From Dallas To Palm Springs In A 1941 Packard Woodie

And as I continued doing laps, the rest of the Car Show became less and less important. Matter of fact, I'd pretty much forgotten about the rest of the cars altogether. I was standing next to the Pot 'O Gold at the end of my Dream Car rainbow. What else did I need to see. Or want to for that matter.

It was right about that time I began to notice a gentleman that was doing a few laps around the Woodie as well. The only difference was, whereas I was afraid to get too close for fear of getting any dust on it, he was doing his best to keep it clean, wiping away any hints of dust before they could even land.

Gathering up some courage I decided to strike up a conversation of sorts. By conversation, I mean I basically stood there and mumbled "Wow, what a beautiful Woodie." Or at least that's what I think I said anyway. Who knows. To which he responded "Thanks, it was just restored and this is the first time it's been out."

Ahhhh... no wonder this dream machine looked so flawless. Because it was. Every inch of this thing had been touched. And as I would come to learn, to the tune of $150K! Yes, you read that correctly. One hundred fifty thousand dollars were spent on the restoration. Not including the price of the car itself, which couldn't have been cheap by any means.

Admittedly these weren't numbers I wasn't somewhat familiar with. At that time a "basic" Ford Woodie Wagon restored to a high standard would run approximately $60K to $80K so once again, this baby was 2 to 3 times higher than the average Woodie restoration. And it showed.

We talked a while longer and I finally had to convince myself to move on and leave my Dazed Groupie status behind. I was obsessed with the car and he knew it. I knew it. It was time to check out the rest of the show.

As my buddy and I continued on down Palm Canyon Dr., quenching our thirst became next on the agenda. Spying a two story place up ahead with lots of folks upstairs enjoying the view of the show from the patio, we thought why not join 'em. And so we did.

After a couple hours or so the cars slowly began to leave. And as they did, they were moving south right past us at parade speeds, which afforded us a great view of the lineup. One after another, the vintage assortment rolled by. Awesome to say the least.

Suddenly, there it was. And by "IT", I'm of course referring to the Packard Woodie. Inching ever closer in all its wooden glory, I could hardly wait to see it roll by. It was still a block or so up the street so I did my best to elbow my way up to the wrought iron railed stucco wall surrounding the patio.

This is right about the time things got weird. And by weird, I mean REALLY weird. To the point that I was glad that nobody could see what I was thinking because if they had, they likely might have talked me out of what I was about to do. And I can only thank my lucky stars they didn't because what was about to happen is a memory I will have forever.

I'd loved Woodies nearly my entire life. Always wanted one but never imagined actually making that dream come true. They were simply beyond my price range. And I knew that. But it never stopped me from dreaming.

And as I approached, my dreams only got deeper. It was better than anything I could've ever imagined. It appeared to be brand new. As a matter of fact, better than new. I honestly don't believe they had the means necessary at the factory back in 1941 to create anything of this sort.

The Packard One-Twenty Station Wagon's were the top of the line for 1941, with a base price of $1,541 not including any options. When you consider the median home price at the time was right around $3.000, that will give you some kind of an idea of where this vehicle stood among the giants of the day. Not to mention, if you were able to afford such a vehicle at that time, it goes without saying you were truly doing well in life.

As I walked around the mighty Packard, among the crowd of others doing the same thing, it became increasingly apparent that this beauty was everything it appeared to be. And more. Top to bottom... front to back. Inside, outside and yes, even the underside were simply magnificent.

It was almost as if it had never been driven at all. Everywhere I looked it was impossible to find even the slightest hint of a flaw. And believe me, I looked. I'm a detail freak and this specimen passed every test.

I did my best to snap a few photos in between crowds but wasn't having much luck. I did get a couple, I only wish I knew where they were now. In those days cell phones weren't always in hand, ready for an impromptu photo or fifty. However I did my best to take as many mental photos as humanly possible.

And as I continued doing laps, the rest of the Car Show became less and less important. Matter of fact, I'd pretty much forgotten about the rest of the cars altogether. I was standing next to the Pot 'O Gold at the end of my Dream Car rainbow. What else did I need to see. Or want to for that matter.

It was right about that time I began to notice a gentleman that was doing a few laps around the Woodie as well. The only difference was, whereas I was afraid to get too close for fear of getting any dust on it, he was doing his best to keep it clean, wiping any hints of dust off before they could even land.

Gathering up some courage I decided to strike up a conversation of sorts. By conversation, I mean I basically stood there drooling and somehow managed to mumble "Wow, what a beautiful Woodie." Or at least that's what I think I said anyway. At this point who knows. To which he replied "Thanks, it was just restored and this is the first time it's been out."

