Rodney Kemerer
When we last left our dusty 1941 Packard Model 110 (Old Cars Dec. 1, 2023), she had found a new home, and even after 60-plus years, she fired up right away with only fluid changes.
There is something very special about a one-owner “garage find” that captures people’s attention and emotions. I think it has to do with our love of cars that have stories and personal history. You feel somehow more connected to a one-owner car. Its story becomes yours to tell.
Since our Sleeping Beauty still wears her 60-plus years of a protective coating of garage dust, her new owner has felt torn about washing off the accumulated history. The car was now running and driving on the original tires (but with new inner tubes), and he resisted the idea of any restoration. The condition of the paint and chrome indicated that it would polish up very well. But Eric, the new owner, resisted the urge, somehow sensing its story was best told in its as-found condition.
Rodney Kemerer
I would love to say that our “Sleeping Beauty” finally went to the ball, except that it was Cinderella who went to the ball, not Sleeping Beauty (a small detail). If Sleeping Beauty were to go to a ball (perhaps as Cinderella’s “plus one”), then the perfect event was the San Marino Motor Classic in San Marino, Calif., this past August. It is one of Southern California’s best car shows, if not its best. This year, there were more than 350 cars (see Sanmarinomotorclassic.com for details). An amazing collection of spectacular cars, but only one “Sleeping Beauty” as it turns out.
Rodney Kemerer
Eric decided to show the Model 110 at San Marino in its as-found condition, along with a poster board of the two “Tales from the Garage” columns about its discovery and resurrection. This was a big crowd pleaser. During the day, she was never alone and always had people around her, looking inside and under the split two-piece hood, and stopping to read her history on the poster boards. The car acted as a springboard into the past. While not a fancy or luxurious car, the fact that she survived and made it to the car show was a sort of symbol of survivorship. She was, barely, a prewar car, and our lives would never be the same by the next model year. Her magnetic appeal was undeniable.
Perhaps Sleeping Beauty did not go to the ball in the fairy tale, but this beauty came in the back door and stole the hearts of all the guests.
Want more “Garage Tales?” Rodney Kemerer’s new book “Tales From the Garage” is an illustrated collection of his best essays and will be available from Amazon Books. Learn more about the book at TalesFromtheGarage.com.
*Editor’s note: Rodney Kemerer’s “Tales From the Garage” column appeared for many years in Garage Style Magazine. This is his first column for Old Cars, and the staff is proud to welcome Rodney and his contributions.
Read more about the ’41 Packard below
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