Interesting Packard Accessories from the 1920s and 1930s

One of the wonderful (and humbling) things about being a car enthusiast is that you never stop learning. And the more you learn, the stronger your love for cars grows. Last year, while researching for an episode of the Drive the Bid Podcast, I came across an interestingly named accessory that Packard offered. It was a footrest, but the luxury automaker didn’t call it that, instead identifying it as a “hassock.” That led to me wanting to show all of you that and additional noteworthy accessories available from Packard in the late 1920s and 1930s, which you can see below.

COSMETIC

In 1929, you could order your Packard with a “de luxe” (aka “Goddess of Speed“) radiator emblem, or specify a personalized one with your initials on it. If that didn’t impress your passengers upon entry, they would definitely know you had made it in the world when they saw the flowers in your optional cut glass vase inside.

COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE – EXTERIOR

I can’t speak for you, but vent visors remind me of the 1990s and 2000s. As Packard’s accessory catalog shows, even back in 1929, people wanted to have their windows down a little yet keep the elements out of their cabins, which they could do with “window eaves.”

The vertical blades of the available Packard-Trico Visionall system kept rain and snow off the windshield; a rumble seat windshield was available to make sure the rear passenger’s smile was free of bugs when they got to their destination.

As long as the weather allowed people to play through, the running board-mounted golf bag holder was ready to transport up to three sets of clubs to the local course.

COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE – INTERIOR

Driving into the sun has never been pleasant, so it’s good to know Packard made a glare shield to prevent “blind driving,” according to its 1939 accessories catalog. The company was even kind enough to make it “non-inflammable” (does that mean it was flammable?).

Those fortunate enough to ride in a Packard could make their trip a little cozier by covering up with a “robe” that had plush silk on one side and the same upholstery used in the cabin on the other. They could even put their feet up on one of those hassocks I mentioned earlier.

The biggest surprise of all is that way back in the ’30s, Packard had a hill hold feature, although it gave the technology a much cooler name: NoRoL. It engaged when the driver pressed the clutch and brake pedals down, holding the Packard in place on an incline; to get moving again, all the driver had to do was push the clutch.

*All photos courtesy of PackardInfo.com and Dezo’s Garage.

Affectionately known as the “Screaming Chicken,” Pontiac’s flaming phoenix that initially appeared on the hood of the 1973 Trans Am, is about as iconic as any identifier from the muscle car era. However, did you know that it literally rose from the dead to become the Trans Am’s trademark?

Designer Bill Porter was initially inspired by Hopi art when designing the Firebird logo. However, folks within Pontiac jokingly called it the “Sick Chicken,” so he was motivated to create an update for 1970. Inspired by a Tiffany vase that featured flame-like feathers, Porter designed a new bird that appeared to be rising. He then attached a huge version of it on the hood of a Trans Am and showed Bill Mitchell, Vice President of General Motors Design. Mitchell, who could make a sailor blush with the language he used, was not too kind towards the proposal.

Around two years later, John Schinella, another designer, decided to revive the idea. He modified the bird slightly, then crafted decals for his own car and drove up and down Woodward Avenue to gauge reaction. Everyone loved it, so he applied the new treatment to Mitchell’s custom-built black and gold Trans Am. The car, flanked by Mitchel’s similarly hued motorcycles, were parked by his office. This time, there was no negative reaction, giving Schinella the opportunity to present to Pontiac’s lead designer, Chuck Jordan, and Pontiac executives. Several were not too keen on the Screaming Chicken, but the suggestion to make the decal an option was a compromise solution that was palatable.

This decal soon became synonymous with Trans Ams throughout its lifecycle, though the huge bird was last used in 1981. For the straight scoop, check out the above video from Original Motor Car via Dean’s Garage.

Are you ready for summer? Automakers seem to be. Toyota has a new TRD Pro color for 2026 called Wave Maker. Ford Performance is offering a new Coastal Package for the 2025 Bronco four-door complete with a lift and colorful graphics. Now comes news of a 1-of-1 Palm Beach Edition DB12 Volante from a collaboration between Q by Aston Martin, the British automaker’s in-house bespoke division, and Aston Martin Palm Beach.

