Bobbing for Packards

What a shame, I've always loved the prewar packards.
Hope he had good insurance, at least all that can be fixed, unlike a fire or other types of damage.
 
To say that the owner had a bad day is a hell of an understatement. I hope he got it out of there in as short time as possible. The dry out process will be a b!tch to save any wood and stave off corrosion. The electrics may be a total loss. The interior should be completely disassembled right away and all of the running gear drained & flushed with light oil as soon as possible. I've worked on flooded cars and it is disheartening to do one like that.

I bet he will carry wheel chocks from now on. Some of those old hand brakes weren't all that good. Since I have the old Borg Warner electric overdrives, I got in the habit of putting the car in reverse and setting the hand brake a long time ago. My brother had one roll away on him and I learned from his mistake.
 
How unfortunate. It reminded me of a VW commercial from years ago:
" Volkswagens will definitely float but they won't float indefinitely.So steer around the big puddles,especially the ones that have names."
 
there was a story in the model a club publication a while ago about 4 new cars being delivered to sout america that sunk during the transfer from boat to shore by barge, 4 days later they werte fished out, the water drained---the batterys were even flushed, the cars started and were delivered to the owners
 
This isn't just about forgetting to use hand brake as clearly the car was left in neutral rather than in gear. How many owners (or their hired hands) of cars of that caliber are that careless?
 
You know, I always leave my car in gear, but when at a car show it bothers me.
I agree with leaving it in gear, but I'm always thinking some idiots going to come along while I'm not there and push the button on the starter solenoid, or on the dash, and send the car jumping to who knows where.
I swear sometimes I feel I should hire a guard at some of the shows. I caught some guy leaning on my radiator support rods as if they were hand rails( I almost smacked him)And a kid one time hanging off my drivers door( Lord knows where his parents were), had I not had some restraint I certainly would be in jail for child abuse.
 
"This isn't just about forgetting to use hand brake as clearly the car was left in neutral rather than in gear. How many owners (or their hired hands) of cars of that caliber are that careless?"

Not sure exactly what David is saying. I'm not sure that the car was left in neutral ... could have been, but I do not know what transmission/drive train is in this Packard. I'm not an expert on the different types of "free-wheeling" that MAY have been used, but Packards did have the option. I would hold my opinion. What seems to be most suspect is that the parking brake was not used, failed, or was inoperable. Clearly the car was not properly chocked ... surprisingly few are.

Careless? If David is saying that the handling of high end concours cars is rarely careless, that is true. "Fussy" is a better description. It's very common for high end cars to be handled not by the owner but rather by a crew that insures that the car will be properly prepared and protected.

By the way, this happened at Hilton Head. This was not a mall show where spectators and their kids climb all over the cars ... or reach in and hit the starters.

I don't know at what point in the show this happened. Was it during set up in the morning or after an award presentation with the car returning to its parking spot. I can assure you that there are plenty of distractions when moving a car around on the concours field. Early in the morning at daybreak with the dew still on the ground and numerous concours staff directing and parking hundreds of cars in their exact spot ... or parading to receive an award through throngs of people. There is a certain level of distraction that may have played into this.

Point is that somebody screwed up due to an oversight, distraction, mechanical problem/misunderstanding. As in aviation, most accidents are attributed to "pilot error."

It will be interesting to see if more is reported.
 
that car is a million and a half.................. the owner worked his butt off restoring it, and will do it again.

this discussion is also on the AACA forum.
 
By 1938 free wheeling was a dead duck and no longer available: it should not have ever been offered at the beginning of the decade. It is scary to stop a 5,000+ pound car without any assistance from the compression of the engine (big ones in nearly all of the Classics). I've had several big Lincolns with it from earlier in the 'thirties and could never understand its attraction or purpose.
 
Hi Everyone, I think it still had the ribbon on the windshield wiper! Hell of a souvenir. I just want to vomit!

Photo snip lifted from Instagram account of robianuario.
 

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So the big question is, did the diver pick up a trunk full of those expensive Titleist balls to offset the cost of the repairs?
 
Hilton Head Island likely has an underflow of brackish semi salty water. It is not as bad as straight sea water but not good in any case. Once something is pickled like that, it takes a lot of work to get the salt out.
 
Makes you want to cry.
I really feel for the owner, even with insurance.
No one deserves such an incident.
 
With people crying and vomiting, maybe Ryan needs to get some grief counselors onto Ford Barn.

( ... could be catching.)
 
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