I think a book or a television program could have been produced about the unearthing of this terrific Packard. At the very least, it certainly ranks as barn-find of the year.
The car’s lucky new owner—Paul Tacy, a fourth-generation Packard enthusiast—had heard rumors of a hidden Packard in the Adirondack region for years but just chalked the stories up as mountain lore. The Adirondack State Park takes up 6.1 million acres, and because it had been the playground of wealthy New Yorkers for 100 years, there is no shortage of forgotten vehicle stories in that region.
But when a fellow collector began hearing similar stories, Tacy started to search for details. His collector friend was told a forgotten Packard was hiding in a small garage on Charlie Hill Road in Schroon Lake, New York, just 30 minutes from Tacy’s house.
In May 2013, Tacy began driving down the road slowly, looking left and right for a Packard-sized building. A small garage, with an overgrown driveway, looked promising.
Ace car-finder Paul Tacy followed up leads, cleared away small trees and brush from the garage door, and scored this 1929 Packard Runabout. PAUL TACY
Tacy forged his way to the door, which had a Posted sign tacked to it. At least 6 inches of dirt and debris prevented him from opening the door, so he pried open a crack just big enough to wedge his hand and a small camera inside. The photo he shot was proof that this was not a wild goose chase.
Inside, hidden for probably 50 years, was a 1929 Packard Model 633 Runabout.
He contacted the owners of the property and learned the history of the car. “The Packard was bought in Glens Falls in July 1929 by a man who worked on Wall Street in Manhattan and whose family lived in New York City,” says Tacy. “He always kept it at the house in Schroon Lake, which was the family’s summer home, and when he died sometime in the 1960s, the family just walked away from the house and the property. They still paid the taxes on it, but they didn’t go up there at all.”
Tacy showed the car’s owners his family’s impressive Packard collection, which convinced them that the car would be going to the right buyer. By July, he returned with a truck and trailer, tools, and a tractor complete with a backhoe. Trees had grown in front of the garage door, so Tacy needed to clear those out, dig out the stumps, and rebuild a driveway.
After much toil, Tracy dragged his barn-find home, cleaned up the decades of animal waste, rebuilt the engine, and promptly won a best of show at Albany’s (NY) Fall Classic Car Show.
Plans to restore it? No way!
“I’d like to start hitting the preservation classes with it,” he says. “Showing it has been fun so far with all the excitement that the story generates.”
Who could imagine that this tiny, overgrown garage in the Adirondack Mountains would contain a desirable vintage Packard? It was used in the area then forgotten by the family. PAUL TACY
Note: I discovered this terrific story on Hemmings Motor News Daily Newsletter. If you would like to read the longer format story by Daniel Strohl, go to: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/10/24/barn-find-1929-packard-emerges-after-50-years-wins-best-in-show-its-first-time-out/