Packard Museum

• Known as “America’s Packard Museum,” this unusual collection of vintage Packards is in a restored Art Deco showroom. From its construction in 1917, the building which houses the museum was a Packard dealership. It has a rambling, somewhat-neglected feel compared with the much glossier Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum in Auburn IN, but still has some beauties (approximately 50) on display:
  

  

  

  The photo below shows the one-of-a-kind Jesse Vincent Speedster. Vincent was Detroit’s most famous engineer, an innovator and a dreamer. In 1928, he won approval from Packard to build what was, in effect, his own personal hot-rod. He chose the most powerful straight-eight available, the lightest all-aluminum racing body and added nothing that would increase weight or wind resistance. On Packard’s 2 1/2 mile oval track, the car was clocked at a then-astounding 129 mph.
  

  

  If we didn’t know better, we might be tricked into believing the service area is still operational:
  

  

  The sign on this old red truck identified it as a 1919 Packard, Model E, Five Ton Truck, $5450 FOB Detroit, 40 hp with a maximum speed of 11 mph:
  

  

  Well, with solid tires, that was probably plenty fast enough!
  
  Patty and I chose this stunning creation as the one we’d most like to bring home:
  

  

  

  However, upon learning its price, we had to look elsewhere and decided we might just be able to afford this one:
  

  

  It would have the added advantage of fitting in our garage!