In June 1966 I bought this 1947 Packard Straight eight for 55 pounds ($110.00). It had been a J&A Brown company car. (This company owned 70% of the coal mines in NSW). The car was in good condition with the interior like new. I drove this car to work at BHP and to University of an evening and did my first long road trips in it including prospecting trips ( 2nd photo). On one trip it developed a very loud engine knock. The NRMA mechanic said he thought a big end bearing had collapsed. Rather than tow it which would be very expensive I decided to keep driving and see how far I could get - that would reduce the cost of the tow. Well I got all the way home and since I could not afford to repair it on my student income I drove it for several months. Although the engine sounded like someone was hitting the block with a hammer, it never actually failed. I later bought a 1949 RHD Cadillac Convertible and had to sell the Packard as I had no where to keep it. I had such great memories of driving the Packard that earlier this year I decided to try buy one again and in June this year exactly 50 years later I bought a RHD 1947 Packard eight with electric overdrive and drove it from Frankston in Victoria to my home near Lake Macquarie, NSW. ( 3rd and 4th photos) It was a great trip - the car drove like a dream and I had to keep backing of the accelerator on the freeway. My dream is to drive the car around Australia.
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