[00:01] Caress on Jay Leno's Garage. One of the cars I feature today, this one is mine, Museum in Newport, Rhode Island. This is an important car cuz this is the very first year of Packard. &gt;&gt; No, not quite. An early Packard.
[00:15] &gt;&gt; Yes. &gt;&gt; First generation. And this is the last what we're talking about here today. This is brought to us by Reliable Transportation. They do car transportation all across the country. I
[00:28] they drive it to California. It goes back the same week. I mean, and the car doesn't have a scratch on it. I mean, they put what, 8,000 mi on it in a truck, and it's it it's fine. Yeah, it's it's great. So, thank you to the Audrain
[00:41] How are we doing this, Donald? What do you How do you want to start? is first and last. course, is an amazing, legendary company, known throughout the world for
[00:56] its quality and its reputation. And so, we're going to look at two ends of the we're going to look at two ends of the spectrum. This is a 1902 Packard Model F &gt;&gt; 1956 Packard Caribbean. A lot of people know the story of how uh Ferruccio
[01:09] famous argument with Enzo Ferrari. &gt;&gt; Right, right. do these things to make your cars more reliable, the clutches are not good. And much. Go build your own car, tractor maker."
[01:22] &gt;&gt; And uh of course, the inspiration for all of that was the first great &gt;&gt; Against Winton. &gt;&gt; Against Winton. &gt;&gt; Exactly. Alexander Winton uh was one of the great early pioneering uh American
[01:34] car builders. And uh James Packard uh bought a Winton in uh 1898 and uh had trouble with it. And so, he lived in Warren, Ohio, and uh Winton was in Cleveland. So, he got into his repaired Winton and drove to Cleveland
[01:51] and said to Alexander, "Look, you've got a really nice car, but it needs some reliable." And apparently Winton was having none of it and said, &gt;&gt; right. "Thank you very much. Who the hell are you? You make arc lamps. Go
[02:03] your own car if you think you can do it better." &gt;&gt; And that's what he did. And you know, Packard was an interesting guy. He also ordered and had built with Well, up until very recently, the world's most
[02:16] until very recently, the world's most expensive watch. He had a It was It was expensive watch. He had a It was It was set up to time and astronomical Yeah, to to Warren, Ohio. It was It was designed to be in Warren, Ohio. The sun
[02:30] it's a very complicated pocket watch. It still exists to this day. I mean, I'm sure maybe Paul Newman's Rolex or something went for more. But I mean, in that that's the kind of guy he was. He wanted to have the best of everything.
[02:45] So, it's kind of an interesting story. &gt;&gt; And so, it was remarkable that by 1899, the next year, he and his brother had built their first car. And these first cars, these first Packards were one-cylinder cars. And you
[03:00] like, you know, it's a little putt-putt thing. But everything being scaled in a totally different way back in the dawn of motoring, this is a one-cylinder. It's a 3-liter one-cylinder. &gt;&gt; Yeah, which is
[03:13] almost. &gt;&gt; Exactly. 12 horsepower. And again, 12 car. &gt;&gt; Yeah. Yeah. &gt;&gt; And uh it was also not an inexpensive car. Motoring was for very much the very
[03:26] wealthy. This car cost about $2,500 in 1902 when the average annual income was $850 a year. &gt;&gt; The average house was $1,200, I think. &gt;&gt; Absolutely astonishing, yeah. Two houses or a Packard. Right. Your choice. But
[03:40] they're absolutely remarkable vehicles. And the pace of development was so quick at this point that this was the last of the one-cylinder Packards. In 1903, they went to a four-cylinder car. &gt;&gt; Right, right. And also in part of that
[03:53] little sort of spite game, a Packard employee named Fletch drove a four-cylinder Packard Model K from San Francisco to New York in 61 days. &gt;&gt; Beating Alexander Winton's record of driving across the country,
[04:08] 80 days or something like that. &gt;&gt; Right, that was quite popular in the early days. That's how you tested the metal of a car. Maybe you do you go New roads. &gt;&gt; There were no roads. They they they they
[04:20] you know. &gt;&gt; Yeah, but but there's there's uh some wonderful stories about them driving him driving along and finding, "Oh, this is a great nicely prepared road." And it turned out to be the road to some
[04:33] &gt;&gt; Right. &gt;&gt; they would ask, you know, "How do I get who'd never been more than 10 mi from their house in their lives. It's like, "Well, somewhere over there." &gt;&gt; And I remember around four or five two
