Packard 1108 V-12 Sport Phaeton, 1934
Packard Twelve
Packard Twelve•
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Chassis No.: 902213
- Exterior: Beige
- Interior: Red
- Body: Sport Phaeton
- Coachwork by Fran Roxas in the Style of LeBaron
- 446/160 HP 67-degree L-head V-12 engine
- Stromberg downdraft 2-barrel carburetor
- 3-speed synchromesh manual gearbox
- 4-wheel vacuum-assisted mechanical drum brakes
- Finished in Beige with Red leather upholstery
- Dual remote spotlights
- Pilot Ray lights
- Wind wings
- Chrome wire wheels
- Wide Whitewall tires
This 1934 Packard 1108 V-12 Sport Phaeton is one of the marvels of the Academy of Art University Collection. Handcrafted by master coachbuilder Fran Roxas of Chicago, Illinois, the stunning LeBaron-style Sport Phaeton coachwork was designed by the great Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, making it one of that fascinating Russian expatriate’s grandest designs on one of America’s grandest automobiles. The word “Phaeton” has its roots in the Greek myth surrounding the son of the sun-god Helios, who, choosing to fly his father’s chariot to prove his godly lineage, forgot Helios’ caution against driving too close to the earth.
Phaeton clashed with the monsters of the zodiac, so losing his composure and control that Zeus was forced to kill the lad with a thunderbolt to prevent him from destroying the entire world.
In poetry, Phaeton became symbolic of heroic aspiration; at the end of the 17th century, the English periodical “Leather” addressed the proliferation of horse-drawn carriages in London, declaring, “Everie private Gentleman now is a Phaeton, and must hurrie with his thundering Caroch along the Streetes.” The symbolism caught hold in the early 18th century, when the word came to define a light, 4-wheeled open carriage drawn by two horses; at the dawn of the automotive age, it had little to travel on its way to describing an open, four-place close-coupled motorcar of sporting elegance, a popular variation being the dual-cowl phaeton with its rear seating area separated by a second deck and a windshield.
That design, which became increasingly popular in America while virtually disappearing in Europe, soon became known as the “Sport Phaeton.” Among the luxury automobile manufacturers of the 1920s and ‘30s, Packard was a popular foundation for many a phaeton design. The basic V-12 chassis and driveline constituted an imposing platform: a sturdy frame carrying the famous 446/160 HP 67-degree L-head V-12 engine, 3-speed transmission and advanced 4-wheel vacuum-assisted brakes.
Packard was relatively late in recognizing styling’s value as a sales tool, but when President and General Manager James Alvan Macauley accepted the idea, a group of expert stylists led by Sakhnoffsky was chosen in 1932 to work with Packard’s new (and first) in-house styling head, Edward Macauley. The Murray Body Corporation and LeBaron were also drafted into the mix, the latter already established as a leading design firm; but, the main outside influence was Raymond H. Dietrich.
Dietrich, who had co-founded LeBaron in New York City with fellow designer Thomas Hibbard in 1920, had later formed Dietrich Inc. in 1925—when Hibbard left for Europe to work with Dutch Darrin—and begun designing custom bodies for Packard, Lincoln, Marmon and other manufacturers. One of his most influential designs was for the Packard 645 DeLuxe Eight of 1929, a dramatic concept with a raised beltline giving the impression of decreased height and increased length. One of the period’s great American automotive designs, it established the Packard “look” all the way through the Eleventh Series represented in this 1934 V-12 Sport Phaeton.
It was on this refined template that Sakhnoffsky overlaid his own sensational design, leading with Dietrich’s new, taller radiator to his majestic false hood and the sculpted ovoid pontoon fenders that were another of his signature design elements. In contrast to the standard Packard motif, the beads flowing down from the front fenders and around the wheel openings were eliminated, and the running boards were not anchored to the front fenders. From any angle, Sakhnoffsky’s design is the essence of the sporting phaeton: elegant and faintly rakish, elements that are incorporated in this LeBaron-style dual-cowl sport phaeton by Fran Roxas.
Finished in beige with red leather upholstery and impressive details that include dual remote spotlights, Pilot Ray driving lights, wind wings and wide whitewalls on chromed wire wheels, this is an outstanding example of one of Packard’s rarest and most glamorous V-12 automobiles.
https://www.mecum.com/lots/381040/1934-packard-1108-v-12-sport-phaeton/
