360° Interior

1935 Packard 1201 Dual Cowl Sport Phaeton

360° Exterior

This 1935 Packard 1201 is one of a kind – literally. It’s the only 1935 Eight 1201 Dual Cowl Sport Phaeton ever made. Packard historians long believed that the automaker didn’t build any sport phaetons on the 1201 Eight chassis for the 1935 model year. The Packard Eight was also only offered in the standard single-cowl form while more high-end vehicles including the Super Eight and Twelve models featured the dual cowl body. The auto body tags on this Packard appear to confirm the authenticity of this one-of-a-kind automobile.

This Eight sport phaeton was first purchased on April 20, 1935, from the Packard dealer in Stamford, Connecticut. Although no official record exists, it’s thought that the body was originally meant for a Super Eight but instead fitted to the Eight chassis as a cost-saving measure. During that time period, an Eight wearing the single phaeton body style was priced from $2,870, while a Super Eight phaeton was priced from $3,390. That’s coming out money ahead even after the expense of modifying the body to fit on the Eight chassis.

A Tight Fit

Putting a Super Eight sport phaeton body onto a 1201 chassis would have been no mean feat. This was due to differing wheelbase sizes between the chassis. The wheelbase of the 1201 models was 134 inches, while the Super Eights measured in at 132, 139, and 144 inches in length.

The Super Standard

The 1935 Packard Standard Eight consisted of the 1200, 1201, and 1202 models, with the 1201 including 10 standard body styles. Although the Eight and the more luxurious Super Eight were nearly identical, the Eight outsold the Super Eight by a factor of three to one.

William McCoy of Mt. Holly Springs, Pennsylvania, owned this Packard Eight for 46 years. While under McCoy’s ownership, the car was treated to a high-quality, multi-year restoration, with much of the work performed by McCoy himself.