[04:46] &gt;&gt; Yes. &gt;&gt; Which in the day was women did not drive. That was considered unladylike. And they had And they had They had guns were really really It's really a great story. These women
[04:58] country, you know, and across men and all. you know. But yeah, it's really fascinating story. I wish I could I up, but I'm trying to remember the name of the women. But
[05:13] &gt;&gt; Um, but it is remarkable again thinking about what we go through here in Los Angeles, you know, driving from Burbank to Santa Monica, it's like this hours it's going to take you. Driving across the Sierra Nevada and across the
[05:29] &gt;&gt; Over the Rockies, yeah. &gt;&gt; It's absolutely astonishing when you these cars. And it also is a great tribute to the fact that yes, they had to do a lot of work on the cars as they went along. But it's one of the reasons
[05:42] why I and you are so fascinated by uh veteran cars because they are cars that are so incredibly capable and still can be used. I I say this over and over our our pockets that we won't be using in 3 years. And here is a car that's
[05:58] 120-some-odd years old that we can use today exactly &gt;&gt; Exactly. And here in the US, the wonderful tours for old cars. People who own these cars get out and use them. As
[06:11] a matter of fact, you can see on that plate there that the Autodrain has an annual veteran car tour for cars from 1898 to 1918. And it's an amazing thing. &gt;&gt; I read a fascinating statistic the other day. London had reached the point where
[06:25] to get across London in a handsome cab in 1888 is exactly the same amount of time to do it in a car now cuz of traffic. I mean, they they exactly It's the same, you know, a half hour, 45
[06:37] minutes. You know, I always tell the story. I was watching some a movie one of these film noir, you know, Richard Widmark in the '50s. And the reason I watched it because they show Bob's Big Boy, you know, the car meet in the early
[06:49] So, the guy's in Long Beach and he says, "Long Beach, it looks like it's 45 minutes to get to Burbank from here." Which which now is 2 and 1/2 hours at least. And And there were no There were no highway. It was like it but it just
[07:04] thinking, "Wow, that's pretty good." &gt;&gt; Boy, if only could do that now. &gt;&gt; And it's also something to look at a car like this because as I mentioned before, the pace of technology was was traveling so quickly that this still obviously
[07:18] looks like a horse-drawn carriage. You know, it's got that style. All you need to do is put a lead on the front. You can attach a horse or a pair of horses automobile specific items, because one of the things that, for instance, Winton
[07:30] was a pioneer in was the steering wheel. So, you they hadn't decided yet whether whether it was an inclined wheel, a vertical wheel. And so, this is very interesting because it's got a semi inclined steering column.
[07:45] &gt;&gt; sort of looking forward to the moment when you'd have the fully inclined &gt;&gt; Exactly. You You will see I'm sure you've driven cars like this before. You get such a wonderful sense of control with a more vertical column than you do
[07:58] sometimes with the vertical column. &gt;&gt; thing is if you found this in a field and you found a 1992 Ford Taurus in a field, you could get this running in a tenth of the time because you don't have electronic relay. You know, a relay goes
[08:11] bad, it still looks it's it's still blue, there's no scratches, it looks know, with something like this it's so mechanical and so easy to do. That's why these veteran cars are so fun. The average person or the average mechanic
[08:24] could fix it with hand tools. &gt;&gt; Exactly. And you also find things that you think are so modern. This is 1902. One of the great advances that Packard made is the H pattern shift, which this car has. You think, "Wow, 1902." And
[08:39] when you think about so much that we have in cars today with the exception of control of a car was invented before World War &gt;&gt; And we've just been refining it slowly and perhaps going backwards in some way.
[08:52] &gt;&gt; Well, here's the one that's interesting. This car to this car is the same as driving an '80s car to now. Isn't that funny? I mean, when you think of it like that, I mean, it's like this
[09:06] &gt;&gt; Exactly. &gt;&gt; But they're only 40 years apart or so, 45 years. Yeah. &gt;&gt; And therein lies the story. So, let's take a closer look at our Packard Caribbean.
