out of the compound and out to where Ken had parked his truck and trailer.
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Ken's trailer is a very fancy enclosed rig, complete with winch. He was especially gracious about bringing it out in the bad weather, considering the fact that he had to remove his 1939 Mercury Coupe from it first! However, he tended to be camera shy, always ducking down or turning away whenever the camera was around. Therefore I only have a profile view (above left). Would you like egg with those hams? (above right) Richard guides the car into place while Jeff Locke provides helpful advice - "Don't let the car run over your foot," and "Try not to go through the front of the trailer."
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Richard (above right) orchestrated the move, making sure the car was properly tied down. With the car loaded, Ken brought the rig around to the storage container (red box in the back) where the rest of the car was stored. We loaded up the major sheet metal in the bed and the upholstery in the front of the trailer, and put the wood burled dash and window frames in my truck. Then it was off to lunch, and then to my garage.
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Home at last - A
low-hanging tree branch prevented Ken from backing his trailer up the
driveway, which meant we had to figure a way to get the car up my
driveway. As I positioned my truck for another tow job, a couple of
other club members showed up to look at my Nash Metropolitan - talk about
good timing! (at least for us). The extra manpower was enough
to roll the car up to the garage with no trouble.
All had the good grace not to laugh at me, or mutter condolences at the project I am undertaking. I went back that afternoon with best bud Chip Woolford for another load of parts, and still have at least two more loads to go. Stay tuned for more details. |