1932 Packard 904 Sedan

A rare & unique opportunity for a Preservation Class candidate
Sold
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
  • 1932 Packard 904 Sedan
A rare & unique opportunity for a Preservation Class candidate
Without doubt, this 1932 Packard 904 Sedan is the ideal preservation class candidate for the 2020 concours season. An original time capsule with unsurpassed originality, this car has not been touched or massaged and has never been publicly displayed. Coupled with its extraordinary provenance including single-family ownership from new until 2009, now is the time to acquire this car for application to 2020 events including Pebble Beach. Unseen, untouched, unparalleled.

ABOVE: Factory photographs of the 904 Deluxe Eight sedan: from top to bottom, prototype and production form.  Courtesy Detroit Public Library

 

 

ABOVE: The Packard Deluxe Eight catalogue for 1932 depicted a 904 sedan in the same color scheme ordered by the Dämms, down to the artillery wheels.

Original Dataplate

This Packard was purchased new by Rudolph and Florence Dämm who lived in a brownstone on Bergen Street in Brooklyn, New York. According to the original data plate, the Dämms took delivery though their local dealer in Brooklyn on December 10, 1932. Intended as an owner-driver car, the 5/7 Passenger Sedan was the only factory body style to be produced on the prestigious 904 chassis, which was generally reserved only for custom coachwork.

Mr. Dämm was a lawyer for an old Brooklyn law firm, as well as a Director of the Genesee & Wyoming Valley Railroad. The Dämm family owned a lake home nearly four hundred miles North in Errol, New Hampshire, and their Packard was used for commutes between the city and Errol.

In 1948, the Packard was given to the youngest of the Dämm’s fourteen children, Frances. It remained well-maintained, eventually permanently residing in the carriage house of the family summer home where Frances lived after her retirement in 1976, along with her other unmarried siblings. One onlooker who heard of the car in the 1970s was told by Frances that the car had originally belonged to her mother and would never leave the family while her children were still living.

Mrs. Dämm and three of her daughters, spending time at home in Errol, in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The Packard is visible at right. Courtesy the Dämm family. 

The Packard remained in Errol until 2009; the 95-year-old Frances Dämm was now the last surviving of the fourteen siblings, and gave the Packard to the property’s caretaker, just two years prior to her passing
Labeled “Day they took it out & gave to caretaker,” this photograph shows the Packard emerging from the Dämm family barn in Errol in 2009.
Aside from an engine rebuild in 1990, it remains completely original and unrestored, including its original paint scheme Monarch Maroon with Black fenders and moldings; rare optional wood artillery wheels; and untouched broadcloth upholstery. Interestingly, this is the exact livery shown on this body style in the 1932 Packard Deluxe Eight sales brochure. The car has been recently serviced with necessary maintenance performed, and all systems have been found to be in excellent operating condition including the vacuum clutch, a technological marvel not introduced until mid-1932.
Along with an original copy of the factory brochure and a series of 1932 Packard factory photographs showing every detail still found on the car today, it is accompanied by a fascinating collection of documentation from throughout its long life. This includes the original unused Packard service and survey cards, photocopies of period Dämm family photographs showing the family with the car in its early life, Rudolph Dämm’s 1936 calendar, a 1938 New York traffic regulations booklet, and a 1948 Esso map of New England from the glove box, as well as the car’s 1948 and 1949 registration stubs and corresponding 1948 New York license plates.

As Packard of unsurpassed originality, the Dämm 904 presents the ideal opportunity for preservation class preparation and concours display just in time for the 2020 season.

 

The owner survey and service card from Packard, never filled out by the original owners in their 79 years of ownership.
Original owner Rudolph Dämm’s pocket calendar from 1936
 
1938 New York traffic regulations booklet
1948 Esso map of New England
1948 New York registration stub
1949 New York registration stub

1948-49 New York registration plates
 
Emerging Packard
Emerging from storage in 2019.  Just look at the the paint rub through on the hood makes me imagine the family chauffeur polishing the hood while waiting for his passengers as they dine.
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This automobile has been sold, thank you for your business!

Listing Type: SOLD
Year: 1932
Make: Packard
Model: 904
Body Style: 5-7 Passenger Sedan
Transmission: 3-Speed Manual
Condition: Original
Location: Smithfield, RI 02917

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