Bruce Wanta's 1936 Packard
1936 Packard roadster restyled by Hollywood Hot Rods for Bruce Wanta of Bellevue, Washington.
Contents
Eric Black Design
Based on a drawing by Eric Black, the build was started in 2010. Bruce originally wanted a late 1930s Ford with a Packard influence. Eric kept adding Packard influence to the design until they finally decided to go with a Packard instead.[1]
Coach-Built by Hollywood Hot Rods
Troy Ladd and his crew at Hollywood Hot Rods started with a 1936 Packard 1401 Coupe. The design was refined so many time that the finished build became about three-fourths the original size of the Packard. It shares a hoodline and grille from the Packard. the rest of the body was built from Eric's drawings. In 2015 Troy told Autoweek that they drew a lot of inspiration from Delahaye and LeBaron bodied cars; "We kind of mixed and matched. We picked pieces of things we liked and started to design a car from scratch. Two-thirds of the way through the process, we realized we unknowingly built something very Packard-ish. So then we embraced that idea, but most of it’s coach-built."[2]
Lincoln Power
Under the hood rests a 1940 Lincoln Zephyr V12 flathead engine.
Bare Metal Debut
January 23 thru 25, 2015, a bare metal version of the speedster was shown at the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show.
America's Most Beautiful Roadster 2017
The build was completed in January of 2017. Later the same month it made its big debut at the 2017 Grand National Roadster Show, where it also won the prestigious America's Most Beautiful Roadster award.
World's Most Beautiful Custom 2017
February 18, 2017 Bruce's Packard won the prestigious World's Most Beautiful Custom award at the 67th annual Sacramento Autorama. During the weekend, the car did also take home the Sam Barris Memorial Award and the Custom D'Elegance Award.
References
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