If you’ve never been to Palm Beach, Florida before, close your eyes and envision the ocean, sunshine, and palm trees, all of which are represented in this special DB12 Volante. According to Aston Martin, the exclusive Q by Aston Martin Frosted Glass Blue exterior paint was sprayed by hand and “exhibits qualities unique to the use of glass flakes within the topcoat, creating the unmistakeably mesmerising shimmer effect that perfectly encapsulates the south Florida sun.”

The eight-layer fabric power top lowers in 14 seconds to let in the rays and the coastal breeze, which will probably feel like a hurricane when the 670-horsepower 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 is fully opened up.

A palm leaf motif is visible on everything from the aluminum side strakes above the front Gloss Jet Black diamond-turned wheels to the polished aluminum door sill plaques, Aurora Blue and Ivory leather seats, center armrest, and door panels. Although the wood accents were not cut from palm trees, Aston Martin chose open-pore Linear Light Olive Ash book-matched wood trim because its texture is similar. There are even more book-matched veneers – with a palm leaf pattern, of course – on the back of the seats. Should the well-heeled owner of this one-off happen to be far away from Palm Beach, they’ll know how to get there after they punch in the city’s latitude and longitude coordinates embossed on the leather dashboard into the DB12 Volante’s bespoke infotainment system.

If you happen to be in Palm Beach in the near future and see this ultra-exclusive Aston, consider yourself lucky. If you don’t spot it, you’ll still be in Palm Beach so don’t get down (unless it’s hurricane season).

Featured on AutoHunter is this 1957 Chevrolet Corvette, which is powered by an upgraded 327ci V8 paired with a three-speed manual gearbox. Finished in Cascade Green with white coves and equipped with an off-white soft top over a Parchment vinyl interior, this C1 Corvette is now offered by the selling dealer in Missouri with a matching removable hardtop and a clear Illinois title.

The Cascade Green body is accented with white coves and chrome bumperettes and trim.

When the body-colored removable hardtop is not in place, an off-white soft top with a plastic rear window can be used to cover the passenger compartment.

This first-generation Corvette rolls on 15-inch wheels wheels equipped with polished covers that have knock-off-style center caps and 205/75 whitewall tires.

Inside the cockpit is a pair of Parchment vinyl bucket seats. Features include manual windows, dash-mounted rearview mirror, Wonder Bar radio, and heater. The trunk contains a whitewall spare tire.

Instrumentation consists of a 140-mph speedometer, 6,000-rpm tachometer, and gauges for the fuel level, oil pressure, coolant temperature, and battery. The odometer shows 44,090 miles, but the true mileage on this vehicle is unknown.

The original 283ci V8 has been replaced with a 327, which is equipped with ribbed valve covers and a polished air cleaner housing, and connected to a three-speed manual gearbox.

An independent front suspension and semi-elliptic rear springs help this Vette hold the road. Drum brakes keep it painted-side-up. A dual exhaust system exits from bumperettes on both sides of the rear end.

The auction for this 327-powered 1957 Chevrolet Corvette ends on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. (PDT).

Visit the AutoHunter listing for more information and a photo gallery

Color makes the car. You can have the most boring car, but paint it in an interesting hue and someone’s interest may be piqued. Or you can have a totally hot car that looks completely subdued in certain colors. Our Pick of the Day, a 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302, falls in the latter category. It is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Springfield, Ohio.

If you glance at the Ford Torino GT pace cars that were scattered around several tracks in 1970, they all were painted in Pastel Blue. Why did Ford choose this color for that purpose? It doesn’t project an image reeking of performance, and it also doesn’t call attention to itself the way you’d expect.

Let’s pivot to the Mercury Cougar Eliminator, which was available only in a few colors. For 1970, they seemingly were bright colors: Competition Orange, Competition Gold, Competition Blue, Competition Green, Competition Yellow . . . and Pastel Blue. If these colors feel familiar to Mustang fans, it’s because the 1970 Boss 429 was also available in most of these hues, though known as Calypso Coral, Grabber Orange, Grabber Blue, Grabber Green . . . and, yes, Pastel Blue.

Why Pastel Blue was used as part of a limited set of colors for what were FoMoCo’s most image-laden and visible products is only known to dead Ford employees. Trying to make logic brings us to a dead end—for example, American racing colors are blue with white racing stripes, but the blue is closer to a Royal Blue than Pastel Blue, so insert shruggy here.

