Ask The Man Who Owns One-Pt. 3

Packard, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I've shown you some later Packards a couple of times in the past, but they were usually pretty beat up. I spotted this one at a car show a few weeks ago. It's a '55 Patrician sedan, the first year of the Richard Teague-styled cars. The last of the real Packards, they're some of my favorite cars.

Ultramatic

Fading Glory, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A 1952 or 3 Packard sedan. I think it's a 300 or maybe a Patrician, but there were no badges to suggest this. It was sporting an Ultramatic automatic transmission, though.

I found this car in a tiny rural town in Illinois, parked in front of a rundown repair shop amidst a complex of grain silos. I don't know how long it sat there but I went by a few weeks later and it was gone. I've said it before, it's best to just stop and look when you get the chance.

Ask The Man Who Owned One

Fading Glory, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Once more, a rusty Packard. Sadly, this is an eulogy of sorts. This car, and several others we've seen have been removed from their rural location, to points unknown.

I'd stumbled across this collection by accident-railroad tracks run very close to this property, and I was driving over a bridge to cross the tracks, when I looked off to the side and spotted one of the cars. Being an inquisitive boy, I pulled a uey and went back.

What looked like an old lawn mower repair shop turned out to have several outbuildings, and a big open space with a bunch of old cars in it. Not just old cars, but old classic cars-rare ones, too. In addition to this Packard (a badly accident damaged Four Hundred), were a Studebaker GT Hawk (with the R2 engine option), a Kaiser Manhattan, four Crosleys, four more Packards hidden in the bushes, and probably a couple of cars I can't remember.

Anyway, I made several trips to this location, and shot hundreds of frames of the various cars, in winter, summer, with different lenses, TtV, the works. I found it endlessly inspiring.

It's gone now. I last visited in April, and got some good stuff. The buildings are empty now-some even open to the elements-and there's nothing to tell what once stood in the weeds. It's almost like I imagined it.

Through the Viewfinder Tuesday!

Packard, originally uploaded by William 74.

I love the effect I get shooting through this vintage, late '40s Spartus Full-Vue. The frosted glass viewfinder lends it a lot of grain, and the fact that it's a reflection adds another layer of...I don't know what. Distortion? Distance? It reminds me of old kinescopes of sporting events being watched on a vintage Philco. Very fuzzy and low contrast.

I don't know what event this would be, though. This is an old, rusty, damaged Packard Four Hundred, a '55 I guess.

Ask The Man Who Owns One-Pt. 2

Packard, originally uploaded by William 74.

I've shown you this car before-it's a '55 or '56 Packard 400, sitting in a backyard doing nothing much. I ventured back to it's hiding place, mainly to see more of it since the grass and weeds that grow around it are dead or dormant right now (plus there are fewer bugs!). I was pleased-and saddened-to note that this car is really, really complete. There are a few bits of trim missing, but all the windows are up and sealed, the interior is all there and not chewed up by rodents, and the side I couldn't see over the summer isn't caved in by old accident damage. In short, it looks like the old Packard was just driven-or maybe pushed, maybe the engine is bad- to it's resting spot and parked up.

This saddens me. I like these cars. They look clean and classy, and this one would have been stunning in black and white two tone, with a red interior. And here it sits, going to ground.

Clipped Redux

Clipped, originally uploaded by William 74.

Another day, another sad, decrepit old car. I've visited the Clipper a few times, and shown it here at least once. I can't help but be a little sad at the sight of it, covered in dead leaves and mold, slowly going to ground.