Famed New York coachbuilder Rollston passed in 1938 into the ownership of longtime foreman Rudy Creteur, who for various business reasons revised its name to Rollson, without the “t.” In this form, Rollson continued to build a limited number of finely hewn bodies over the next five years, most prominently some of the final catalogued “semi-custom” designs for Packard, based upon the company’s most prestigious models.

Only two All-Weather Cabriolets are known to survive on the Eighteenth Series Custom Super Eight One Eighty chassis of 1940. As befits their bespoke nature, both cars are the same basic design but with detail differences. The example offered here is identified by a chrome trim strip running around the beltline where it meets the leather-covered roofline in the rear. According to its vehicle number plate as well as correspondence on file, the Packard Motor Car Company of New York delivered it on 25 September 1940.

In 1950, M.B. Hembel of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, one of the first pilots for Piedmont Airlines and a longtime enthusiast, acquired the All-Weather Cabriolet. Mr. Hembel sold it via a Motor Trend advertisement in 1958 to E.O. Nance, a prominent Reynoldsburg, Ohio, businessman and car collector who exhibited it at several regional events during the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1978, the car was sold from the estate of Mr. Nance, great-grandfather of the present owner, to the owner’s mother; and so has now continued as a proud possession of the family for over 65 years. It was restored to original condition in the late 1990s and afterwards occasionally shown in the Midwest, including some years on display in an Ohio museum. It was also the basis of a painting used in the 2001 White House Historical Association calendar, depicting the car with Eleanor Roosevelt and the famous “First Dog” Fala in the Executive Mansion courtyard. The restoration was freshened, both cosmetically and mechanically, following its departure from the museum in the mid-2000s.

Among the most significant senior Packards of its era and still in handsome condition, this wonderful piece of historic Rollson coachwork is desirable for any collection of the brand, or simply for those who enjoy fine machinery with a rich story to tell.