For 1941, Packard introduced new design features that would notably differentiate the latest Nineteenth Series from its predecessors. These included headlights faired into the front fenders, a dramatic new grille treatment with “dummy” grilles set below the front fender catwalks, and 15-inch wheels that lowered the cars, thereby leading to the elimination of running boards as a standard feature. Though the 12-cylinder powertrains were nixed after 1939, the 356-cubic-inch straight-eight soldiered on, and buyers were better for it; the inline eight-cylinder engines were at least as powerful and significantly more reliable than the vaunted V-12.

In considering a Classic Era Packard, connoisseurs look for the original vehicle tag on the firewall, confirming the car’s original vehicle number, delivery date, and selling dealer. This Super Eight One-Sixty 7-Passenger Touring Sedan goes one better, as it still has its original bill of sale from salesman C.L. Norton of Alvan Fuller’s Packard Motor Car Company of Boston. This notes that the car was delivered with engine number D503713—still present today—and “complete equipment,” including six wheels, the Electromatic clutch, and Aero Drive, which is an overdrive-module for the transmission. The sale price was $2,698.50. The car’s original owner, Alfred C. Gardner of Revere, Massachusetts, traded in his 1937 Packard 7-Passenger Sedan toward the purchase of this similarly bodied, new-for-1941 Super Eight One-Sixty model.

The Gardner family sold the Packard in 2005 to the previous owner, from whom the consignor subsequently acquired it in January 2018. A title document at the time listed 55,794 actual miles.

Under the consignor’s care, this exceptional and well-preserved Grove Green Super Eight One-Sixty has been regularly maintained for optimal touring use. As such, the consignor has enjoyed nearly 1,450 miles behind the wheel throughout his five years of cherished ownership, during which the car’s braking system was overhauled, signal lights were added, and a new set of period-style whitewall tires were fitted.

As presented today, this nicely preserved Senior Series Packard is offered with a history file that includes the aforementioned bill of sale, several early 1940s registration and gas-ration cards, the original service booklet, and the paper headlamp and Electromatic tags that would have been suspended from the dashboard switches when Mr. Gardener took delivery of the new car in April 1941.