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Volume 61 • No. 17 • Summer 2017

CLOISONNÉ CALENDAR

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Classic Car Garage Tour 2017We were blessed with a clear day and a great turnout on April 29th for this year’s Garage Tour. Our friends in UMRCCC invited us with the Cadillac and Lincoln Clubs for what is always a great look at some cars that are in our region of the country. We met at Mark Duesch’s place in Stillwater, MN, and the area of the tour this year was Western Wisconsin, so there was a long distance to cover.

Marks Stutz DV 32 touring car Marks ’48 Woody wagon

Many of our members and friends were on this tour and enjoyed the cars we got to have a look at!

Mark was kind enough to have donuts and coffee for a large group of more than 50 folks. Written tour directions were handed out, discussed and we hit the road to our first collection.

The Petersons’ ‘41s and Scott Simdorns ‘37 12 cylinder

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(Classic Car Garage Tour 2017) (continued from page 1)

The first stop was Dave Spickler’s collection which was a very diverse group of vehicles with a few interesting Packards. My understanding is many of these cars were going to be sold. Here are a few. The ‘56 Executive appeared to be project material and the Clipper looked pretty clean and may be ready to drive.

In all, Dave had around 50 cars in the building and more elsewhere which we didn’t get a look at. Leaving Dave’s, we drove to Jeff Shreiner’s place and had a look at a truly spectacular display of vintage autos. This gentleman has a turntable in his home and parks a favorite brass era car there so it’s on display in the living room. Wow!

In addition, he has the bulk of his collection housed in a building on the property that has a number of beautifully restored cars – from brass cars to the 60’s – on display and ready to drive.


Board of DirectorsMinnesota Packards

Director:Mike Dulinski218-721-4631

[email protected]

Treasurer:John Ward

[email protected]

Membership:Marie Heskowitz

[email protected]

Historians:Tom and Betty Holman

[email protected]

Projects:Wayne Kempfert

[email protected]

Editor:Bill Heptig

[email protected]

MINNESOTA PACKARD CLUB PROJECTS

Rear U-Joint Retainer Clips – Used on all 1951-54’s. Two needed per car. #426438 & #426439. Include engine size and transmission type. $10 per set.

Ignition Switch Instruction Decal – This in an exact copy of the original decal that was located under the 1951-52 ignition switches. Just peel off the back and install. $5 per decal.

Fender to Body Reinforcing Washers – These are exact copies of the following numbers: #335759 as used on the 1939-41s (except for Sixes and Twelves); #325915 as used on the 1938-39 Sixes, Eight’s and Super Eights; #162389 as used on all Senior rear fenders from 1930-38. $25 for a set of eight. Please specify which style is needed.

Aluminum Door Sills – These sills are professional reproductions of the highest quality, made from original patterns, custom crafted for your car. Send a business-size SASE for new price list of available patterns.

All prices are post paid; include year and model on all orders.**** Canadian residents – add $10 to cover delivery charges. ****

Minnesota PackardsP.O. Box 19119 | Diamond Lake Station | Minneapolis, MN 55419

Email: [email protected]

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TWO PACKARDS FOR SALE: This gentlemen has provided a limited amount of detail on these cars so you’re going to have to try contacting him through email, contact don vosburg [email protected]. Cars appear to be in Iowa. Images were texted to me from 641-425-6954, so you could try that number.

Don Tells me: “I’m not much into old cars, so will get as much additional info as I can to send along with the images. Neither vehicle has been driven since shortly after dad died (about 5 years), but are stored as properly as possible (information gleaned from other car buffs).”

1941 Packard is a “One Twenty” 2-door sedan with an 8 cylinder engine, a three speed overdrive transmission, and all pretty much original condition. VIN number 14982395.

1947 Packard Clipper, with an 8 cylinder engine, manual column shift transmission, four doors, and fold-down jump seats in the spacious back seat. VIN number F506205.

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Minnesota Packards 2017 EventsFor information on Minnesota Packard Club events, contact Bill Heptig by telephone at 952-447-6581 email: [email protected].

- 10,000 LAKES CAR SHOW IN EXCELSIOR - 9AM JULY 30TH 10,000 Lakes Concurs, this is a charity event and the tickets are $20 some of the nicest classic, special interest, sports cars and wood boats to be seen in the Upper Midwest, check out the website. http://10000lakesconcours.com/

- HAWKEYE JOINT MEET - AUGUST 4 TO THE 6TH The joint meet with the Hawkeye Packards this year in the Northwestern area of Iowa around Okoboji. Peter Hemken has these details for this event so plan to join us:

I plan on meeting at McDonalds in Jordan at 8:30, if you would like to drive with the group, (old car speeds) and hitting the road around 9:00 so we can meet the Iowa folks as Peter is describing here.

