Photo of the Month for July

"Packard Abstract"

I'm of that generation where a boy's love of cars was at the center of his consciousness. We chopped them, blocked them, painted them with many coats of shiny lacquer and yes we raced them in the streets and cruised around the drive-in diners in them. Think "Happy Days." I think this affection doesn't go away as we get to be older boys. I still love big old classic cars. My first one was a 1949 Hudson. Originally green, I had it painted black, removed the hood ornament and leaded in the holes and then moved the antenna from the front to the rear fender. I installed 2" lowering blocks on the rear. This move was self defeating as the Hudson already had about the lowest silhouette of any car back then. After dragging the street a few times with the rear end, I had to remove the blocks.


I found the subject of my "Packard Abstract" at a July 4th antique car show several years ago. The original color was a beautiful cream. Here is an unprocessed photo of the original for comparison and an additional view.