1925 PACKARD Holbrook Coupe History The Packard Holbrook Coupe at the 1925 Auto Salon next to the Mercedes (the mascot and distinctive windshield are visible). From Road & Track magazine July 1965 Being the only right-hand drive known to exist this timeless 1925 Packard is steeped in History. New York City. 1925: The Grand Ballroom of The Commodore Hotel hosts a prestigious invitation-only event – The Auto Salon. featuring the World’s finest examples of Body craftsmanship and design to be seen. New York Times reporters claimed “Luxurious Designs seen at Auto Salon” and “Artistic progress by Body Builders evidenced in display at The Commodore”. Chance had it that Mr Frank Albert of famous Australian musical organisation “The Albert Company” was in New York on a business trip to source the latest music. He was invited to the Auto Salon and purchased the 2 Passenger Holbrook Coupe Packard “off the floor” for US$ 6. 00 –one of the most expensive Packard’s at the time. nbsp;costing the equivalent value of 17 T Model Fords. Showcasing a straight eight cylinder 356c. i. engine. the Packard was an extremely powerful Coupe with a distinctive forward angled windscreen and “suicide” doors. The Holbrook features a streamline aluminium body. The vehicle returned to the Packard factory where it was converted to right hand drive – making it one of a kind – before being shipped to Sydney. Australia aboard the RMS Niagara (which. in 1940 was sunk off the coast of New Zealand by a German U-Boat whilst carrying US $8 Million worth of Gold). It was at this time that three-storey “Boomerang Mansion” at Elizabeth Bay in Sydney was being built for Mr. Albert which includes 25 rooms. 6 bathrooms. 4 kitchens and a cinema. The prestigious Packard Holbrook Coupe was to share the Motor Garage with his Rolls-Royce in the grounds of “Boomerang”. Boomerang Mansion. Photo: Harold Cazneaux. Australian Home Beautiful. 1930. The Foxe family of Narrabri were the next owners of the Packard Holbrook Coupe in the 1930′s. They owned a General Store in Narrabri at the time. It was then sold to North-West Towing of Tamworth and converted into a tow-truck in 1936 by Cliff Luney at the Gus Rose Workshop in Tamworth. The chassis was stretched by 18 inches and a crane fitted with a 2' 6" wide drum using a ½” winch cable. The Packard was painted light blue with black guards. Around 1948. Ken McIlveen (an apprentice for Gus Rose) bought the Packard Tow Truck for a mere 40 pounds and took it to a farm at Kootingal. For a time at Kootingal. it was also owned by the Railway Station Master. In 1952. on a 40 mile trip to Musselbrook towing a trailer with a vehicle and a 44 gallon drum of fuel on board. the Packard drank 65 gallons of fuel. After seeing the Packard bogged in the Weiss Creek Road gully at Currabubula. Jack Hochstadt traded the Packard Coupe for a gun and some ammunition – although by then the crane had been removed. The Packard Coupe was taken to Neville Fisher of Blacktown (a renowned Packard Master Body Builder) to take the Packard Holbrook Coupe back to its former two passenger body glory. The chassis was stripped to the bare rails and all damaged timber work was replaced. Neville replaced the original Hickory timber with Queensland Maple. He described the Maple as a medium softwood which has a twisted grain that does not split and has plenty of spring ~ it’s “as tough as an old boot”. Neville worked solidly on the Packard Holbrook Coupe for 3 years before it was Showroom Quality once again. Without original plans to work from in his workshop. Neville projected onto masonite a factory photograph of a Packard Holbrook Coupe and moved the projector back until a wheel from the Coupe matched up with the image on the masonite. He then chalked the Coupe onto the masonite to use as a pattern. Originally. the Packard Holbrook Coupe featured bevilled edged glass etched with flowers - being the New York Show Car. however in 1970 the NSW Registration Department required the etched glass to be removed. which in time was lost. A short time after the Holbrook was restored. a book written by Hugo Pfau titled “The Coachbuilt Packard” was released with a section on the The Holbrook Company of Hudson New York. showing the side elevation with all the dimensions of a Packard Holbrook 2 Passenger Coupe…!! Jack Hochstadt sold the car to the current owner Family in the early 1970’s. who then pulled down the motor and gearbox for a refresh. but it took another 30 years for this to finally happen. The motor was fully rebuilt by Master Motor Engineer Ken Hill. Now it has been rebored with new pistons (20 thou. +). rings. bearings. valves. valve guides and the Holbrook Coupe has since only travelled a mere 234 miles. With the porous Aluminium Crankcase of these old Engines. the Crankcase has been painted inside and out with a 2 part Epoxy Marine Paint to prevent weeping of the oil through the Aluminium. The Holbrook Coupe has been well coveted. appearing as the Feature vehicle in (the Australian Publication) WHEELS July 1973 - PICNIC BY PACKARD : Old Cars Weekly (USA Publication) Vol. 40 No. 48 December 15. 2011 and as "The ultimate in Mouth Organ memorabilia - The Packard Holbrook-bodied Coupe purchased new by Mr. Frank Albert" from Ray Grieve's new book "BOOMERANGS AND CRACKAJACKS" - The Harmonica in Australia 1825 to 1960. The distinctive forward raked windscreen. suicide doors. Carriage style door fittings. Landau Irons on the roof. Holbrook Body Co. nameplates on the lower scuttle sides. Holbrook Body Co. kick plates are all part of the very distinctive features of this HOLBROOK Coupe. The Coupe retains its BIJUR one shot lubrication system and the Engine still retains the Skinner Oil Rectifying System - so many of these were removed over time. (See Engine Photograph). Inspection of the vehicle only available to those Serious Buyers will be in Mornington. Victoria. Australia. Interested Buyers Please Note: I am listing the PACKARD on behalf of a Family member who does not meet the eBay criteria for listing a vehicle worldwide. due to insufficient number of sales and purchases on eBay. Buyer to organise own vehicle transport but I will help from this end to make it easier.