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37 Packard 'Coupe Express'?

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  • 37 Packard 'Coupe Express'?

    I recently stumbled across a 37 Packard Pickup at a local outdoor car show here in Victoria. Does anyone know if Packard actually produced a pickup in 37 or is this a 'new model'? I couldn't find anything on the Packard Club website about a 37 pickup.

    I overheard the owner (from Whistler, BC) telling a group of onlookers about the 54" wide box being from a Ford and that he had fabricated the tailgate even to the extent of stamping the PACKARD letters into the flat panel. I assumed he was talking about how he had restored the truck but afterward I wondered If perhaps he had created a Packard version of the Coupe Express.





    I found another photo on the net of what appears to be the same vehicle.



    Even if it is a 'new model' for Packard it's very classy although not as voluptous as the 37 Studebaker Coupe Express, right, Jeff Rice?

    Cheers!


    "Ahh, a bear in his natural habitat...a Studebaker!"
    Fozzie Bear in 'The Muppet Movie'

    51 Land Cruiser (Elsie)
    Jim Mann
    Victoria, B.C.
    Canada
    \"Ahh, a bear in his natural habitat...a Studebaker!\"

    51 Land Cruiser (Elsie)
    Jim Mann
    Victoria, B.C.
    Canada

  • #2
    I don't think Packard ever built any pickup trucks. The Henney company did build a few Flower Cars on Packard chassis, but that's about as close as any to a real Packard pickup as you could ever find. That doesn't mean that someone else couldn't have built one, however, and this one looks like a very good effort.

    Comment


    • #3
      Hi

      The Packard belongs to Richard Sladen of Whistler, B.C. Mr Sladen's truck is a 115C six. The company did create a small number of pick-ups, for dealer use, called them "service cars" How the vehicle in question came to be would have to be answered by the owner.

      Too bad they didn't market them to the general public.

      Steve

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      • #4
        Thanks for the information, Steve.

        It's hard to imagine a manufacturer creating a few vehicles only for dealer use. I wonder which model might have been the basis for the PU. I assume they based it on another model the way Studebaker based the Coupe Express on the Dictator. Any thoughts?

        "Ahh, a bear in his natural habitat...a Studebaker!"
        Fozzie Bear in 'The Muppet Movie'

        51 Land Cruiser (Elsie)
        Jim Mann
        Victoria, B.C.
        Canada
        \"Ahh, a bear in his natural habitat...a Studebaker!\"

        51 Land Cruiser (Elsie)
        Jim Mann
        Victoria, B.C.
        Canada

        Comment


        • #5
          quote:Originally posted by StudeMann

          It's hard to imagine a manufacturer creating a few vehicles only for dealer use.
          Its a known fact Nash made some 1948 model tow trucks for dealer use as well. Interestingly enough, Packard also made a station wagon as early as 1937.



          Craig

          Comment


          • #6
            Hi StudeMann

            There was a good article in The Packard Cormorant a few years ago about Packard trucks, including the later ones. I'll have to look it up when I have a chance.

            To build the cab, it shares the doors with the coupe. All they had to create was a simple stamping for the rear section including part of the roof and cut the floor stamping to length. Remember, labor was cheap back then and low volume bodies were possible even if they required more handwork. When you see how bodies were built then, you'll find a lot of leaded seams.

            The boxes were probably bought from another maker, with dies to stamp the "Packard" name into the tailgate.

            This one is built on the same chassis as the 115C Six cylinder passenger cars. It would be classed as quarter-ton pickups

            Steve

            Comment


            • #7
              quote:Originally posted by 56H-Y6

              Hi StudeMann- There was a good article in The Packard Cormorant a few years ago about Packard trucks, including the later ones. I'll have to look it up when I have a chance. Steve
              Mine are packed up for my move this week~ otherwise I'd look as well!!!

              Give me two weeks- if no one else looks first...


              StudeDave '57 [8D]
              StudeDave '57
              US Navy (retired)

              3rd Generation Stude owner/driver
              SDC Member since 1985

              past President
              Whatcom County Chapter SDC
              San Diego Chapter SDC

              past Vice President
              San Diego Chapter SDC
              North Florida Chapter SDC

              Comment


              • #8
                quote:Originally posted by 56H-Y6

                To build the cab, it shares the doors with the coupe. All they had to create was a simple stamping for the rear section including part of the roof and cut the floor stamping to length. Remember, labor was cheap back then and low volume bodies were possible even if they required more handwork. When you see how bodies were built then, you'll find a lot of leaded seams.

                The boxes were probably bought from another maker, with dies to stamp the "Packard" name into the tailgate.
                Shades of what Studebaker basically did for 1960/61, though they used 4 door sedan front doors, and not a lot of lead!!

                Craig

                Comment


                • #9
                  They made some 57 Packard Trucks for export. But they were Studebaker trucks with Packard names on them.


                  7G-Q1 49 2R12 10G-F5 56B-D4 56B-F2

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by 8E45E


                    "Packard also made a station wagon as early as 1937."

                    Right you are, Craig. If I can get a photo of it, I will show you one of those woody wagons tucked away near here. Beautiful. [^][8D]

                    Comment


                    • #11


                      And Packard did make trucks in the teens and twenties. But these were heavy trucks, not pickups.

                      Its a known fact Nash made some 1948 model tow trucks for dealer use as well.

                      At least a few survive.

                      KURTRUK
                      (read it backwards)


                      KURTRUK
                      (read it backwards)




                      Nothing is politically right which is morally wrong. -A. Lincoln

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        That Packard looks like a CE on steroids. Still very very nice looking.
                        Diesel loving, autocrossing, Coupe express loving, Grandpa Architect.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by kurtruk View Post
                          Its a known fact Nash made some 1948 model tow trucks for dealer use as well. At least a few survive. KURTRUK
                          A car guy next door to me has owned one for twenty years. Seems to have the same cab as International, but with a sharp looking chrome grille. IIRC, they originally came with the Nash OHV6, but his has a Chrysler early hemi conversion.

                          Click image for larger version

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                          jack vines
                          PackardV8

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                          • #14
                            Cool! My uncle had an early dodge with a hemi. 53 or so...one ton IIRC..
                            Diesel loving, autocrossing, Coupe express loving, Grandpa Architect.

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                            • #15
                              Does that Nash Cab resemble a '49 "R" Series or what?
                              StudeRich
                              Second Generation Stude Driver,
                              Proud '54 Starliner Owner
                              SDC Member Since 1967

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