Friday, August 4 Meet in Algona for lunch at Chrome Country Inn, Junction of Hwy 169 & Hwy 18. Visit Camp Algona POW Museum, 114 S. Thorington St, Algona. Drive to West Bend (20 miles) and visit Grotto of the Redemption, 208 1st Ave NW, West Bend. Drive to Spencer (45 miles) and check-in at AmericInn Spencer, 1005 13th Street SW, Spencer. Dinner at The Prime Rib, 1205 S Grand Ave, Spencer.

Saturday, August 5 Breakfast at hotel. This is a full hot breakfast and gets good reviews. Drive to Okaboji (15 miles) and visit Okaboji Classic Cars, 810 Jeppeson Road, West Okaboji. Visit Higgins Museum of National Bank Notes, 1507 Sanborn Ave, Okaboji. Lunch at Bracco, 317 240th Ave in Arnold’s Park. Visit Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum, 243 West Broadway in Arnold’s Park. Lake Cruise on Queen 2 at 3 p.m. Dinner at Rabbas, 1201 Brooks Park Drive, Okaboji. Return drive to hotel in Spencer (19 miles).

Sunday, August 6 Breakfast at hotel. As noted above, the breakfast gets good reviews. Check-out & depart at your leisure. Additional Sunday option if you really like ice cream… Drive to Le Mars (75 miles) via a portion of the Glacial Trail Scenic Byway. Visit Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor and Museum (opens at noon on Sunday).

Hotel informationThis is high season in the Iowa Lakes. I have reserved a block of 20 rooms at the AmericInn Spencer at a rate of $116.99 plus tax for the nights of August 4th and 5th. The block is reserved until June 4 at which time any remaining rooms will be released. Please do not delay. I suggest that you call the hotel front desk at (712) 262-7525 and ask to reserve your room in the “Packard Car Club” block.

- NEW LONDON TO NEW BRIGHTON – AUGUST 12TH The New London to New Brighton Antique Car run – we are working on a local host arrangement for this event so stay tuned. If you have event ideas or would like to host an event, let us know. We look forward to seeing members at an event in 2017!

FOR SALE1954 Packard ConvertiblePower steering; power brakes; power seat; automatic transmission; gray with red leather upholstery; windshield washer; power top; “Cormorant” hood ornament. New whitewall radial tires on chrome wheels. All major mechanical systems have been gone through recently at a reliable restoration shop including: fuel system and carburetor, brakes and master cylinder, cooling system has been repaired and replaced. Located in Minneapolis suburb. Ready to drive away! $32,000

Contact: Marie Heskowitz | Home 763-572-1661 | Cell 763-742-0708 | [email protected]

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A lovely building with even nicer cars within!


Some amazing Packards, along with other cars. All in first class condition.

We next drove to see Paul Menard’s cars. This gent started the home centers that are successful in the Upper Midwest. He has a nice group of cars largely form the 40’s to the 60’s.

Next we called on Paul and Donna Oman’s place for lunch and a look at some projects that Paul was working on. The shear volume of builds and projects was impressive. Lunch was great!


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Next we were went to see Gene Greng’s collection. Having visited several years ago, Gene has “thinned the herd” such that the collection is about half the size it was, but quality throughout. Gene is 86 years old and still restoring cars but he suggested he may be nearing the end of that time.


This is Gene’s circus car with working Calliope. He had it play a tune. Next is Gene’s Packard Panther. It was originally run as a speed record car on Daytona Beach in the early 50’s. Gene is taking it back to that configuration.

From Gene’s we were off to Tom and Donna Wall’s. These folks have a passion for LaSalles and Wintons. I had never seen Wintons before. Tom had several interesting cars for us to look at. Here are some LaSalles.


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And here are some Wintons. It was a very organized shop and restoration effort with a substantial spares collection. I’ve read about these cars but Tom’s cars have to be some of the nicest around.

Thanks to Tom St Martin, Jim Davis, Winston Peterson and Tom Brace for including the Packard Club annually in this great event. This is just another reason to look forward to spring for the old car guys/gals in our club.

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PACKARD 2017 NATIONAL

Packard 2017 National in South BendJune 18th

I met friends John and Donna Ward at 7:20 in Hudson to start the drive to South Bend. The previous day was a bit rainy and it made for a cool morning, great for classic car driving! We hit the road and made good time stopping at the Belvidere Oasis in Illinois for lunch. My Clipper was working well and we made good progress till reaching Eastern Indiana.

Road construction caused a huge tie up and nearly boiled me over, but the car made it off the road and after a short cool down we continued on state roads to South Bend. Some of the folks from around the country were already here and a few cars were on view. It took 11 hours, including breaks, to make it there.

After locating the hotel and dropping John and Donna off, I went to my hotel. We met a bit later to explore before dinner.

June 19th

This was the arrival day for many folks and a day to attend the Swap Meet. Our member Tom Brace, had some books and other items to sell. The swap space was large and quite a number of vendors were present.

Another of our members, John Bowron, arrived. He was pursuing an interesting project. A local funeral home was looking for a Packard hearse and located one in Indiana near South Bend. John was helping them by picking up the hearse so it could be delivered back to Minnesota to be worked on to get it running. It needed mechanical help and some chrome redone, but looks to be restorable. John unloaded the hearse so all attending could have a look.