Ahhhh... no wonder this dream machine looked so flawless. Because it was. Every inch of this thing had been toughed. And as I would come to learn, to the tune of $150K! Yes, you read that correctly. One hundred fifty thousand dollars were spent on the restoration. Not including the price of the car itself.

With more than a few too many glasses of Liquid Courage under my belt, knowing it was now or forever hold my peace, I sacrificed all semblance of pride and yelled out "Hey Richard (to this day I still believe that was his name but I was informed many years after that I might have been incorrect), how about a ride?"

Now, keep in mind this was a completely insane, last second, now or never, spur of the moment type of thing above and beyond what any so called "normal" person would do. And yes, I was the right man for the job because right about then, nothing else mattered. Least of all, sanity. Or the appearance thereof.

It was almost as if he knew it was going to happen. I was upstairs among a huge crowd of people, hidden behind the tops of quite a few large palm trees, overlooking a sidewalk filled with hundreds of other people and yet, as if it was meant to be, he looked right at me and yelled back, "Sure, hop in!"

Asking my buddy to hold my beer, I ran down the stairs as quickly as I could (without tripping), not wanting to seem overly anxious but still wanting to get there before my window of opportunity closed and fortunately for me, I made it.

Scrambling around to the passenger side, I was almost afraid to touch the door handle. It was so nice, I didn't want to get fingerprints on it. And speaking of prints, the last thing I wanted to do was get any dirt on those brand new floor mats. If there would have been any way to get in and sit down without touching anything, I would have.

It became immediately clear that I was much more concerned with the possibility of getting things dirty than he was. To him, it was just a car. A car that he really didn't know a whole lot about other than he wrote quite a few checks to get it up to the ultimate Woodie status that it now enjoyed. The restoration took a couple years and it was more than obvious he was in his glory, finally being able to experience it after all that time.

And I was even more stoked to be experiencing that journey right along with him. As we continued to putt along between stops & starts, I did my best to absorb all of the goodness I could from my passenger seat vantage point.

From the glistening dash to the leather headliner above the front seat, freshly varnished wooden door panel to wooden door panel, the smell of brand new was impossible to ignore. Lightheaded as I may have been I did my best to attempt a bit of small talk.

But to be honest, I have no idea what I said. All I knew was 3 or 4 hours prior to this I was walking laps around this beauty, laying eyes on it for the first time. And now here I was, riding down Palm Canyon Drive, surrounded by palm trees, lots of people, and a ton of sunshine.

And almost as fast as it started, it was over. Yep, six blocks went by like it was six feet. Far too quickly. I thanked him profusely for the trip, we said our goodbye's and just like that, he was headed back to his enclosed trailer to load up for the trip back to Orange County. No doubt this beauty was meant to be trailered that distance, not driven. Not that it wouldn't have made it but all it takes is one rock chip to ruin your day. Why risk it.

Walking back to the restaurant to connect with my buddy, still in a dream state of sorts, I did my best to gather my wits about me. Watching the rest of the vintage beauties cruising by, sun hiding behind the palm trees, getting ever closer to the mountaintops, perfect temps, I found myself submersed in a world in which I was completely unfamiliar.

Once upstairs and reconnected with reality, I did my best to reflect on my recent experience. Unfortunately, I have a feeling I sounded like a blithering idiot. Was it the beer talking or was it a severe case of Packard Woodieitis. I'm leaning more towards the latter.

I have a feeling my buddy was more amazed that I did a spur of the moment shoutout from a second story patio deck to someone that I really didn't know, asking for a ride in the recent recipient of a $150K restoration. Had it not been me that did it, chances are I would've been just as astonished as he was.

Come to think of it, I was pretty darn astonished myself. I mean, what in the world was I thinking asking an almost complete stranger for a ride. Let alone is such a wonderful car. And I guess that's just it. I wasn't thinking.

There was no time to think about it, let alone overthink it. It was such a now or never thing that I knew it was now or forever live with the regret of wondering what if. What if I would've asked. Would he have said yes or no. Heck, would he have even paid any attention to someone screaming from a far off balcony.

The entire episode was so wild that had I not experienced it for myself I highly doubt I would've believed it. But I did live it. I did experience it. And it was wonderful.

The rest of the day was pretty much a blur, my mind filled with mental photos of everything I could take in. Of course, they were all focused around a particular Packard. And a six block journey that would alter my future path in a big way.

And by that I mean from that point on I began to focus even more on making my dream of owning a Woodie Wagon more than just a dream. Took me another 5 or so years and with a bit of creative thinking, a few sacrifices, and some help from an outside source I was able to make my dream come true.

Yes, I was finally a member of the Woodie Owner's Club. Sure, it was entry level and needed tons of work. But at the end of the day, it was a real life, wooden bodied Station Wagon. And even though I was playin' in the cheap seats, it was still my ticket to all of the "Woodie Only" lifestyle perks that came with Woodie ownership.