Interestingly, the 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 was not restricted to several colors. After an auspicious start in 1969, this Trans Am homologation package returned for 1970. Though the facelift removed two headlights, the new styling was overshadowed by a new stripe design, which gave the Boss 302 a fresh look that was equally as racy as its predecessor. Stripes were not the only thing new for the Boss 302 package—a Shaker hood scoop option was a popular addition, high-back bucket seats were now standard, and the formerly standard Magnum 500s were replaced by Ford’s basic wheel cover with trim rings. With dexterous use of the order form, one could spec the sportiest of Mustangs by ordering a SportsRoof with the Boss 302 package, Shaker, rear spoiler, and Magnum 500s.

Yellow appears to be the most popular Boss 302 color for 1970. And Pastel Blue? Only 66 Boss 302s were built in this color. This 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 also stands out in other ways, as the only other options were an AM radio and F60 x 15 belted raised white-letter tires. Note the Marti Report—it shows this car was ordered for dealer stock. In such a subdued color? Strange! Also note that a previous owner added good stuff including rear spoiler, console, gauges, and Magnum 500s in addition to the Competition Suspension, quick-ratio steering, and front disc brakes that were part of the Boss 302 package. “Appears to be all-original sheet metal!” says the seller. “Like-new stainless and chrome! Clean and dry, rust-free underbody that is very nicely detailed!”

Boss 302s are easy to find, having had a high survival rate out of the 7,014 built. Very few of them were built in colors rarer than Pastel Blue. If you don’t want to call attention to yourself while calling attention to yourself, then this $75,900 Mustang is calling your name.

Click here to view this Pick of the Day on ClassicCars.com

There’s a certain irony to learning about cars in the age of the Internet. With so many resources at our disposal (often from the convenience of our pocket), it also means there are many resources that will lead us astray. Both the good and the bad are subsequently amplified on forums and social media, creating an even bigger mix of useful and worthless information. One example that stands out pertains to vent windows.

I theorize that the bad information that has been amplified is based on how we approach learning these days, as we have gone from archaeology (think junkyards) and a limited number of print resources to an infinite number of web pages. Today, it seems folks focus on the micro instead of the macro. When I was learning about cars, I approached them as if they were people. What do we look at first to distinguish one person from the other? The face; case in point: the first-generation Camaro. A long time ago, I figured out that a 1967 Camaro looks like a ’67, a 1968 Camaro looks like a ’68, and a ’69 Camaro looks like a ’69. The faces of the three appear different, with distinct grilles and parking lights (round for ’67, oval for ’68) or a restyle (’69) distinguishing them; out back, the ’68 taillights were divided versions of what were on the ’67.

But go online and you may find an answer that reads like this: “1967s have vent windows, and 1968s have side markers as regulated by the federal government.” Seriously—do I identify my mom based on her nose or her face? The tried-and-true method that I am espousing has possibly been lost on new generations of automotive enthusiasts, perhaps best exemplified by an inaccurate way of determining a 1969 GM A-body.

The A-body was GM’s standardized small body shared between Chevrolet and Pontiac models, with an occasional Oldsmobile, too. Starting in 1964, GM’s new mid-size platform was designated the A-body, a platform that included the Chevrolet Chevelle, Pontiac Tempest, Oldsmobile F-85, and Buick Special. Within each respective series there were several trim levels (i.e., Tempest, Tempest Custom, and LeMans) as well as performance variants based on a particular trim level (i.e., the GTO was based on the LeMans).

It’s been said that an easy way to discern a 1969 Chevelle SS 396 from a ’68 was due to Chevrolet omitting vent windows. So what do you make of the vehicle below?

You can see this is a 1969 Chevelle with vent windows, so what gives? Two-door Sport Coupes (aka hardtops) and convertibles were produced sans vent windows for 1969, while Coupes (aka post coupes), four-doors, and wagons continued to feature vent windows through 1972. Wouldn’t it be better to focus on the macro and learn to discern between the two years rather than focusing on the (incorrect) micro?

