"They dont build them like they used to"

Anyone that can add two and two knows that millions of dollars spent in testing,research and engineering will result in a safer and more ergonomic automobile.What I don't get is why they have to destroy a piece of automotive history to establish something that they already have mile long data sheets to prove. Sometimes I wonder about us!!! Mike

A friend of mine hauls cars for CoParts (totals only...and bikes, too) so I see a dozen every week that ASSURE me the crumple zones DO REALLY WORK!! I could post a few every week, but most of you would get sick thinking about those who didn't 'make it' despite crumple zones. As mentioned earlier, the bikes owners don't fare well at all. Sad, but true. I ride, but still respect the risks. The 'donor' cycles are here this week by the tens of thousands, and only a couple accidents....good news!

I've seen the crash test of the ole' finned beauty, and seen plenty of real life ones also, and I agree that there is a cost to safety, but if you have ever broken ribs, back, neck, back, legs, ripped apart a rotator,
my money says you will says 'thanks' to Claude Volvo's devotion to his wife and automotive safety.
Nothing will protect us from ourselves all the time, but we are on a much safer course...now that sooooo many more drivers are out there. Did all---any of you buckle up today? You all know a CDL driver will lose his/her license if caught not wearing it. Probably the truck Company owners have a satellite link to monitor the damned thing.... my .02 on this absolutely gorgeous day in NE!! 100 mile plus visibility....no humidity....great to be alive!

I would take a Packard over one of these new ones any day. Taste and style have to count for something.

I just had to respond to this...abet a few months later. I picked this up a little while back...ie style and taste, at least to me.

Very sharp. I had a'73 Challenger, 340 car. If only we could get back our toys from the past.....

This one of the favorite cars I have owned. I drove this 65 Electra for 5 years and when I sold it, the mileage was almost 300,000 miles. I loved that car. It was very elegant, powerful and beautiful. Maybe I'll have another one some day. I only paid 600 bucks for the first one. I think the next one will be a bit more. I don't car what you say about these new bug cars. I like the big, old 8 cylinder upscale coupes and sedans. I had the big block wildcat engine in it. I can't remember if it was a 425 or a 427?

Dann757 wrote:

wsherrick wrote:I would take a Packard over one of these new ones any day. Taste and style have to count for something.

I used to work for The Packard Motor Car Co. The name had been bought by The Kanter Bros.

http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/200 ... ure20.html

I worked for them in their warehouse in Boonton, NJ, which is an ancient 1800's silk mill on the Rockaway River. I could write a book just on the building.

I was hired in 1980 to paint the windows, they hadn't been painted in decades. It took me a year. I did other maintenance there too. One fine morning I lifted a box of shocks and strained myself. I had to go to the hospital. The Kanter Bros fired me and cancelled my health insurance retroactively, ie., the day before I hurt myself. That was the last I saw of them and their "integrity".

anyhoo, we used to see the most spectacular Packards come into the property. We saw one once and the whole staff came out and ogled it. It was one of those 30's Packard Sport Phaetons, baby blue with matching leather. 99.9% restored.
They had a huge storage area in that place, lined with one of a kind vehicles. Facel Vegas, a 50's Chrysler prototype with a record player in it, wood wheel cars, a Munce Jet.
Dan Kanter used to send us to the store for a quart of milk for the coffee. It was 97 cents in those days, and he would put his hand out for the change when we got back.
I have a hundred other stories from that year.

Have you driven past that building lately? Sandy destroyed that little yellow car on the roof.

wsherrick wrote:This one of the favorite cars I have owned. I drove this 65 Electra for 5 years and when I sold it, the mileage was almost 300,000 miles. I loved that car. It was very elegant, powerful and beautiful. Maybe I'll have another one some day. I only paid 600 bucks for the first one. I think the next one will be a bit more. I don't car what you say about these new bug cars. I like the big, old 8 cylinder upscale coupes and sedans. I had the big block wildcat engine in it. I can't remember if it was a 425 or a 427?

Would you believe...they were 455 Cubic Inch...I had one, a 1965 and paid $50.00 for it in 1972.