Museum gets 1901 Packard Model C
Trending
WARREN -- The National Packard Museum now is home to two of the five oldest surviving Packard automobiles.
A 1901 Model C, restored by Leavittsburg collector Terry Martin, is on indefinite loan at the museum and joins the 1900 Model B, the second-oldest Packard still in existence.
Mary Ann Porinchak, executive director of the museum said, "Terry's vision was to have one of every model year built in Warren on display here … We have the 1900, which is getting a bonnet put on it and will be back in January, an '01 and an '03. If we can get a 1902, we can fill in the gap and get what Terry envisioned for this museum."
The single-cylinder vehicle has a steering wheel (not a tiller, which was used in the Model B), patent leather fenders and a rear-facing back seat. Its maximum speed was 22 miles per hour.
The 1901 Model C -- with serial number C-72 -- has a historic lineage. According to the history compiled by Packard collector Charles Flinchbaugh of New York, it was purchased by John Martin Satterfield, who entered the vehicle in the American Automobile Club of America's endurance test from New York City to Buffalo, N.Y. The race was halted on Sept. 14, 1901, due to the death of President William McKinley, who was shot Sept. 6 in Buffalo.
The Packard Motor Car Company purchased the car from Satterfield in 1910 to use it to establish the patents for the early innovations featured on the vehicle, Porinchak said. Satterfield put 30,000 miles on the car while he owned it.
"He had not modified the car at all, only a couple minor things," Porinchak said. "It held up for 30,000 miles, which is pretty crazy."
The Packard company displayed the car at dealerships around the country, until it was damaged heavily in a fire at the 1929 Los Angeles Auto Show.
"They took the chassis, fixed it up and restored it just to show the chassis around at dealerships," Porinchak said.
When Packard merged with Studebaker, the remains of the car became their property. When Studebaker folded, it became the property of the city of South Bend, Ind.
"Terry cut a deal for restoration services for another vehicle," Porinchak said. "The trade was he got the chassis so he could rebuild that car."
Work on the vehicle spanned decades.
Martin's son, John, said, "The biggest challenge with early cars is finding the parts and the stuff you need. It was low production numbers to begin with, in the hundreds. Then add 100 years to that, which makes parts very, very scarce. Some of the parts have to be made from scratch, either copying someone else's car or doing research."
The highlight came when they fired up the engine for the first time last year.
"Dad almost cried," John Martin said. "When you wait 20 years to piece something like that back together and finally see it have its own life there, you get emotional."
The vehicle currently is on display in the south corner of the museum. When the Corvette show currently at the museum ends next spring, it will be displayed just outside of the Terry Martin tribute gallery.
"He had the very first Packard Museum in his cabinet shop," Porinchak said. "We consider him the founder of the museum. It was his vision, his passion and his enthusiasm that brought this museum into being, and his enthusiasm was contagious."