Early in 1929, before the stock market crashed, Packard introduced the 645 Deluxe Eight, a chassis specifically designed for the extravagant custom and semi-custom bodies of the time. These long-wheelbase cars, with their long hoods and strong and silent nine-main-bearing engines, have come to be regarded by collectors as the ultimate examples of Packard’s Sixth Series cars.

The car offered here is one of very few surviving genuine Roadsters built on the long 645 Deluxe Eight chassis, to a design by famed coachbuilder Raymond Dietrich, and is one of even fewer than remain original and unrestored.

Discovered by the current owner after four decades spent in a barn in Lexington, Massachusetts, the car remains extremely original and complete, with the exception of a new radiator shell, believed to be from a 640, and a new taillight; the only other major missing component is the windshield, which has yet to be sourced. The engine and frame numbers are very close together, indicating that the engine is the original unit to the car, and the roadster body shows no evidence of having ever been removed from the frame. The vehicle number plate on the firewall is believed to be original and records that the car was delivered by G.R. Briggs of Plymouth, Massachusetts, on 31 July 1929.

While the Packard is thoroughly patinaed throughout, the owner has returned it to running and driving condition and has enjoyed the breezy open-air experience of driving it around town in good weather, sans windshield. It would be fun to continue enjoying as-such; to exhibit in the Preservation class of any concours d’elegance, or in AACA HPOF competition; or to restore back to its original beauty and elegance.

The opportunity to acquire a 645 Deluxe Eight Roadster is rare indeed. Rarer still are the numerous opportunities presented by this original and unrestored example, offered here for the first time – nearly as exciting as its discovery must have been in that Massachusetts barn!