Packard: Ask the Man Who Owns One
by Douglas R. Kelly
During my senior year of high school, I worked in the mailroom of a non-profit sports foundation. The CEO of the foundation was Mr. Rohlfing. I have no memory of his first name, which may be because everyone called him Mr. Rohlfing. He was that kind of a man.
Mr. Rohlfing wasn’t in the office every day, but when he appeared, he often was at the wheel of his 1942 Packard. Due to production being curtailed that year with the war effort, Packard made fewer cars than usual, making any 1942 example more rare. I don’t recall whether
Mr. Rohlfing’s car was a Clipper or a Super Eight, but I remember it being enormous and, well, stately. We ran into each other in the parking lot one afternoon as he was locking the Packard and heading into the building. I told him how much I admired his classic car, and Mr. Rohlfing said, “That’s not a car, son. That’s an automobile.”
Over the years, I’ve developed a soft spot for the “orphan” makes…the cars that didn’t survive the 1950s and 1960s. The group includes names like Nash, Kaiser, Studebaker, and Hudson. And Packard, of course. I don’t have a 1:1 scale version in our driveway, but several toy Packards have made their way into my cabinets. The first was a 2.5-inch die cast Packard convertible, made by Morestone (and/or Budgie) in England starting in the late 1950s. Like the other entries in the Modern Products series, the Packard is of excellent quality and finish, right down to the driver (who’s wearing a suit) and a bit of dashboard detail. Why the Morestone/ Modern Products models weren’t able to compete with Matchbox has always been a bit of a mystery given that the production standards of the two lines were very similar. The Morestone/Modern Products models aren’t rare today, but finding a high-grade Packard with the original windshield intact can be a challenge.
The Morestone/Modern Products Packard was almost certainly a scaled-down copy of Meccano’s Dinky Packard convertible, which was number 132 in the Dinky series and was introduced in 1955. Meccano naturally produced a ton of British models in the Dinky series, of course, but the company also turned out some beautiful American cars, and the Packard is one of them. It was based on an early 1950s Packard, likely either the 250 or the Mayfair, and is a pretty accurate model. Meccano produced it in beige (or fawn as it’s sometimes called), and in green, both versions having a red interior and yes, a driver figure in a suit. Like the smaller Morestone/Modern Products Packard, it’s not rare, but an original (read: mint) condition example with box usually will run anywhere from $125 to $175.
I paid $90 for mine when I came across it in a collectible toy shop last year, and was jazzed to drive it into the Dinky parking lot in my cabinet. True 1950s vibes.
The orange/black plastic Packard is 5-3/4 inches long. It was made by Hubley starting in the late 1940s and is said to be based on a 1948 Packard, possibly the Eight. For a simple one-piece body casting, it does capture the essence of Packard’s late 1940s styling. I love vintage taxis, so this one is right up my street. Hubley numbered it 308 in its product line. Along with the orange/black version, Hubley also made it in yellow/black and green/black. (It also was produced in a standard passenger car version, which gives collectors yet another Packard category to chase.) This one isn’t easy to find undamaged as the black paint that Hubley over-sprayed on the body colors chips and flakes off easily. If you find a near mint or better example, they generally run anywhere from $50 to $100.
And if you’re feeling ambitious, you can try to find the beautiful number 326 Taxi Cab set Hubley put out around 1949, which featured all three taxi cab color combinations along with three cast iron street signs. I’ve never seen this set for sale, but it seems to me that a set that’s complete with original box and taxis and signs would have to change hands for at least $500.
Packard’s motto for many years was, “Ask the Man Who Owns One.” In a way, I guess I “asked” Mr. Rohlfing about his, and his reply was right to the point. These were automobiles.
Douglas R. Kelly is the editor of Marine Technology magazine. His byline has appeared in Antiques Roadshow Insider; Back Issue; Diecast Collector; RetroFan; and Buildings magazines.
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