Pretty, Fast.      The PACKWOOD Special

The genesis of the Packwood Special begins with Mr. Steve Mulholland of Seal Beach, California.  The year was 1957, and Steve decided to build a car... a thought not all that uncommon in the car culture of Los Angeles.  Almost all of the “California Specials” followed the same formula, a big American V8 in a smaller, lighter car.  Steve’s car would continue the practice, with a slant.  He must have assumed the car would be the sum of its parts, because he started by spending a lot of 1958 dollars on really good stuff.

He started by having racer Bill Pollack build a frame, out of 2x3 rectangular tubing with a wheelbase of 98 inches.  What to use for motive power?   Sydney (Allard) liked Cadillac’s, Ak (Miller) used an Olds, and Max (Balchowski) a nailhead Buick.  Steve went the Briggs (Cunningham) route, and a hemi from a Chrysler 300C was chosen.  So far, so good.   He bought a gearbox for a Jaguar XKC, Porsche speedster seats, borrani knock-off wire wheels, stewart warner gauges, and a new corvette steering wheel. To stop the thing, he bought the biggest Lincoln brakes available. The quest for parts continued. Lovely Pininfarina door handles, polished aluminum castings (you pressed a button to expose the handle!) that came off an A6 Maserati or some other Italian creation. Ditto the flip-top fuel filler. The gas tank was an aircraft item, the gas pedal was from Moon equipment, and the tires were Pirelli.  To wrap it in, he bought a Victress C-3 coupe body.  The parts pile grew and most of what he needed to build his car was sitting on the shelf.  And that’s where they stayed.  A lot of projects that begin with the best intentions do end up shelved, as did this one.  If you’re a member of this group, you know the drill.  Babies come and careers change.  It happens.

Steve bought a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, (already assembled!) and put the dream up for sale.  Early 1959…  The ad in the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times classifieds said something like:  “SPORTS CAR SPECIAL, CHRYSLER ENGINE, UNBUILT, $1000.

Brother Bill bought the “car”.  What he actually bought, was a Victress body shell, (exactly like the one that just sold on ebay) The Pollack frame, the hemi, and boxes. Lots and lots of boxes!  It was a grand puzzle.  Assembly would be thorny at times, but it was obvious by the care Steve used in the selection of components that the end product could be, well, grand!  Parts-is-parts, and as nice as they were, were still just parts. 

The neighborhood in those days was a pretty exciting place for car-guys. There were lots of neat cars and people.  For a time, Wally Parks lived around the corner, and there was always something going on.  At that time, southern California had no less than eight drag strips, and at least 5 road courses.  The center of my attention was the family garage… Sometimes, the place would just crackle with excitement and activity.  At other times, Bill would be out there by himself putting something together, or trying to.  All in all, a pretty nifty atmosphere for me, still a kid in Junior High School.  Almost all of the assembly took place there.  Bill was fortunate that he had access to so much local talent.  The exhaust system was fabricated by Lou Gable, and ace mechanic John Simon did some headwork and engine tuning.  The “most valuable player” award went to master machinist Woody Sanders.  Woody, (Woody’s Grinding, Montebello, Ca.) was one of those guys that could do everything with anything, and frequently did! The hemi was mated with the C-Jag gearbox with a Hayes “Challenger” clutch. A new driveshaft was cut to fit the empty space between the tailpiece and the Lyeth Hi-Tork differential.  The 4, (count ‘em 4) Stromberg 97’s were tuned and mounted on the Weiand manifold.  It was fortunate that white-pump Chevron Custom Supreme was about forty cents a gallon, because the linkage was not progressive, the Stromberg’s  all came on together… kinda like turning on a light switch.  The chassis was soon rolling, and work continued on the C-3 Victress. I’m pretty certain (not 100%, sorry Pieter) the windshield specified was from a 1954 Plymouth convertible.  The rear window we used was the back light from a late 40’s Plymouth business coupe, turned upside down.  The taillights were “frenched” by glassing in a couple of Bon-Ami Cleanser cans.  The hood scoop was copied from a Ferrari Berlinetta in the Phil Hill / Fuller Brush catalogue.  Family friend Bob Duran (who ran the paint and body department at the South gate GM assembly plant) shot the car with several coats of 1960 Corvette Sateen Silver.  Progress thus far had taken the better part of a year.  With the body looking svelte, and the chassis running and driving, they were both tailored to the Victress “factory” for nuptials.  The marriage took about a week.  The car came back looking great, and it sat ‘just right’!  Plexiglas quarter windows were added, some Bervin carpet was cut to fit, including the area under the rear window where the spare Borrani was mounted,  and the dash panel was engine-turned… a perfect place to mount the dash-plaques to come.  The Packwood was registered with the state of California as the Packwood Special, and received California license plate VRB 131.  One day, Mr. Shelby saw the car when Bill was over at Dean Moon’s place. He expressed an interest in the car, and took it for a spin.  This was about 18 months before negotiations with AC.   Road & Track magazine did a photo shoot with the car in front of El Rancho High School.  There was some talk of it being on the cover… that never happened, but the car did appear in the Dec, 1961 issue.

