Vehicle number 1006-46 is one of a believed three Individual Custom All-Weather Town Cars built by LeBaron on the Packard Tenth Series V-12 chassis in 1933. It is the only one known to survive today, and it is also believed to have been the only example built as a landaulet, meaning that the rear quarter of the passenger compartment will fold down like a convertible top, allowing the passengers to experience an open car. Typical of LeBaron, the body was custom-built with aluminum and only the cowl and fenders were made of steel.

Being a town car, the Packard was chauffeur-driven and used primarily to carry its owners around town. In this case, the town was Philadelphia, where this handsome machine was sold new to Mrs. Aron E. Carpenter. Mrs. Carpenter’s husband and son headed the E.F. Houghton Company, a petroleum distributing firm that held the patent on various hydraulic fluids and Cosmoline, which was used by the military and others as a coating to keep guns, tools, and metal from rusting.

The car remained with the Carpenter family for 22 years before being sold by its original owner’s daughter-in-law to Gilbert Christensen. A year later, Mr. Christensen sold the Packard to Al Dumrose, a Packard collector who proceeded to drive the Town Car Landaulet from Philadelphia back to his hometown of Corrales, New Mexico.

Following ownerships in New Mexico and California, the Packard made its way through the hands of A.L. Valentine and Tom Lester. In 1974, it was sold to Bill Dillman, of Fairfield, Connecticut. After over two decades of ownership, it was owned by renowned Packard authority Gene Perkins and then acquired by the present owner.

When the current owner acquired the Town Car Landaulet, he chose to have a complete body-on restoration performed, which included applying new paint, replating the chrome, rebuilding the engine, and installing a new top and new upholstery throughout the car. The car retains all of its original body panels, fenders, and body wood; the owner has carefully recorded copies of all relevant numbers from the car, including the proving ground tag from the passenger glove box, which reads “July 18, 1933 AF# 460.” The only major change on the car from new has, in fact, been an adjustment of the rear axle ratio from the original 4:69 to 4:07, which was performed to improve the car’s CARavan performance.

This remarkable Packard was judged Second in Class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2009, followed by a 100-point score at the 2010 CCCA Grand Classic at Hickory Corners and being awarded the CCCA Trophy at the Gilmore Museum Experience the same year. It is also an AACA Senior Award winner, a National Award nominee, and has won its class at several other smaller concours d’elegance. Not just a show queen, it is also a superb road car, having been driven on the Colorado Region Big Sky CARavan in 2008.

Few Individual Custom Packard Twelves survive today, and even fewer have benefited from consistent care and enjoyment for their entire lives. This is one of the great Twelves, and it is being offered here for a proud new caretaker to enjoy.