WARNING- Packard Content

"I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker" (qaaaaa)
02/10/2018 at 15:35 • Filed to: Packard, Photos

All photos are mine unless otherwise noted, and shot with an LG G6.

If you find yourself in Dayton, Ohio and have a few hours to kill, I highly recommend America’s Packard Museum. It’s open daily from noon to 5 and you can easily spend every minute here with the massive collection of Packards and memorabilia. The (volunteer) docents are highly knowledgeable and a joy to talk to, especially on a slower day. Cost for the museum is cheap and easy to find online- it’s also free for under 18s and students with ID.

Photo credit: Yelp

The museum itself is in a restored Packard dealership and showroom near the downtown area. Clearly marked with the original restored porcelain and neon sign, the reinforced concrete structure still stands over one hundred years since its opening. Many of the old buildings in Dayton have been demolished or fallen into disuse over the years, so the success of the restoration efforts here are welcome. The museum itself is divided between two buildings, the multi-level showroom housing cars from the 1900s to the 1940s on the ground floor (the only area currently publicly accessible), and another showroom of the former Citizens Motorcar Company, where post-40s Packards, commonly called “Senior” Packards, are displayed.

These are the first cars you see as you walk through the door. Two 30s vehicles, the red and black remains in unrestored condition apart from fender repaint, while the cream features a restoration

One of the many unique and intriguing vehicles is the dual fuel prototype shown below. Commissioned pre-WWII by the US government, this example has been modified to run on standard gasoline as well as propane. The propane tank sits where the cargo area would normally have been located.

Also featuring a modern addition of a fuel filter.

Look at that leg room!

Nearby sat a one-off made for Packard’s most prominent engine designer and later vice president, the personal vehicle of Jesse Vincent, at one point featuring a supercharged mill.

Note the lack of all superfluous elements, including headlights and hood ornament. The cylinder atop the radiator cover serves as a radiator cap, still with standard decoration.

Despite being both custom built and lacking headlights, the speedster has a parts bin steering wheel with four position light selector.

Another car featured a Boyce Moto-Meter, a radiator thermometer.

Damnit kinja. Why is this flipped?

The second showroom is filled with postwar Packards. So many whitewalls!

Facing towards Ludlow street, a quartet of Caribbeans peer out of the glass. Some featured single scoops, others double. All were beautiful.

I lost a number of photos, including one of the Grey Wolf, a 1903 4-cylinder land speed record attempt car, as well as a LeBaron coachbuilt 180 from the 1940s with hydraulic power windows and an interior I could swear was as modern as the 90s. There are many, many interesting vehicles at the museum, and I’d highly recommend anyone interested in slightly offbeat American iron.

Oh, and also there was a Reliant Robin.

DISCUSSION (7)

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
02/10/2018 at 18:50

Where in Ohio?

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
02/10/2018 at 21:04

It’s in Dayton, in Montgomery county.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
02/11/2018 at 00:27

I shit you not, I worked there in college.

They still have that cream 34(?) V12 Phaeton sedan? I got to drive that a couple times.

Those stories I need to type with a full keyboard. I love how that place smells.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
02/11/2018 at 14:26

They do! You’re lucky. Dick and his wife are still there as docents if you knew them. Working there must have been incredible- what goes on in the basement and upper floors?

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
02/11/2018 at 14:42

I worked there from 2002-2004/5 don’t remember exactly, but I graduated in 05.

Upstairs is offices.

Basement is storage and workshops. There used to be a few cool relics gathering dust downstairs there. Last time I went to visit I did not push to go see what had changed.

Chariotoflove > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
03/19/2018 at 00:07

Incredible. What’s that plane hanging up in the second to last pic?

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Chariotoflove
03/19/2018 at 00:20

I can’t recall. I believe it was part of an area focusing on Packard’s war efforts.