1934 Packard 1101 7 Passenger Touring
In 1935, the Blake Brothers both teenagers at the time, opened their first ice cream shop in Springfield, Massachusetts and named it "Friendly." The name was a promise that the shop would be a friendly place for families to create lasting memories while enjoying handcrafted ice cream that was made fresh daily. Coming up with such inventions as the "Fribble", and the take home half gallon container of ice cream.
For consignment a car with provenance in the form of being owned by one of the founding brothers of Friendly Ice Cream, Curtis L. Blake. A long history of the owners of this car is provided, as well as meticulous documentation for restorations, work done to it over time, and some interesting factual information regarding the car. We give you the "Friendly" 1934 Packard.
Exterior
Benefitting from a body off repaint and restoration in 1995-96, this car still presents very nicely. It comes to us draped in Packard Blue and has very straight steel panels overall. This beautiful long 4-door carriage is flanked by very tasteful curving wheel surrounds complete with dual encased spare tires neatly tucked into each front fender and connected by a pristine running board. Nice chrome plating exists on the massive grille fitted with the Packard Goddess of Speed hood ornament, big headlights, bumpers and a rear trunk rack, and is not marred or dimpled. The trunk rack has an actual trunk which has a cover for it. An equally long cloth convertible top showing in tan, moves up and down effortlessly, and has a glass rear window. A note to the wheels, which are contrasting yellow painted steel, and have very rare chromed Packard Eight center caps. These caps are only known to exist on 3 cars throughout the world, and two of them are in India, one over there only had 1 with wheel that has it. This car has all 6 of these caps. Perfect wide white sidewall tires frame these wonderful wheels and caps.
Interior
Maintaining most of its original charm, a smoked brown bench, which has been recovered in leather runs the length between the black leather door panels, that appear original with their nice patina. The rear seat was recovered in 1952 when Mr. Blake owned the car and is in tan vinyl and blue leather with white piping. Two folding jump seats in brown leather magically pop out from within the back of the front seat. Upfront a beautiful burl dash with a center mounted instrument cluster displays beautifully. The huge steering wheel is original and has been restored. Nice carpet upfront in dark brown, and a lighter brown for the back seat.
Drivetrain
As with the exterior the large engine which is amazingly a 325ci inline 8 cylinder and produces 120hp, presents also as a work of art, much like the exterior. Everything has been restored, and reams of paperwork accompany this car explaining all the work that has been done over the years. This Inline 8 has a 2-barrel carburetor, and a 3-speed manual transmission.
Undercarriage
Beautifully preserved and has aged like a fine Chambourcin wine, all expertly maintained, and showing no rust of any concern anywhere. Frame is very sturdy, and body hangers look almost like new.
Drive-Ability
We had the pleasure of driving this fine automobile and can report that it is very smooth, with seemingly no mechanical problems we could perceive. The car has a silky ride, and transmission a wonderful sound of the gears smoothly getting you up to speed.
With an interesting history, and very well documented since the Blake ownership, this stunning 7-passenger convertible gives us a glimpse of life of this who were most likely listed within the Social Register. Be assured that with yearly trips to Hyannis Port for summering, the legs of this car can certainly be stretched.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special interest automobile showroom, featuring over 450 vehicles for sale with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in person.