I attended many of the So. Cal. Woodie Events over the next 10 years or so and weird as it may seem I never again saw my Dream Packard 120. Nope, not once. Which to me seemed super odd. Who spends $150K (plus the price of the car itself) to own such an amazing car, yet never attends any of the local events. Apparently, the owner of the Packard woodie, that's who.

Unfortunately, my Membership Card to the Woodie Owner's Club expired back around 2007. The crash of the global markets chewed me up and spit me out, broke and Woodieless. All things considered, I had a great run.

As the years continued rolling by, still having friends involved in the Woodie World, I never completely lost contact with things. I attended a couple random Woodie events here and there but nothing near the magnitude of when I actually owned a Woodie myself.

Honestly, it just wasn't the same. Yes, it was fun 'n all but I always felt as if I was on the outside lookin' in. Looking back on it now, it was almost worse than prior to ever owning a Woodie. The thought that I'd worked so hard and sacrificed so much to originally get involved, only to lose it all, was without a doubt disheartening and most definitely tarnished the entire atmosphere for me.

Even though I was no longer involved, that didn't stop me from checking out the monthly Woodie Club newsletter every now and then. Full of Club news, upcoming events, recent events as well as a Classified section. And it was in that classified section that the strangest thing happened.

On the inside of the back cover there's a recurring ad from a very well known (in the world of Woodies) Woodie Dealer. The ad itself is always in color, highlighting four or so Woodies in their inventory. Either currently for sale or recent sales, they were pretty much the best known of the Dealers at that time.

As I glanced at their ad, not really expecting to see anything out of the ordinary, something caught my eye. In a big way. Now, when I say out of the ordinary, you have to keep in mind there are only so many Woodies out there today. At least in reasonably complete condition.

Most have deteriorated to the point where the metal body parts are there but anything and everything wood related is long gone. That's just the nature of the beast. Which is a big reason for Woodies being so special. They simply didn't survive, despite the best of care.

Not only that but the wooden bodies can cost upwards of $40k to $50K to replace. That's for the wood only! Not to mention there are very few craftsmen out there able to handle such a task. Which leads to waiting lines in the neighborhood of two years plus just to get started. Then they still have to do the work. Hence a true Woodie restoration taking 3 or more years is nothing out of the ordinary.

I say all that just to point out the fact that there are always Woodies under repair. And they make their debut every now and then. So it's not out of the ordinary to see something you've never seen. But this one, this was something special. Something that stood out for more than its good looks. More than its being uniquely rare.

Yes, the more I looked, the more I knew this was it. This was the Packard Woodie. THE  '41 Packard Woodie. The one I rode in a dozen or so years prior. According to production records, there were only 58 Packard Woodies produced for the 1941 Model year. Of which there are maybe 10 (in various stages of condition) known to exist today.

And once I was able to locate one of the photos I snapped that day oh so long ago, a quick check of the license plate confirmed it. There it was, in all its glory, and truth be known, it looked just as it did when I rode in it. Chances are it had very few miles on it but being meticulously cared for over the decade, it was still a sight to behold.

All those years having gone by and here it was. As if running into a long lost friend, one you haven't seen in forever, yet felt immediately connected to. It was as if no time had passed at all.

The following is the listing that accompanied the photos on the Woodie website.

It was the roaring 1980's, the "Dallas" television series was in full swing, filming successfully year after year, making fortunes for the actors involved.  At the conclusion of an exhausting day of filming, the owner of the beautiful '41 Packard 120 could not wait to get behind the wheel and drive! 

He maneuvered the Woodie past the guard at the Studio's main gate, who smiled and waved good-bye; George loved seeing the gorgeous Packard come and go daily.  As the wagon passed, the crowd pushed forward, putting a terrible strain on the stanchions holding the red velvet ropes that separated the curious from the celebrities.  The wagon's owner was in a hurry to get the Packard out on the open road with its powerful 8 cylinder engine and silky smooth Aero-Drive overdrive transmission! 

The flawless dark green paint glistened in the late afternoon sun and contrasted beautifully with the impeccably varnished new ash wood body.  The Woodie sped north on Highland Ave. and accelerated briskly onto the Hollywood freeway for a short drive to his home in the Hollywood hills.
 
This 1941 Packard 120 was Celebrity owned for years.  Later sold and underwent a complete restoration in the early 90's by Custom Auto Service in Santa Ana (a prestigious Packard restoration service).  The dark green paint goes beautifully with the perfect, glove soft, factory correct, saddle colored, leather interior seating. 

The smooth running straight 8 engine and trans purrs like a kitten at freeway speeds. The Packard features many factory options including radio and heater and the flawlessly smooth, Aero-Drive transmission. This gorgeous Packard has won many first and second place awards at concourse events throughout the Southland.