|
Beautiful low-mileage car with gorgeous paint, nice chrome, well-preserved original interior, and extensive recent service. New tires and brakes. Powerful, reliable, and easy to drive. Ready to tour.</p><p>This 1940 Packard 120 Touring Sedan has obviously had a great deal of money spent on it recently, the kind of money that is all out of proportion to its very reasonable sticker price. We believe the 51,285 miles shown on the odometer are authentic, so it has obviously led an easy life. It was recently repainted in lovely dark Packard Green, so dark that in most cases it looks black, but in the sun and up close, itandrsquo;s just beautiful. The finish is a very high-gloss single-stage paint, which accurately reproduces the 1940 paint without any metallic flakes or other distractions, so it looks quite correct. We have far more expensive cars in the showroom with paint jobs that arenandrsquo;t this nice. The grille, bumpers, and hood side panels are in excellent shape with almost no evidence of pitting or other issues. The hood ornament is beautifully rendered with crystal clear wings, and the stainless rub strips along the running boards and down the sides of the body shines up beautifully.</p><p>The interior is largely original, again indicative of a car thatandrsquo;s always been prized. The seats might have been re-covered at some point, but it was some time ago and right now everything has a very consistent, all-of-a-piece look thatandrsquo;s very pleasing. The door panels are beautifully preserved and please take a moment to admire the beautiful woodgrained garnish moldings and dashboard, which are all in fantastic condition. The dashboard is very nicely presented with proper woodgrained patterns and plastic knobs that appear to be original but theyandrsquo;re just so nice we think that perhaps theyandrsquo;ve been replacedandmdash;77-year-old plastic never looks this nice. All the gauges appear to be functional and thereandrsquo;s an accessory radio in the center of the dash, although it is missing its buttons. The heater works, the wipers work, and it shifts cleanly using the column-mounted shifter. Thereandrsquo;s also a good-sized trunk with a full-sized spare thatandrsquo;s useful for touring.</p><p>The 282 cubic inch straight-8 is as smooth and torquey as any Packard powerplant of the Classic Era and it moves the 120 with aplomb. Recently and extensively serviced (more than $5000 in receipts are included), it starts easily and runs smoothly with that familiar swell of torque thatandrsquo;s available at almost any speed. The head was removed and the valves were ground, there are new tune-up parts throughout, and the cooling system was serviced, so it runs like a Packard should and never gets fussy. The car has been a reliable tour car for many years and aside from an electric fuel pump for priming, it remains completely unmodified. The engine was detailed a bit during the recent freshening, including Packard Green engine enamel on the head, new hoses and correct clamps, and a few other details that make it look its best. Thereandrsquo;s 30 PSI of warm oil pressure at idle, no smoke from the exhaust, and a general feeling of sturdiness thatandrsquo;s hard to articulate but youandrsquo;ll notice it the moment you hit the starter. This car feels like it could run forever. And with so few miles on the bottom end, there was just no need to go in there beyond dropping the pan to clean it out and install a new gasket.</p><p>The 3-speed manual transmission shifts easily using the column-mounted shifter, which Packard called fingertip control. Thereandrsquo;s a new clutch in there, so itandrsquo;s smooth and effortless and thanks to 4.36 gears out back, itandrsquo;s a very comfortable cruiser around town where the engineandrsquo;s torque can pull it around in high gear, eliminating a lot of shifting. Weandrsquo;ve had it cruising at an indicated 60 MPH and it feels happy, quiet, and comfortable at that speed, making it an
|