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PACKARD 2017 NATIONAL – CONTINUED

Many more cars were on display in the parking area as the number of arrivals grew.

The highlight of the day was dinner at the Studebaker mansion, an impressive stone building, built in the 19th century when Studebaker was successful building wagons. The craftsmanship and beauty of the stone exterior and wood work of the interior was obviously a part of the Gilded Age. We had dinner and drinks, met fellow PACers and explored the property.

June 20th

The main activity for the day was a trip to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn. We all boarded buses at 7:30 and were on the road by 8:00 for the ride to the museum. The museum is housed in what once was a dealer showroom where the various models of Auburns, Cords and Duesys would be displayed for dealers when they came to order cars for their dealerships. The museum houses one of the best collections of prewar cars anywhere.

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Since my last visit, they have added displays of early racing cars.

They have also added displays of various brands made in Indiana. Seen here are a Haynes, Stutz and an Apperson.

Engines built by Lycoming including aero, marine, and auto engines.

Design information drawings on ACD cars and the life stories on Mr. Cord, Gorden Buehrig, Allan Leamy and other individuals that shaped the company and the auto business in Auburn and in the state.

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A number of the folks from Minnesota made the trip and enjoyed the displays.

The facility is used for various types of gatherings and put on a great lunch for all the Packard folks. The day we visited, some folks form the Graham Car Club were visiting. Graham produced a car called the Hollywood from the body dies used to build the Cord 810 after Cord went bust. So there were some neat cars on display in the parking area.

June 21st

Many of the participants were now onsite and the number of cars on display in the parking area continued to increase.

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Wednesday was a day for meetings. I attended a Director’s meeting to sub for Mike Dulinski. They have general plans for the next 5 national meetings and about $250K in their accounts, so plans and finances are in good shape. The General Membership meeting was held at the Studebaker Museum. The need to find new members was discussed, along with plans for the 2018 national. At 6:00 we had dinner at the museum.

June 21

We met the buses at 8:15 and loaded up to go to Hickory Corners. Upon arrival, I picked up a brochure and began exploring the various buildings on the campus.

There are several collections from the prewar period including Cadillac, Lincoln, Pierce Arrow, Hudson Ford Model A’s.

Several buildings contained a mix of early car types that are rarely seen, all of it in first class condition. Here is a small sample of what is to be seen.

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In addition, there is a pedal car collection, an early motorcycle collection, and even a movie prop from a Disney film - a giant car interior.

It was an informative location with many displays on each vehicle and information on the history that went with the period. Here is a stone Pontiac! After several hours of wandering through this museum, the club arranged for lunch outdoors at the dining car.

By 3 o’clock everyone was ready for the ride back. It was a busy day but included one of my Bucket List items having never been there before. Back to the buses and back to the hotel.

June 23rd

Friday is show day at a national meet and Friday was a bit rainy in the morning. The show was at a location called Kamm Island which was a park setting with a manmade canal on one side and the St Joseph River on the other. The cars at this meeting were simply the best, and some of the oldest I’ve seen at one of these gatherings.


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Tom Brace brought his Packard 12. He has added a Mullins Travel Trailer for luggage (below left).

While at the field, I met Charlie Postletheweight. He brought a car he, his brother George and his father restored - a 1916 Packard Twin six (above center and right). This was the first year that a 12 cylinder car was ever sold to the public. The car was purchased by his father in 1953. They began restoration in 1988 and finished the car in 1993. The engine has heads cast into the block so it differs from other later cars. Every aspect had to be recreated, as it was a basket case as found. Charlie described all the details of what was done to recreate the car. It was an amazing job that allows it to live more than 100 years later.

This Packard Super 8 Woodie was an outstanding restoration having the wood body completely recreated.

Our club mates, Mike and Janine Kutter made it to the national and were enjoying all the cool cars!

Friday evening was the Banquet. A representative of the Packard Plant Restoration Project gave a presentation on the progress at the plant. The cleanup has proceeded nicely and there is now on site security. They have commitments for renting space in the administration building which will be the first space that’s restored. I received a Snodgrass for the newsletter #5, Tom got a 3rd in class for his 12, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

We went to the Studebaker Test Track Saturday morning for a run around the track. I had some personal commitments for later in the day and couldn’t wait till they let us out on the track so we headed for the Northland. The end to another great National Meet.


Minnesota Packards, Inc., a region of the Packard Automobile Club (PAC), is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation and enjoy-ment of Packard automobiles and related memorabilia.

The Cloisonné Calendar is the official publication of Minnesota Packardsand is published three times a year.Subscription is included with membership in MN Packards.

Please mail correspondence to: Minnesota PackardsP.O. Box 19119,Diamond Lake Station,Minneapolis, MN 55419

cloisonnÉ calendar - hemmingsclubs.hemmings.com/minnesotapackards/newsletters/summer2017.pdf ·...

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