65 Part 4: Old Cars Magazine—May 15, 2025 Focus of Research We don’t have the first Monte Carlo hardtop – the mockup – to review today. Nor do we have Richard Arbib (the designer) or Charles Russell Feldmann (the President of Henney) to ask questions of how and why the car was built. But we do have research on the Monte Carlo by George Hamlin, Leon Dixon and Robert Neal that spans more than 40 years. We also have original photos of the hardtop mockup from 1949, and you might be surprised how much is revealed after studying the images. And of course, most importantly, we have what we found - the Super 8 Monte Carlo convertible itself. In the spring of 2024, good friend Robin James began heading south from his home in Canada to our headquarters in Tampa, Florida. He was coming down to help get one of our cars ready for its debut at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance – our 1959 Salvatore Salerno Devin. After the show, I persuaded him to stay in Florida – away from the Arctic chill of Canada for a few more weeks to look more closely at the Packard Monte Carlo. Robin did more than that. He took the lead on working on the car and resurrecting it. He never looked back. It was an exciting few weeks to see what magic he would do with the car. From what we could tell, the car had not been started or worked on since the 1950s. He focused on the engine first and miraculously got it running – as smooth as silk. Next he freed up the steering and shifting linkage and rebuilt the fuel system and brakes. Finally, he started doing laps in my neighborhood with the car, so all my neighbors are used to seeing it cruise around. Finally, we both worked together to see what we could learn by studying how it was built. Our observations are discussed below. Robin James About To Take the Packard Monte Carlo on a Test Run: April 2025
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