[09:18] &gt;&gt; Or Caribbean, depending on &gt;&gt; Depending on on what part of the ocean you you find yourself on. One of the things that I enjoy so much about visiting your garage is the incredible artwork you have up. These wonderful
[09:32] personalized paintings of old ads. And you have an ad sports car. &gt;&gt; Yeah, this is America's. What do you We We should have a car club. &gt;&gt; Yeah. I mean, it's just so funny that
[09:45] that it's a sports car. Yeah, they're very funny. And you know, we've had conversations about, you know, what is the definition of a sports car? And if is a car that's not designed for sort of everyday practical use, this is a car
[10:00] that is designed for leisure time activities. Yes, of course, you could drive this car every day of the week. But this is still made in a time when &gt;&gt; Right. &gt;&gt; You You had your station wagon. You had
[10:13] this is a car for you to take to the country club, to the golf club, to go &gt;&gt; Yeah, and when you realize the speed limit at this time was probably 50 miles an hour under. You know, the super highways had not come in yet. So, a
[10:27] convertible was a relaxing place to be. The reason they sort of banned convertibles or GM did after '76 was speeds are going 75, 80 miles an hour. People getting wind blow There's no need for
[10:40] convertible anymore. You go to a T-top or something like that. Yeah. But this is just the ultimate cruising. Yeah. &gt;&gt; And thinking about power, that 12 horsepower, 3 L single cylinder a 1902 car to this 1956,
[10:54] uh I think it's 376 cubic inch. This is a 120 mph car. &gt;&gt; With two four-barrel carburetors. &gt;&gt; carburetors. And you know, so this is cruiser at all. &gt;&gt; Well, the great thing about this car and
[11:07] the reason I got it, besides being kind of outrageous, it has a technical advantage over any other car in the '50s. One of the problems with uh cars of the '50s, especially GM cars, they all wanted that floaty boaty Cadillac
[11:20] ride. But when you hit the brakes, uh the suspension would dive to the and you you literally pogo down the road. With this, you had these torsion bars. When the car even moved a little bit, they would twist and pull it up
[11:33] straight. Let me show you it like if I sit on this, let me see if it does it Okay, if I'm going to be level with this thing. I can't get up on it. Here we go. Okay.
[11:45] clicks in. &gt;&gt; There you go. &gt;&gt; There you go. &gt;&gt; Hear it?
[11:58] come down. You know, they would put these when they when these are in parking garages in New York, people get frightened to death cuz they go in a PARKING GARAGE AND IT'S LIKE LIKE LIKE A GREAT MASTODON
[12:11] People go What happened? What What's Is that car running? What You know, &gt;&gt; See, it's constantly adjusting. See, the front end came down, rear end went up. And it does that at speed. So, when you What When you hit the brakes, it cuts
[12:26] the motor, torsion bars hold it right there. So, this car does not dive. I &gt;&gt; And another great example of the fact that 60 years after Packard started his company, they're still doing technological innovation to make a
[12:41] better car. Speaking of which, that that's the moment that I actually missed before introducing this 1956 Packard, which is the fact that their great ad slogan, "Ask the man who owns one." And so, that's what we're doing today. We're
[12:54] slogan. Yeah. &gt;&gt; And it's very funny because apparently I don't know if this is actually true, but it's sort of general generally accepted knowledge that the slogan came about because two reasons. One because Winton
[13:08] did not listen to Packard. And someone apparently asked for a brochure very early on and they didn't have brochures printed yet. And so, he apparently told to just say, "Go find somebody else who owns one and
[13:21] ask that guy what he thinks of the car." Ask the man who owns one and he'll tell brochure. One of the other things about this car which I think is so incredibly and it's slightly unfortunate on your example because you the original owner
[13:35] was a very conservative fellow, but I also love the fact that again it reminds The seat cushions are reversible. &gt;&gt; These are reversible. Now, mine has the summer you'd have fabric so the leather didn't stick to your heat. See
[13:51] they're belted here, but you know, the funny thing is if you hit the brakes it's like a pillow fight. They come flying forward. &gt;&gt; Okay. Yeah.
[14:03] I'm sorry. There we go. Yeah. you wanted. &gt;&gt; You could actually do custom upholstery patterns on your car. It It's just so
[14:16] And of course these dashboards and all the details in these cars is just absolutely exquisite. And the sad thing is the fact that even here in 1956 Packard is still innovating, but the end is already
[14:30] killed them. They did too much for the war effort and when the war effort ended all contracts were canceled. They were stuck with all these like the big motors this other stuff. Yeah, that's what happened. General
[14:44] Motors could absorb it cuz they were huge. The automatic transmission came a &gt;&gt; And even the V8 because the Caribbean in '55 was the first Packard V8 cuz they everybody else had switched to V8s.
