Packard’s Light Eight of 1932 was the company’s first attempt at a lower-priced model, intended to boost sales in the depths of the Great Depression. Combining the Standard Eight’s 120-horsepower engine with a smaller, lighter chassis had the unintended but wonderful result of making the car both less expensive and a better performer than many other Packards. Distinguished by its unique, distinctive “shovelnose” radiator shell, it has been referred to over the years as everything from a “factory hot rod” to “Packard’s muscle car,” testament to its impressive combination of jaunty performance and elegant good looks. Alas, in its original “shovelnose” configuration, the Light Eight was made for only a single year.

The Light Eight Coupe Roadster offered here, equipped with the desirable single rear-mounted spare, is identified on its reproduction vehicle number tag as having been sold new by the L.R. Mack dealership in Albany, New York, on 28 April 28 1932. It was restored for Don and Barbara Zerth of Lansing, Illinois, by the great Fran Roxas, who for decades was among North America’s foremost restorers of Full Classics, responsible for the exquisite rebirths of many of the finest Duesenbergs, Cadillacs, Packards, and their ilk. This was one of the few Light Eights to receive his touch, and typical of a Roxas restoration, no stone was left untouched in making it one of the finest in the world. Accordingly, at the completion of the restoration, the car became one of the most award-winning examples of its kind in Classic Car Club of America competition. It achieved its Premier First at the end of a run of four consecutive 100-point scores, and won its class at the CCCA Museum Experience twice, in 1991 and 2003—12 years apart.

More recently very well-maintained in the present collection, the car retains its original frame, engine, and steering box, with numbers near together in the expected fashion, and its Roxas restoration is in remarkably well-preserved condition throughout. In fact, it would still undoubtedly be welcomed at concours d’elegance, as it remains one of the most beautifully finished examples of its kind.