Today I found myself going 88 mph and my flux capacitor kicked in….I thought that thing was broken! Anyway, I ended up in the 1950’s and spotted this old lady out with her driver in this cool 1949 Packard.
Okay, that’s a lie. I was at a present day photo shoot. The Packard is nearly 100% original, save for the tires and the paint. It’s a three on the tree manual and you start it by turning on the key and then pressing the gas pedal. Under the hood is a straight eight flat-head good for about 130 hp, but the torque specs are unknown. The 25 gallon fuel tank takes regular fuel and gets a pretty decent 14 mpg. She can cruise comfortably at 65 mph on the highway.
I spoke with the owner, Jack Osborne of Faulkner, MD about how he found the Packard. “A friend of a friend knew the original owner. It was well taken care of by this family and I was able to buy it for $5000. It’s not a barn find but rather what they call a survivor. The family loved, drove, and took care of this car well enough so that even with 85,000 miles on the odometer and the original wiring, she’s still going strong!”
Not many bells and whistles on the Packard, though. Options include an AM radio with an adjustable antenna, turn signals, and an overdrive.
“The overdrive is really interesting. It was not internal to the transmission like today. It was just an extra gear that was attached to the end of the transmission tail shaft. It’s operated by a solenoid. You get it up to speed and you have to reach down, let off the gas, pull a lever, and then get back on the gas. It will then lurch into this highway gear.”
Jack also has a 1963 Corvette and a 1964 Comet that he is working on. He drives the Packard at least once a month.
He daily drives a pickup truck out on his farm. He says, “I polish everything except for the truck.
Check out this video of a 1949 Ford F-1 from TFL Classics!
Emme is a driver, reviewer, and rabble rouser. She is the principle driver and trophy winner for the Mega Monkey Motorsports™ 2 seat 1600 desert racer, powered by an air-cooled VW engine and has also been on the podium in a stock bug, a trophy bug, and an ultra-4. She is one of only 17 American women to have participated in the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles, a 9 day all female off road rally in Morocco with no GPS. You can check her out online on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and either one of her blogs