[14:58] &gt;&gt; Right. And the inline eight was well, like our old thing about the old days of last days of old technology being the first days of the the smoothest straight eight, but it took up a lot of length and you know, it
[15:13] considered sort of old fashioned. &gt;&gt; Exactly. They made the fateful decision &gt;&gt; Right. &gt;&gt; It was one of those cases that, you know, you think about doing due diligence and uh it seemed that uh both
[15:27] companies had enough to hide in the uh balance sheets that when they finally all the papers, they looked at them and said, "Oh my god, what have I done?" &gt;&gt; And uh so this is the last of the original Packards. By the next year,
[15:42] they were uh re-badged Studebakers. &gt;&gt; Yeah, I mean it's a lot of it looks like antennas out, you know. &gt;&gt; Do you get any radio stations or &gt;&gt; Oh yeah, I I it's got a great radio. It works actually quite good. You know,
[15:55] press a button and the music comes on. Did you make selection? Yes, would you would you make them? Many times I would make it. You know, you have to fill out English? Yes, yes, thank you. I just don't play the radio, you know. It's
[16:09] fast, it's comfortable. I mean two four-barrel carburetors. It just eats I mean, yeah, yeah. It's just &gt;&gt; Designed for a world of of 15 and 17 uh &gt;&gt; Exactly, exactly. &gt;&gt; So, let's review and talk about what the
[16:24] market has thought about these two cars in the last 5 years. So, we'll have a little review. So, we have our 1902 Packard Model F Caribbean.
[16:37] &gt;&gt; Okay, thank you. &gt;&gt; If you talk to Harry Belafonte, he'll &gt;&gt; Exactly, yeah. That that's where we should get go to the source. &gt;&gt; Yeah, yeah. &gt;&gt; So, about 5 years ago, a 1956 Packard
[16:50] Caribbean might have cost you about $80,000. Today, it would be $100,000. We've had the conversation before about cars of the '50s going down in value, and that's very true for the boring
[17:03] ordinary cars of the '50s. These are '50s icons. They're very rare. They only made 500 Packard Caribbean's in convertible and for the first year they did the coupe in the hardtop in 1956. And so, they're very rare. To find one
[17:18] in very good condition that is actually functional because they're very complex mechanically. So, they have to be well maintained is something that people really seek out in the marketplace. Our 1902 Packard Model F
[17:31] 5 years ago, it might have been about $130,000. Today, it would be about $200,000. &gt;&gt; well, just because yeah. &gt;&gt; That's right. I mean, the rarity, the history behind it, you know, I yeah, I
[17:44] mean, this is collectible from the day it was built, you know, because it was the first of the first generation. Yeah, so, yeah, that makes sense. That makes &gt;&gt; We agree. &gt;&gt; Yeah. Yeah, no, I agree. I agree. I got
[17:57] a pretty good deal on this one. You know, it's funny, the the problem modern collectors have, they don't have room to park something like this. You know, I have one of those." But like guys with '59 Cadillacs, you got the garage door
[18:10] they can't they can't get it in in in in the building, you know. &gt;&gt; It's like truck collecting. You know, the trucks that fit in a normal garage interesting and breath rare trucks that you have to build a special structure
[18:22] &gt;&gt; truck collecting. Fire truck collecting is if you're buying cars by the pound, man, that's the way to go. It's like 98 cents a pound because thing weighs, you know, so much crazy weight, you know. I drive this as a regular car and I use
[18:35] it not every day, but quite quite a bit and it's just makes me laugh. California's a perfect place for it, you know, and it's a lot of fun to drive and I I marvel at that torsion bars is my Every time I hit the brake and I feel
[18:47] the car tighten up, that's what I like. I like styling, you know. &gt;&gt; Absolutely. And of course, in one of these two car SS caresses, we have the added benefit of taking our appreciation
[19:03] &gt;&gt; Oh, okay. &gt;&gt; So, we're going to sample James Packard's great innovations over the winter in 1902 by taking this Model &gt;&gt; Let's give it a shot. &gt;&gt; Let's go.
[19:16] &gt;&gt; Let's go. &gt;&gt; See you get out of here.
[19:28] it a little easier. But we're going to use the electric start. That's the only use the electric start. That's the only cheating we're doing here. Let's see.
[20:14] The pulley engaged. This thing is hot. &gt;&gt; No, second. &gt;&gt; In second.
[20:26] it all the way to LA. I think not. This is the ribbon solid, too.
