Hot Rods Styling help - 37 Packard.

So there's this 1937 Packard 115 on the Philly Craigslist. I'm probably not buying it, but it got me thinking. I'm wondering what HAMBers think of shortening a car to improve looks/function.

Stock it's a bit staid and old fashioned. Restored car :

I love the grill on these and some of the body lines- American Luxury as of 1937. CL car:


But it's a long, narrow 37 sedan. I was looking at Bantam coupes and got an idea. (I can't fit in those - I'm 6'5" - but I like the look)

I shortened the car, made it a 2-door (lengthened front door), moved the rear axle and fender back. Would this work?


This would let me put the seat in a comfy position, let me keep a small trunk, etc. - styling like an oversized Bantam but a 2-seater. I like it, but I'm a novice and wanted feedback. Especially curious if anyone has built something like this.

 

Not an improvement IMO.... I'd shorten the wheelbase about the amount of the 'bustle trunk', then eliminate the bustle, dropping the rear of the body down from the roof like a more conventional sedan.

 

Looks too English shortened.

 

Like a slant back 37 Ford? That might work better, but I like the idea of some trunk space.

I like the English styling of Austin, Bantam, etc. I'm not sure I hit the mark though.

 

That is with trunk removed, but wheelbase still moved back. Looks worse to me.

 

Leave the wheel base alone. Shorten body. Lengthen hood. Move bustle forward so it sits inboard of rear fenders.

You should be able to get all that done in an afternoon, right?

 

There are some 8-cyl models with longer hoods... Maybe a long weekend... Ha.

 

Proportions are everything.

 

Exactly. Some people have "the eye" to know just what's wrong with styling, but I'm not one of them. My version is not bad but somehow not quite right, hence this thread.

 

With what you've done - I think it's the front fenders that looks out of whack - just my 2c worth

 

From stock, lower it, moderate top chop, dark color, Done!

 

I love it! Turns a four door sporty. It would be interesting to see a picture of a Bantam coupe right below it to compare. I didn't like one without the bustle.

 

I'm too tall for chopped cars. Packard made a coupe I like, it's very long though. And pricey - the CL sedan is $8500, coupes are 3 to 5 times as much.

 

Here's a pic off another thread or maybe ebay. Not sure of the year on this, I thin around 1940.

 

I think it's perfectly proportioned. I like the long hood and short back. The length of the spare tire on the Bantam is replaced by the bustle on the Packard.

 

Please don't, you will regret it later and ruin the car. What about just converting it into a humpback tudor, a lot of work and more aesthetically pleasing. IMH you don't want to detract from the quintessential and unique Packard grill and lines.

 

Some cars are just antique cars that look best stock. Not all cars are hot rods and when you try to force them to be they look terrible. This is one of those cars but it's cool.

 

For some reason, I'm thinking clown car.

 

Quite simply the changes you suggest do change the car from a Classic vehicle
to a Buttuggllyy vehicle.

 

Outside of the need to make this one a tad more Hamb Friendly by changing the seats and wheels I'd say it serves as an example that the 37 Packard in question doesn't need a bunch of body changes it just needs a good lowering job to get a nice stance.

 

No, please don't. As someone who grew up around and adores Packards, if you must customize it, go the route of this '39 120 sedan that was in Street Rodder a few years ago: dump it, install a modern drivetrain, update the interior, and call it good.

 

Try shortening the body without moving the wheelbase

 

Please don't. A Packard was never meant to be sporty, it was made to be classy.

 

This is a job for @themoose

 

I think it looks good lowered and leave the body the same length but channel it a bit - 3-4 inches.

 

Nor was a Model T ever meant to have a blown V8 but it sure seems like an improvement.

 

Like my daughter said when I sliced and diced a coupe a few years ago " Gee Daddy, if you didn't like that car, why did you buy it?"
Find a back end from a coupe, and turn it into a high class tail dragger

 

2dr conversion. Move rear roof forward, 3 window coupe style. Lengthen doors a bit. Coupe rear body section. Easy

 

In spite of every attempt to take a depression era Packard into hot rod territory, ALL that I've ever seen failed miserably. Early cars can "speedster", but it better be incomplete before you try to speedster an open car or it's like throwing all of your money out the window on a freeway. I get what you wanna do but it's not working. All the windows have dedicated body reveals so you're almost stuck with em. Even those 2 that were done up as shown above, eeew... Someone else said it, leave it be. If you must, look up European body styles and go "coachbuilt" instead of hot rod. This one worked so well it's just short of a sexual experience: