This Is the Way to Do It

            Dale Schultz is a Packard man. He’s currently on his second Packard. His first was a 1941 One Twenty. The One Twenty was Packard’s first foray into the mid-priced eight cylinder car market. Now, though, Dale owns a 1949 Packard Super Eight.

            The Eight was the car that replaced the One Twenty model. The name Super Eight was given to the line’s largest eight cylinder luxury cars before being reserved for near top of the line One Sixty models (the One Eighty models became known as the Custom Eight.

            “There’s no magical stories behind it,” Dale said. “My dad didn’t have one, I didn’t have one as a kid. I just like them.”

            He admits that he bought it pretty much as is a year ago. “I’ve done next to nothing on it,” he said, other than the brakes and tires. “Sure, some things were re-done but this is the way to do it, buy it done,” he added with a bit of a chuckle.

            That way, he admitted, he is able to do the thing that gives him the most enjoyment, drive the car. “Mostly I just drive it to shows,” said Dale which accounts for about 1500 to 2000 miles per year.

            “It rides pretty good. It’s more of a touring car,” he said and guesses that the car has been enjoyed quite a bit. “It shows 19,000 miles but I’m guessing that it’s more like 119,000,” said Dale.

            The car is big and heavy but with a 327 cubic inch straight eight generating 145 horse power, Dale said that he has never really had a problem in driving the car. He does admit, though, that the engine doesn’t really look like a modern post World War II engine in other marques.

            “You look at other cars from the period and you were seeing more modern looking motors, V 8s and the like. This one looks like it belongs on a tractor,” he said.

            Maybe that’s the magical reason, that thing that drew Dale to purchase his second Packard. Probably not.