Independent Thinking

[Sixty8panther]

I'm thinking of three cars, all three by the same manufacturer...

1.) this one off... built for the president of the company

was restyled instead of replaced due to a temp. halt in

passenger car production. It had a famous "nickname",

The B _ _ _ _ B _ _ _ _ _

2.) Two decades after the B.B. was built as a one-off &

several years after passenger car production resumed a

car was built, also a one-off custom, it could be called

a concept car/design study of sorts, that replaced the

now dated twice styled B.B.

This car has those RARE proportions that Balthazar finds

irresistible, one could describe the car, in profile, as

LONG hood, LONGER TRUNK. it also used alliteration in its

two part name,

The S _ _ _ _ _ _ S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3.) The third car was a 2-door hardtop, IMO sexy as can

be, and it was built by Request as a concept car three

years after the S.S. but also three years BEFORE a certain

doomed Ford product which borrowed this concept's main

unique styling feature. this one single styling feature alone

would reveal the manufacturer to most any classic car

enthusiast due to it's unique Art-deco shape.

Enjoy.

.

.

.

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Edited December 26, 2008 by Sixty8panther

[balthazar]

Car #1 : I did not know this car from memory- had to look it up, pointed to by cars #2 & #3. I have it's name.

Car #2 : This one I know very well, tho NOT by the name you are looking for. I know it only as the 'M S'.

Car#3 : Another one I know very well, but I feel you gave away too much in this clue.

Maybe someone else knows...

68: you are sending me off in a quest to find out if #2 still exists, right now....

EDIT :: thank God - it does. Gotta see it someday. Better yet, would love to build a homage. The greenhouse is to die for.

Edited December 27, 2008 by balthazar

[loki]

buick bengal fits for car 1. lol

[Sixty8panther]

buick bengal fits for car 1. lol

It's NOT the Buick Bengal.

HINT: none of these cars would be found in

the book I mentioned recently,the one I got

for Christmas last week....

[Sixty8panther]

C'mon people..... I've given you lots of clues. Independent, as in NOT the big three.

I know you can do it!

[balthazar]

Too obscure for the mainstream enthusiast, 68...

[Robert Hall]

I'm thinking of three cars, all three by the same manufacturer...

1.) this one off... built for the president of the company

was restyled instead of replaced due to a temp. halt in

passenger car production. It had a famous "nickname",

The B _ _ _ _ B _ _ _ _ _

Packard 'Brown Bomber'?

2.) Two decades after the B.B. was built as a one-off &

several years after passenger car production resumed a

car was built, also a one-off custom, it could be called

a concept car/design study of sorts, that replaced the

now dated twice styled B.B.

This car has those RARE proportions that Balthazar finds

irresistible, one could describe the car, in profile, as

LONG hood, LONGER TRUNK. it also used alliteration in its

two part name,

The S _ _ _ _ _ _ S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

?

3.) The third car was a 2-door hardtop, IMO sexy as can

be, and it was built by Request as a concept car three

years after the S.S. but also three years BEFORE a certain

doomed Ford product which borrowed this concept's main

unique styling feature. this one single styling feature alone

would reveal the manufacturer to most any classic car

enthusiast due to it's unique Art-deco shape.

There was a concept car called the Packard Request...another was the Packard Predictor concept which had a vertical central grille not unlike the Edsel, as did the Black Bess concepts of the same era.

The word 'Request' in yer description triggered memories of an article I read eons ago about the Packard Request and Predictor.

Packard concept info

Packard Concepts

Edited December 30, 2008 by moltar

[Drew Dowdell]

Special Speedster?

[Robert Hall]

Special Speedster?

That one I hadn't heard of...

Special Speedster

[Drew Dowdell]

It fits the proportions description....

[balthazar]

The #2 car is correct, but I've never seen it called the 'Special Speedster', it has always been named for the Packard head who comissioned it, the 'Macauley Speedster', and even that name was somewhat unofficial. Looks like wiki has it wrong again.

[Sixty8panther]

The Special Speedster, though erroneous it may be, is quoted outside of Wiki.

now who can name the otehr two?

Edited December 31, 2008 by Sixty8panther

[Robert Hall]

The Special Speedster, though erroneous it may be, is quoted outside of Wiki.

now who can name the otehr two?

See my first post above...

[Sixty8panther]

Wow, i guess need to get more sleep... sorry Moltar, you got it.

[balthazar]

I can tell you this, "Special Speedster" is not mentioned in the 825-page Packard, a History of the Motor Car and the Company.

[Sixty8panther]

Wow.... fan-dangled intranet-web always misinforms.

[Robert Hall]

Wow.... fan-dangled intranet-web always misinforms.

Who knows... the only people that really know the formal name of that concept are probably long dead or over 85. I had never heard of it before this thread...you and I are probably the only people under 40 that have heard of it..

[Sixty8panther]

True, well I've seen it on moer than one website (never looked it up on WIKI) as the "Special Speedster"...

I NEED that Packard book Balthy mentioned.

[XP715]

True, well I've seen it on moer than one website (never looked it up on WIKI) as the "Special Speedster"...

I NEED that Packard book Balthy mentioned.

I bought the 17th copy ever printed, numbered and signed by the author (first edition printing of 1000 copies), for my father a couple years ago. Found it in a used book store in Boston. It's an awesome book!

[balthazar]

>>"Who knows... the only people that really know the formal name of that concept are probably long dead or over 85."<<

Wait- this is more sarcasm, right?

[Robert Hall]

>>"Who knows... the only people that really know the formal name of that concept are probably long dead or over 85."<<

Wait- this is more sarcasm, right?

Nah, serious...it's a concept car from over 50 years ago...can't be that many people left that were involved with it's development.

[balthazar]

This is not an artifact from 1200 BC, nor was it built in secret, never shown & destroyed the year it was built.

In the course of industrial history, the Speedster is barely 'last week'. Of course it's given name is known.

[Sixty8panther]

True.... I bet Balthazar's 4,000 page book has the answer.

Anyway the Packard Request is beautiful, IMHO.

I love that proud vertical grille.

[Intrepidation]

Eh, not my cup o tea.

[NeonLX]

Heh. The Request's vertical grille is certainly prouder than Edsel's was...but the 1970 Pontiac gave it a run for the money!

[Drew Dowdell]

eh... too much grill and not enough car.

[balthazar]

WMJ- break yer piggybank, it's going up @ B-J later this month... I think it's the 27th.

I always really liked the Request: the hooded headlamps, those huge horizontal areas around the bumper wings, and I'm a sucker for grillework that wraps down under. I have not seen enough pics of this car- it's only the same 3-4 that circulate around...