Lot Ended
Description
Ex-Shah of Iran; rare model, one of only 385 made; unfinished
restoration; top quality repaint; partial retrim; complete car with most of the
hard work done
Founded in Ohio
in 1899, Packard aimed its magnificent machines right at the top of the market,
selling to the rich and famous alongside marques such as Duesenberg and Pierce
Arrow.
The world
over, the name Packard meant prestige, power and sophistication. Such was their
reputation that during WW2 they manufactured the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine under
licence, the only company allowed to do so outside of Rolls-Royce
themselves.
Popular
among wealthy Americans, they also enjoyed significant success in Europe. By the
time the Depression hit, Packard had developed a unique single assembly line
system with all cars based on the same basic platform which enabled it to
survive the economic downturn.
The Packard
Super Eight 22nd Series was in production from 1947 – 1949 and
featured new aerodynamic ‘free-flow’ coachwork by Briggs in a variety of
styles including a compact sedan, shooting brake station sedan, convertible
coupe and a long wheelbase limousine. All were powered by an L-head
straight-engine in either 245ci, 288ci, 327ci or 356ci capacity with 3-speed
manual transmission.
This particular car is a
rare 2270 Limousine Deluxe seven-seater, one of only 385 made in 1948/49, the
vast majority in LHD. Many of these cars formed part of the White House fleet
for use by the President and other top officials, but a few were also exported
for use by foreign dignitaries, including this rare RHD
example.
First registered in London in May 1948,
it was originally owned by the Persian Embassy in South Kensington and had the
numberplate JYL 10. In those days Britain still had friendly relations with Iran
(as Persia is now known) and had a controlling interest in their oil industry
under the banner of The Anglo-Persian Oil Company, later renamed as The British
Petroleum Company (BP) in 1954.
The Shah of Iran,
Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, ascended to the throne in 1941 and made several State
Visits to London until he was deposed in the Iranian Revolution in 1979. An
accomplished pilot, the Shah spent vast amounts of money building up the
Imperial Iranian Armed Forces and was a major buyer of British military aircraft
which were essential to the cash-strapped economy of the UK in the
1950s.
The Shah was ferried around in this
Packard during those State Visits and there is a wonderful British Pathe film
clip of him visiting RAF Biggin Hill in JYL 10 in the winter of 1955 which you
can view if you copy and paste this link into your browser (no sound,
sadly):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTZZbkcSBVA
There are
other clips of the same visit (with sound) here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pWzTg3IKwI
And
here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enAsSsq27Mk
A buff logbook plus a DVLA print-out and copies of old V5
logbooks record all subsequent owners of the Packard from 1958 to the present
day. They also record a colour change from black to white in 2002 when it was
reputedly being used as a wedding car, copies of various old photos showing it
still looking nice and shiny at this point. It also lost its original JYL 10
number plate at the same time, becoming PAS 109.
Our vendor acquired the car in 2016 by which time it had been
re-registered as 5220 DG, a number which is transferable, according to the V5C,
although interestingly the original JYL 10 number has never been assigned to
another car so it may perhaps be recoverable.
Photos show that the car had deteriorated somewhat by this point so
our vendor, formerly the part-owner and publisher of The
Automobile magazine with a celebrated collection of interesting old cars,
commenced a sympathetic restoration which he has been sadly unable to complete
due to his declining health.
The bodywork has
been restored as required and repainted to a high standard in the original
black. The interior has been partially retrimmed with new covers for the rear
seats and the fold-away occasional seats, a new headlining and what appear to be
retrimmed door cards. The red cloth front seats are among the vast file of parts
that come with the car and look to be in good shape.
We are unsure of the mechanical condition but will endeavour to add
more details in due course. Although the V5C records the capacity as 4.7 litres
we suspect it should be 5.3 as limos typically left the factory
with the 145bhp 327ci engine but you will need to make your own minds up on
that score.
On offer here at no reserve, this
rare and imposing Packard has an illustrious history behind it and would sit
well in any museum or historically significant collection. With most
of the hard work done, it now needs an enthusiastic new owner who can get it
back on the road and fit for a Shah once more.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com