The fist race for the car was a Cal Club event at the Stardust “raceway” in Las Vegas.  In those days, first time drivers had to start in the “novice” class.  Also in the race was another novice driver named Jerry (Jerry, are you out there?), in Ak Miller’s Devin Olds.  Bill finished 2^nd in the race, ahead of the very potent Devin. It was a successful first outing for the car.  The second event was in Palm Springs.  In the late 60’s (pre Goodyear Blue-Streak) if you wanted sticky tires, you either bought Engleberts, or you took what you had to Caldwell tire in Pasadena and got some racing recaps.  So… off to the races!  The car ran well, finished 3^rd, and attracted a lot of attention.  The third event for the car was held at the Los Angeles County fairgrounds in Pamona.  The weather was awful, it rained all weekend, everybody was soaking wet.  I remember the track announcer saying “the driver of that silver coupe sure must be the most comfortable one out there!”  Not exactly.  The car had no side windows or windshield wipers. Bill was soaked, but the car ran like a train, never spun, and ran well up in the order.  In the 3 events, car 142 always finished, ran strong, and looked beautiful.

Bill had just graduated from Long Beach State, his military service was looming, and the Packwood Special went on the block.  It was sold to Carl Tate, a member of this group!  Sometime later the car appeared in the Army newspaper, Stars and Stripes, but the car was gone. We hadn’t heard anything of the car, except the La Dawri ads always had it front and center.

Fast-forward 25 years.  I’m sitting at my desk in Denver, Colorado, reading the latest Hemmings.  The ad said:

 Victress-LaDawri: This mid 1950’s coupe is supposedly the original Victress show car.  Originally Chrysler hemi powered on a tube frame.  Borrani wire wheels and fiberglass body.  A name and a number… Los Angeles area code.

Could it be?  It could be!  Sounds like it!    I reached for the phone.

Fast-forward 25 years.  I’m sitting at my desk in Denver, Colorado, reading the latest Hemmings.  The ad said:

 Victress-LaDawri: This mid 1950’s coupe is supposedly the original Victress show car.

Originally Chrysler hemi powered on a tube frame.        Borrani wire wheels and fiberglass body.  The ad also included a name and a number, with a Los Angeles area code.

Could it be?  It could be!  Sounds like it!   I reached for the phone.

The voice on the other end said that yes, he still had the car and no, he didn’t know any history.  He had bought the car as part of a lot that included several cars, thinking he might be able to use the wheels.  I asked him about the steering wheel, and the door handles, his answers confirmed my hopes that this was the car.  The Packwood Special had been found, and right in Los Angeles!  I was glad to know WHERE it was, he was glad to know WHAT it was!  I gave him Bill’s number, then got off the line and called Bill.  “I found the car! Peter Zobian has it in L.A. someplace; he is going to call you!”  The contact was made and after 25 years we knew the car was a survivor.  They arranged a meet and Bill went to visit the car soon after. 

The visit was bittersweet.  The car had been cannibalized, and abused.  The hemi was gone, as you might have guessed, as was the C-Jag gearbox, (hopefully it had been reunited with a Jaguar that needed it.)  The speedster seats, now worth as much as the parts did in 1959, were MIA, as was the aluminum dash panel, the dash plaques, and 3 of the 6 gauges.  The original taillights had been glassed over, but the bon-ami cans remain.  The left front of the body had been broken off, but remained with the car as a separate piece.  The fuel filler and the carpet was gone, replace by some black naugahyde.  Surprisingly, the door handles are there, and the car still sits on the now grungy Borrani’s, still wearing the original Caldwell racing recaps.  Amazing!  So much for the bitter part, the car was a mess, but it was for sale.  As sometimes happens when opportunities present themselves, the timing was not the best for my brother… he told Peter that he would think about it.  While pondering the project, the car was again advertised in Hemmings as the Packwood Special, with a few more details, and was sold.  The car now sits in Arcadia, California waiting for the next chapter to be written.  The current owner is an enthusiast of the first order, knows all about the car, most of its history, and appreciates it for what it was and could be again. If anybody knows where the gas cap is, the car would like it back.

  Naturally it would be neat to learn what happened to the car between 1962 and about 1985.  Until we can find Les Dawes and ask him, we probably won’t know.

Dan Verstuyft is the current owner.  He is a past president of VERA, and an old Hemi fan.  Dan is an accomplished vintage racer.  He drives a Porsche 356 Speedster, as well as an ex Darrell Waltrip Western-Auto Chevrolet Lumina, the latter with the HSCRG.  He has just relocated to the San Luis Obispo area, and plans to move the car up the coast for restoration.  The Packwood Special is in good hands

Peter Zobian is the owner of “Automobilia” in Cambria, California.  He is very much a car-guy with interests in things Italian; Abarths and Siatas and such.  He is helpful and knowledgeable, and “Automobilia” is really worth a visit if you ever get up north on Highway 101 in Cambria.  Peter had a booth at the Monterey Historics this weekend!

Carl Tate is right here in this group!

 Bill Packwood lives in Pleasant Hill, California. He has a beautiful Porsche 356 Cabriolet.  Also a vintage racer, he campaigns a Porsche 914 6 GT with HMSA, and a MKI  Sprite.

Woody Sanders is no longer with us, but his son Tom still operates Woody’s Grinding, now in Whittier, California.  Tom races a beautiful Porsche 914 with the Porsche Owners Club (POC).

Steve Mulholland, whereabouts unknown.                                                                               

Rodney Packwood