1911 Packard Model 18 Runabout

265.7ci T-head inline 4-cylinder engine
Packard carburetor, 53bhp
3-speed manual transaxle
4-wheel semi-elliptical leaf springs with solid front and live rear axle
Rear wheel mechanical drum brakes

*Exceptionally rare T-Head Packard Runabout
*High quality Brass Touring Car
*Known history back to 1916
*A handsome sporting car from one of the finest manufacturers of the period

EARLY PACKARD CARS

Dissatisfaction with his Winton motor carriage is said to have spurred James Ward Packard to build a superior automobile. Aided by his brother and two defectors from the Winton company, Packard set up shop in his electrical engineering factory in Warren, Ohio, from which the first Packard car emerged in November 1899. The Packard's innovative engineering and superior build quality were soon attracting the attention of wealthy clients, William D Rockefeller purchasing two at the New York Automobile Show in November 1900. 'Ask The Man Who Owns One,' was adopted as the company's advertising slogan.

By 1903 Packard's first four-cylinder car - the Model K - had arrived and the single-cylinder's days were numbered. Packard's four grew in engine capacity over the next few years before stabilizing at 431.9ci (7,080cc) in 1907 with the introduction of the Model 30, by which time the number of body styles offered had increased from one to four. In 1909 the company introduced a downsized Packard – the Model 18 – featuring a shorter wheelbase and smaller (265.7ci, 4,356cc) four-cylinder engine. Built to the same exemplary standards as the range-topping Model 30 yet $1,000 cheaper, the Model 18 was nevertheless consistently outsold by its larger sibling until it disappeared from the range at the end of the 1912 season when Packard ceased to build four-cylinder cars.

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

This fine example of Packard's beautifully designed Model 18 is rare in that it is known to have always been in the Runabout form in which it is seen today. The Runabouts were built on special short wheelbase chassis measuring a mere 102 inches in 1909-1911 seasons and are thought to have accounted for a fraction of their production figures, with most being touring or formal cars. As it was in 1911 only 400 of the Model were built in total. To add to the aesthetic appeal, the radiator and engine are set back significantly in the chassis which when combined with the transaxle 'box makes for excellent weight distribution and therefore handling too. It was a formula that they mirrored on the Model 30 Runabouts also.

According to the well-researched Packards Online Registry, car 19101's ownership can be charted back to the teen era, and while its original purchaser is not recorded, from this information we do know that the next owner was Frederick T. Ward of East Orange, New Jersey who acquired the car in 1916. Ward's tenure stretched forward for a considerable time, and it was most likely not until the 1940s when it next changed hands, being purchased then by the noted collector David Tunick, in a peak buying period for him. He retained the Model 18 until 1958 when it passed to another luminary in the hobby, Dick Teague, the famed AMC design vice president. This began a series of Mid-West owners, next being Jack Frost of Detroit in 1960; Norm Viney of Ohio in 1964 and briefly Bob Erausquin also of Ohio in 1980. At that point the car moved south to renowned Packard historian and co-author of Packard: A History of the Car and Company, L. Morgan Yost of Cherokee Village, Arkansas. Mr. Yost retained the Model 18 for the next eighteen years, and it is understood to have been restored during his ownership. From there it moved overseas through Mark Smith, into Spanish ownership only returning to the US in the last few years.

Sporting its distinctive white paintwork, the car has always been a familiar sight in the hobby and is rated by experts to be a highly authentic example of its breed. Viewed today, it retains key elements of the model including its matched numbers engine, correct Packard carburetor, oiler system, period Hartford shocks. A full complement of Brass accoutrements such as Packard Model 18 script headlights are present and all of its brightwork has been exquisitely refinished and literally gleams from stem to stern.

An ideal and sporting tour car, to assist with this it has the added benefit of a modern starter motor and later period Bosch magneto. It offers all of the quality of the early Packards at a modest price point.