Why this tidbit of misinformation continues to persist is something I cannot answer, but old wives’ tales have a funny habit of finding an inconspicuous space in which to hide and live. Of course, the most famous of these is the Chevrolet Nova not selling well in Latin countries because the name means “it doesn’t go” in Spanish, when the truth is that a nova (a star that flares up and returns to its original luminosity) is the same word in both English and Spanish.

One of the things that makes cars so enjoyable is the people behind those cars and the stories they have about them. Dave Pericak, the former head of Ford Performance, has plenty of those, some of which he shares with Jay Leno in the video below.

Pericak is currently the director of Ford’s EV truck line but, not too long ago, he was the man behind the vehicles that have shown the world what Ford can do, whether that’s on a street in a small American town or the Mulsanne Straight. When you think of the 50th Anniversary Mustang, the GT race car’s 2016 Le Mans victory, the 2017 GT road car, or the S550 Shelby GT350R or GT500, think Dave Pericak.

But if you think Pericak and his team accomplished those feats of engineering and determination without fear or doubts, think again. As the chief engineer of the 2015 Mustang, he knew there was a certain way he needed to do it, which required a larger budget than initially allotted, but he made a case for it and got the necessary funding. The worldwide love of the Mustang was both a blessing and a curse when Pericak took on the 50th Anniversary model.

The S550 Mustang’s more potent variant, the track-ready Shelby GT350R, presented its own unique challenge in the form of its flat-plane crankshaft. Luckily, Pericak and his crew sorted that issue out, but they had to start worrying all over again when they decided to put the same 5.2-liter V8—albeit with a cross-plane crank—into the new Shelby GT500, then connect it with a supercharger and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Developing the last-generation GT supercar, which Pericak calls “a race car with a license plate,” started with the motorsports variant. According to him, the street version only received approval once he agreed to not only race the GT in Le Mans but also to win. It’s safe to say that everything worked out.

Pericak even helped Leno with his custom first-generation Bronco, which is based on a Kincer chassis and powered by the same 760-horsepower “Predator” V8 that’s in the S550 Shelby GT500. Did he once again thrive under pressure and pull it off? Watch to find out.

It was on April 12, 1961. when the first human—Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin—completed an orbit around the earth in the Vostik 1 spacecraft. The ongoing space race between the United States and the Soviet Union pushed the boundaries of rocket technology and space travel.

That movement also significantly impacted the design, technology and marketing within the automotive industry. The low, streamlined profile of the Buick LeSabre, for example, marked a shift to sleekness from the exaggerated style of previous years. In December 1960, this Bimini Blue Buick left the Wilmington, Delaware, assembly plant to begin its journey:

Featured on AutoHunter is this 1961 Buick LeSabre Convertible. The car is being sold by a private seller in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, and the auction will end Monday, June 2, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. (PDT).

The LeSabre was assembled as a General Motors B-body. Advertisements from the era called it “the big surprise in full-size cars.” Buick said the LeSabre reflected a beautiful change in design and engineering. “Inside, outside, underneath, up top—everywhere you look—the ’61 Buick is news all over.” While heavily changed from prior years, one of the exterior features that did carry forward was the characteristic Ventiport layout on the front fenders (something that had been around on Buick models since 1949, though skipped for 1958-59).

The listing says this car received a new soft-top in 1985 and, based on the photos, the last 40 years have treated it well. The torpedo-style bumper ends and the streamlined V-shaped rear end brought in some of the space age-inspired design elements we know and love. The interior, color-coordinated in blue vinyl, benefits from a retro-look sound system but otherwise looks largely original.

Power comes from a 364ci V8 mated to a Turbine Drive two-speed automatic transmission. Buick rated the engine at 250 horsepower and 384 lb-ft of torque. The odometer shows 44,515 miles, and the seller asserts that the reading is accurate. That comes out to fewer than 700 miles per year. Collector appeal? You bet. There can’t be many left with that kind of mileage. Bonus items include a convertible boot, the original Sonomatic radio, uninstalled suspension components and extra hubcaps.

Incidentally, the LeSabre has been gone from the Buick lineup for exactly 20 years as of 2025. It was replaced for 2006 by the Lucerne. All the more reason to celebrate one of the finest Buicks of yesteryear. Place a bid today!

The auction for this 1961 Buick LeSabre Convertible ends Monday, June 2, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. (PDT).

Visit the AutoHunter listing for more information and a photo gallery