357.8ci L-Head Inline 8-Cylinder Engine
Single Updraft Carburetor
85bhp at 3,000rpm
3-Speed Manual Transmission
Front and Rear Leaf Spring Suspension
4-Wheel Drum Brakes

*Period customization reportedly by the great California coachbuilder Murphy
*Styling inspired by Rudolph Valentino's Avions Voisin
*Among the most flamboyant, dramatic Classic Packards

THE PACKARD SPORT

Few body styles of the Classic Era were as aptly named as the Packard Sport, a four-passenger phaeton both lower and more narrow than the company's other open models, with a lower windshield and rear-opening doors. It was always something of a limited-production offering and tended to be acquired by Packard's more flamboyant clientele. Few were undoubtedly more flamboyant than the owner of the example offered here, for whom the factory Sport body was still not rakish enough.

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

This Packard was acquired by a former owner from the estate of the late Southern California enthusiast, Nyle Reed, who had acquired it in the early 1960s from Mike McManus' Atlantic Auto & Truck Sales of Los Angeles, a renowned source of Classics in the early years of the hobby. It had been stored in the yard by a gentleman working out-of-state, at a youth camp in New York. Amazingly the April 1962 issue of Motor Trend features an article about McManus' yard and the customized Packard can be spotted among the treasures contained therein. Notably, the special hood, radiator, and front fenders are very much visible.

The purchase was negotiated over the phone, and Mr. Reed had soon brought the car home and begun research into its specifications with the assistance of a former owner, George Reed, a garage owner in the area. Mr. Reed directed him to L.H. Mahoney, the former personal manager of silent film legend and heartthrob, Rudolph Valentino, himself a noted automobile enthusiast.

According to a fascinating letter to Mr. Reed from Mr. Mahoney, the Packard had been rolled while in the ownership of a bootlegger in the Pasadena area. It was brought for repair to the great California coachbuilders, the Walter M. Murphy Company of Pasadena. Reportedly Valentino's Avions Voisin had been damaged in a front-end accident and was also being repaired there.

The Packard's owner saw and fell in love with the Voisin, and requested that his Packard be customized. Being in the business of pleasing their customers, Murphy undertook the task with a Voisin radiator sourced from France, as well as special headlamps and chromed Rudge wire wheels. The front fenders were modified to suit the new radiator styling, while the hood was finished in bare polished aluminum with chevron louvers, perhaps a nod to Rolls-Royce styling of the period. Other touches likely dating from this work were a second cowl, a polished aluminum dashboard, and a Valentino-inspired mascot, a menacing coiled cobra, similar to that famously fitted to the Great Lover's personal automobiles.

For some fifty years, the car was maintained by Mr. Reed largely as he had acquired it, until it was finally sold by his estate in 2012. The new owner oversaw a cosmetic restoration in a striking ultramarine blue; rechromed wheels and other refinements were also undertaken. Examination today shows a beautiful automobile which is every bit as striking today as it would have been when driven in Southern California during the late 1920s. Photographs of the car as it was sold from the Reed estate are included in the file, as well as the aforementioned Motor Trend article, showing the car when it was still being stored at Atlantic Auto Wreckers. The chassis and motor stampings are both still present and indicate the car retains its original engine.

There are few more exotic Packards of the period than this car, which is likely the only survivor of its kind with period customization by the great Walter M. Murphy Company, of Duesenberg and Cadillac fame – and inspiration from none other than Rudolph Valentino. Its European grace and charm, and the wonderful tale that it tells, are sure to make it at home in any collection that values motoring legends.