The car that marked Packard's pinnacle of aerodynamics, luxury and V12 engine, now up for sale at an exorbitant price

Today, few people remember the American manufacturer Packard, but when its models were produced, they represented the absolute pinnacle of luxury and prestige. Therefore, almost all cars bearing the Packard emblem were fascinating creations in their time. But the car we are talking about today is perhaps the most special in the history of the American brand. And we mean both the model and the actual specimen in the images. We are therefore talking about a Packard Twelve Sport Coupe from 1934, where the name Twelve suggests, of course, a V12 engine under the hood. But this car is much more special than that.

In the 20s and 30s, Packard was in a golden period for brand prestige and engineering consistency of models. At the beginning of the 30s, the current of aerodynamic shapes had gained momentum in Europe, where Tatra had fascinated the world with aerodynamic concepts, launched in 1932-1933, and it was clear that he was preparing an aerodynamic model for 1934, which became the Tatra T77. The Americans, who represented the core of the automotive industry at that time, could not remain indifferent to this trend and quickly understood that aerodynamics can make cars faster, more beautiful and more efficient. Chrysler set to work developing the Airflow, a model it launched in 1934 and which it developed, for the first time, in the wind tunnel. Cadillac had also shown an aerodynamic coupe in 1933, in conceptual form. And Packard was already preparing a new generation of the Twelve model for 1934, and then the designers there thought that they could create aerodynamic variations based on the same body. Those from Packard have contracted the American design house LeBaron, they are also body builders. A sort of early American Zagato, if we will.

Namely, those from LeBaron designed and produced the body of the model that would become the Twelve Sport Coupe, the actual designer being Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky. And the copy we are talking about today is the first Sport Coupe produced among them, which the Packard people prepared and exhibited at the New York Auto Show in 1934, when the car was presented to the public, with its aerodynamic shapes. So, this car is exactly the one that 89 years ago was exhibited at the stand of the New York auto show!

Photo: This Packard at the 1934 New York Auto Show

Before going to the auto show, it was photographed in the halls of the Packard factory, and fortunately those photographs have been preserved in the archives and they also certify the chassis number, 750795, and the engine number on the car that survives to this day, 901-601. And it is curious that, since the work on this copy had started before the presentation of the new generation of Twelve, the chassis from the previous generation was used, which was identical, in fact, on both generations, but also involved small auxiliary changes, which were made to this car immediately after the New York show, in the factory premises. The car was then registered in the name of the factory, namely the Packard factory as its first owner, and it was assigned the qualification Special Custom Order, which meant that personalized work, manual, within a special program that was also available to customers. A kind of Porsche Manufaktur of today, if we will, except that here was the year 1934!

And the even more curious part is that this model ended, in fact, the special customization program of those from Packard. Later Packard replaced it with a more standardized list of options, but you couldn't order everything so customized anymore, so the height of luxury and customization was on this Packard Twelve Sport Coupe, which was also the height of aerodynamic shapes at Packard.

The engine under the hood is a 7.3-liter V12 that develops 160 hp. Again, it marked a time when Packard V12s were at their peak, although a year later a 7.7-litre 175 hp engine was launched, identical in construction to this one, only with an aluminum cylinder head being different. It was a huge, purring engine that provided the acoustic and dynamic complement to this car's status.

Well, as fascinating as this car and this model is, only 4 Twelve Sport Coupes were produced in history! Only four! And the car in the pictures is the first of the 4, as I said, the one with the most special and documented history, even though it was originally owned by the factory.

All the further history of this specimen is equally documented, appearing periodically through magazine articles, and always being held in the collections of people who knew the value of this car. In 1988, for example, the car also appeared at the Pebble Beach elegance contest in California. And every time this Packard was talked about as one of the most fascinating surviving Packards!

Therefore, it is not surprising that a car so rare, so significant in what Packard meant, with such a documented and unique history of this specimen, will cost a lot. The car will be exhibited at an auction in the US this weekend, and modest estimates say that it will sell for around 2.3-3.0 million dollars. But, being so special, it has chances to be sold much more expensive than that!