[20:48] our next stop is uh New York City. How long do you think it'll take us to &gt;&gt; You know, I might get there pretty quick, actually. This thing is actually up to here. &gt;&gt; Certainly less than 61 days, that's for
[21:02] &gt;&gt; Certainly less than 61 days, that's for sure. &gt;&gt; Yes, imagine 1902 H pattern shift three-speed gearbox.
[21:14] And I am always amazed. I shouldn't be, but I'm always amazed at how smooth a single-cylinder engine can be. Obviously, you're feeling every stroke, but nonetheless, it's still &gt;&gt; Well, I wouldn't call it smooth.
[21:27] single-cylinder engine, you think, well, it it's just going to be this thing that just hurls you off like like a uh evil horse.
[21:42] they had to uh drive on. &gt;&gt; It shifts into high and wave bye-bye.
[22:02] &gt;&gt; It is. Again, I just think about the fact that in 1902, obviously, the world was horse-drawn and horse-born. &gt;&gt; Right. &gt;&gt; And uh this to me is still like, you know, a magic carpet, literally, you
[22:16] &gt;&gt; And this is this the great savior of the American horse. You know, in New York City, used to be 60,000 tons of manure in the street every day, every week or so. It was just crazy. And when this came along, it's
[22:31] not a little puff of blue smoke in your face. That doesn't seem so bad. &gt;&gt; Exactly. Yeah, our uh our good friend Miles Collier in his book The Archaeological Automobile starts out by talking about
[22:45] environmental savior. &gt;&gt; Right, yeah. &gt;&gt; turn of the 20th century. &gt;&gt; Right, cuz people died of dysentery. You know, horses in New York, junk junk men horses, they cut the reins, leave the
[22:57] horrible. &gt;&gt; Unimaginable. You know, you you you &gt;&gt; Unimaginable. You know, you you you watch uh shows like The Gilded Age and life back then was not quite what what you saw in the in the films.
[23:11] &gt;&gt; Well, the great thing about the Gilded Age is everything that was done were rich. &gt;&gt; Right. You could live in a fairly filthy place fairly well because it didn't really touch you.
[23:33] &gt;&gt; We're in top gear. &gt;&gt; This is the perfect &gt;&gt; Nice and clear. &gt;&gt; I just like you have to hold it in gear all the way though. &gt;&gt; That should hold. That should just go
[23:47] back and then hold. &gt;&gt; No, you got to hold it. Got to have tension on it. &gt;&gt; That's interesting.
[24:15] good. &gt;&gt; Absolutely fantastic. And again, I love &gt;&gt; Absolutely fantastic. And again, I love veteran motoring because you are in charge of every bit of forward motion of the vehicle.
[24:28] period pictures, they have like nine people in a car like this. hilarious. &gt;&gt; Although, the more people you have in a car like this, this nice four-seater car, that means when you get to a really
[24:41] &gt;&gt; Right, exactly. &gt;&gt; And one of the other things that's just &gt;&gt; And one of the other things that's just so wonderful is just the concept of uh &gt;&gt; Right. &gt;&gt; so much. The great exhibition that uh
[24:56] we did at the Audrain Museum a number of years ago, Women Take the Wheel, And you realize that any everything that a woman wore in the 1880s, &gt;&gt; Right. Right. Right. &gt;&gt; And so, just they were liberated from
[25:11] these incredibly ridiculous, big, constrictive things. And uh I think it's constrictive things. And uh I think it's absolutely brilliant.
[25:35] that there was obviously so little traffic, but you're also making up traffic rules as you go along. So, right-of-way what they're going to do. &gt;&gt; You ever see that horse's head you could
[25:49] &gt;&gt; Yes, I've heard about that. Never seen it. &gt;&gt; So, hard Oh, that's another horse. I guess it's all right. &gt;&gt; I think somehow that a horse's sense of smell is slightly more sophisticated.
[26:01] They know somehow that that other smelly, smoky thing coming towards them was not one of their cousins. &gt;&gt; Right. Right.
[26:24] spoken about uh generally in relationship to the Model T, relationship to the Model T, but uh it refers to all cars of this when people learn to drive, they were simply learning to operate another piece
[26:37] &gt;&gt; Right. Right. &gt;&gt; So, it didn't matter that each one of them had its own idiosyncratic controls cuz like this is idiosyncratic controls cuz like this is how you operate this machine.
[26:51] from its very start &gt;&gt; Right. to its glorious end and I think &gt;&gt; Right. to its glorious end and I think that it definitely is the car that made a difference in the American market. &gt;&gt; Yeah, really did.