Built on a reputation for crafting some of the most luxurious and elegant automobiles of the Classic Era, this 1939 Packard 1708 Sport Sedan features one-off coachwork by Pasadena-based firm Bohman & Schwartz. The 1708 Series was Packard's most exclusive offering that year, powered by a smooth 473-cubic-inch V-12 engine and aimed directly at America's elite, competing with Cadillac's V-16 and Lincoln's K-Series. Noted in The Packard Story by Robert E. Turnquist, this one-off example was reportedly the most expensive Packard built for the model year at $9,000. Known history begins with Victoria, British Columbia collector and Banff hotel empire owner Murray Gammon, who opened an antique car museum in Victoria in the 1970s. It was then sold to noted West Coast Packard collector Tom Crook in the late 1980s, traded to Dick Gold for a Murphy-bodied Duesenberg Model J, and then acquired in the 1990s by the late Gene Perkins " regarded as one of the foremost authorities on Packards. Under Gene's care, it was displayed on the 18th green of the 1999 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, then sent to noted Michigan restorer the late Byron 'Bud' Hicks for a complete restoration, with the top and interior done by Mark Larter. Shown at the 30th annual Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance and numerous CCCA events, garnering Senior and Premier award badges. The Grand Rapids Classics Auto Museum welcomed this elegant one-off Packard into their collection in the fall of 2025, acquiring it from the late Gene Perkins estate.
