Introduced in August 1933, the Eleventh-Series Packard Twelve reflected a growing influence in streamlined design, and today they are considered some of the most beautifully drawn and exquisitely proportioned cars ever built by the firm. Among the roster of available body styles, the Convertible Victoria on the 147-inch-wheelbase 1107 platform stands tall, with its svelte and elegant lines that, as historian Edward J. Blend noted, “represented a design high point” for its era.

Vehicle number 747-22 is one of fewer than 10 known surviving original Convertible Victorias on the 1107 Twelve chassis, as recorded by Mr. Blend in his landmark work, The Magnificent Packard Twelve of Nineteen Thirty-Four. Actually the 12th example of the style built by vehicle number, it was shipped across the Atlantic and delivered in Milan, Italy in March 1934, reportedly for that year’s auto show.

Enthusiast Dr. Veniero Molari of Turin acquired the car and undertook its original restoration, then retained it for many years. It was in his ownership that the Packard was recorded in Mr. Blend’s book in 1972 and, despite the distance, Mr. Molari was an active member of the Classic Car Club of America, who occasionally ventured to attend the club’s annual get-togethers in Hershey, Pennsylvania. In 2000 it was finally released from Dr. Molari’s ownership, brought to the United States, and acquired by longtime Packard collector David Kane, who undertook a fresh cosmetic restoration in the hands of the respected specialists Stone Barn of Vienna, New Jersey.

With the work completed, the Packard was acquired by another noted collector, John Groendyke of Enid, Oklahoma, then passed to Carmine Zeccardi of New Jersey, from whom Charles J. Noto purchased it in May 2003. It has been one of the prizes of the Noto Collection ever since, exhibited at such events as the CCCA Metro Region Grand Classic of 2009, where it was judged a Primary First Prize winner with 98.75 points, and winning an Antique Automobile Club of America Senior First Prize at Hershey in 2003. The restoration has held up extremely well and is still in excellent overall condition, with light age and wear visible to the engine compartment and chassis finishes. Significantly, the car retains its original chassis frame, engine, and steering box, all of which are numbered very near one another, and is believed to retain its original front axle, as well, though the number could not be located during cataloguing. It also retains its original body tag under the passenger seat.

An outstanding and pure example of the Eleventh Series Twelve Convertible Victoria, the “Italian Victoria” is a marvelous combination of superb engineering, elegant body design, and American restoration craftsmanship, and stands as one of the very finest of its type. It is a sterling acquisition for any Packard enthusiast, especially considering that the majority of the surviving examples are greatly treasured by their owners and have remained in their hands for many years.