Classic Wheels Spotlight: 1932 Packard 901

Gary Barber says from a young age he has always had an attachment to cars. Being retired, he decided to rebuild one more car. Gary’s friend had mentioned seeing a 1932 Packard online.

Not taking any chances of having another buyer swoop in and get it before he could seal the deal, Gary jumped on a plane the next day and headed to Minnesota. The ’32 Packard he saw had been restored many years before, but it was not a complete ground-up job. Gary says it needed some real TLC.

Of the 3,922 units that were built, only 37 of the 1932 Packard 901 series survived. This particular series was part of an 18-month run, and the date of service indicated the year. The service date on this car was 8-28-1931, and it was sold by the Earl Anthony Agency in California. The agency was the largest Packard dealership on the West Coast. The original 1931 sales price—$2,600.

Gary has a long history with the Packard Company. He grew up in the same town where the factory was located, and he says he was even in there a few times. His wife worked for Packard Electric, and a friend of his started the Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio. The museum is still there today.

Over the last 92 years, the car has made it from one end of the country to the other. In 1972, it was in Mississippi and driven to Maine by Air Force Major John Packard. It then made the trip back to Mississippi, where it was sold to another enlisted officer of the Air Force and taken to Florida, where it was restored the first time.

The Packard eventually made its way to the Merkel Auto Museum in Minnesota. In 2015, it went up for auction when owner Merkel passed away. Gary’s Packard has roughly 56,000 miles on it. He says that it was not a daily driver, probably chauffeur-driven for special occasions.

The Packard’s straight-eight engine was taken apart with the cylinders bored and sleeved. Gary says he did most of the work himself. When some of the engine parts turned out to be incorrect, he had to have a new carburetor manufactured by a company in California. The transmission was reworked, a new clutch was installed, and the rear end was rebuilt, too.

Gary disassembled the entire body, and all the exterior paint was removed. He sent the body, in pieces, over eight months, to Street Cars Restorations in Calabash, North Carolina. The final prep was done at the shop, and 11 coats of paint were applied: primer, paint, and clear coat. It was painted to the original colors, Shervin Green and black.

A member of the Myrtle Beach Car Club, Gary says that after the body was all painted, he brought it home to put it all back together and do the final polishing. The entire process took 11 months.

Gary likes to take his classic Packard to cruise nights and car shows. Unlike in the Midwest, Gary says that he goes to more cruise nights than car shows. In the summer, it gets too hot to sit in a parking lot all day. Most car shows in Myrtle Beach are in the fall and spring months.

Gary says he enjoys the notoriety that his Packard brings. He has won about 30 trophies with his classic, and he has told the judges to give the trophies to some of the other entrants. “How many trophies does a guy need?”

If you have a car you would like to see featured in Classic Wheels, contact Rudy Host, Jr. at Classic.Wheels.Rudy@gmail.com.