1934 Packard Twelve Touring Car
The Packard Twelve was a range of V12-engined luxury automobiles built by the Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit, Michigan. The car was built from model year 1916 until 1923, then it returned 1933 until 1939. As a sign of changing times, the majority of second generation Packard Twelves received standard bodywork, with custom bodywork gradually losing favor. Many of the custom cars were actually only “semi-customs”, with Dietrich assembling Packard-made bodies with special touches.
The Packard V12 had a 160 horsepower, 445.5 cubic-inch engine with banks of cylinders at 67-degrees, and was produced from 1932 through 1939. Total production in eight years was about 7,000 units. Its primary purpose was to be used as a parade car for such dignitaries as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Mayor of New York, Fiorello LaGuardia, the World Champion New York Yankees and other dignitaries of the era.
On the other hand, Packard styling for 1934 was a fleeting moment of perfection as industry priorities were changing rapidly. The market was demanding quieter smoother riding cars and drivers were expecting cars with lighter steering and better brakes. Wheels began to shrink – the stately 20″ quickly gave way to 17″ wheels and fenders gained skirting to hide the empty space as wheels shrunk. Up to 1934, the bodies were basically designed for the earlier 1930-32 era cars and the fenders and noses were changed to blend the two, somehow managing to retain the early 1930s elegance.
It is a remarkably elegant design, especially considering that it was officially an in-house offering from Packard’s stylists…though to be sure, there is more than a hint of Dietrich about its lines. Two enclosed spares, each topped by a rearview mirror, sit behind full fenders; like the four whitewall-wrapped wheels at each corner, they sport gleaming chrome spokes. Packard’s signature “tombstone” grille, here featuring intricate thermostatically controlled chrome shutters, is flanked by twin horns and topped by the legendary “Goddess of Speed” mascot—also finished, naturally, in shining chrome.
The 1934 Packard Twelve Touring Car was a unique automobile from the Packard Motor Car Company. James Ward Packard founded the company with two partners in 1899, and it rose to fame within two decades. The 1934 Packard Twelve Touring Car was termed a revolutionary vehicle in its time.
