1928 443 Roadster

Car information

This custom 8 roadster was bought in 1928 in the USA by Brisbane dentist Mr Chas Collins and his wife while they were on their honeymoon. After the holiday it was converted to RHD and shipped back to Brisbane. Chas had a young nephew, Vince Rayward, who had a great love for this huge Packard. Vince proved his worth to “uncle” by giving it a valve grind and full tune up and in 1936 Vince became the owner of the car. He maintained the car through WW2 and it was used in the 1950s as a movie-reel swap car between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. ( Fast cars were used to swap over the feature movie reels at interval time). Later it was used as a slip-way tractor on the Gold Coast until – after pulling out many boats, the clutch burnt out.

Vince left it parked in the sand hills for a while where it got very rusty. He sold it to Barry Smith in 1974 and then it changed hands again to Peter Boyce. Bob and Yvonne Davis bought the car from Peter in 1989. After a full restoration (in which evidence of the RH conversion and heavy clutch wear from the slipway use were noted,) they greatly enjoyed the car for a short time before having to sell it – only due to business needs – at 1999 at the Melbourne Grand Prix auction. Andrew Lidden bought the roadster and held it until 2016 when he honoured a commitment of first option back to Bob and Yvonne just prior to his passing. This fine example of a Packard top-of-the-range car of 1928 is a delight to drive and is very reliable.