About This Site
This site was created to provide information about, and a place to buy and sell by me and other members, the fine cars and their parts or literature produced by both Packard and Imperial and I hope that it serves this purpose. It is a hobby site and is not related to any clubs or businesses.
Spotlighted are the coachbuilt cars from these two marques, particularly the hand-built Henney-Packard professional cars and the Ghia-Imperial Limousines. Included are rosters where owners can list theirs so that others can contact them to aid in their own restorations and as a matter of accounting for the current location of these cars for historical purposes. Having other cars available is a big research aid when trying to restore one so please help by listing in the roster if you own or know the location of one of these cars regardless of condition!
What's New?
This site was completely reprogrammed starting in mid-2016 from the ground up, and today (see above, right, for the date) I uploaded many more programming changes and additions. Also, a bug had appeared where it was not possible to log in to post ads or view the Packard Parts Book but that is now fixed.
The Packard Parts book now has carefully proofed entries into Group 30 of the 1948 to 1954 volume and I have been continuing to work hard on new programming for it to fix some issue that some of the data created due to several areas that used a different layout than the rest. The Packard Parts Book was moved into the Members Area which will help give me an idea of the actual need and usage. The Members Area is free so an account will be required to visit this area and several others so please see Membership later in this introduction for more information.
NOTE: I am in the midst of reworking the photos as used in the articles so that larger mouse-over versions can be viewed. In the meantime, some of them may be smaller than they were or the mouse-over versions the same size as those on the page but I hope to get it all resolved soon once I locate the original large-format photos that were used.
Membership
This site is not a club or business and the information on it is free to anyone who wants to read it but there is a
Members Area link at the top of every page and in the left menu where you can sign up or log in. Becoming a member has several benefits. For one thing, once you sign up and log in you can post
Classified Ads and edit existing ads that you may be running. Other features will become available to members too as time and funding permit. There is no charge or fee of any kind to sign up and become a member so I encourage you to do so. Your membership information is never sold or made available to any third-parties and is used only by you to access your Classified Ads and other current or new entries you may be able to make, such as the Roster.
Donations
I really encourage you to make a donation to support this site and to help it grow, and thank you to those who have done so. Donating will tell me that you want to see more photos and details added, along with more features, all of which takes time and effort to do so I need your encouragement that can only come from your financial support. Simply use the button at the bottom of any page or at the bottom of the left menu which will take you to the secure PayPal™ server where you can use your credit card or make an electronic transfer.
About the Webmaster
I am Don Pierson, a collector of both Packards and Imperials. After having over 22 cars for many years, I downsized my collection and currently own a 1965 LeBaron and an assortment of Packards ranging from 1951 to 1956. I recently sold my
1964 Crown Coupe and
1964 Ghia Limousine, my
1940 Club Sedan and my
1948 Henney Landaulet as I was moving and couldn't relocate everything and most had been sitting untouched for a good many years anyway. I am currently down to a single Henney-Packard after having had six of them at one point. I also own a 1965 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special sedan but recently sold another 1965 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special, parted out another and I sold my 1965 Cadillac Calais Coupe. The Calais Coupe is now in Sweden while the Fleetwood went to Monterey, CA.
Technical Details
For those who are technically inclined about Web sites, this one runs a relational MySQL database using both standard and Object-Oriented PHP as the programming language. The server uses Apache on the Linux platform. The logo, which was originally created using Adobe ImageStyler, has been reworked to generate itself automatically on-the-fly through the site's programming. Generally the photos are resized and uploaded through browser-based forms but on occasion they are sized, cropped, sharpened and otherwise edited beforehand using Photoshop, Watermark Factory or Gimp. The PHP programming, custom functions and CSS styles for appearance were written using Notepad++ with some programming done on my own Linux development platform using gEdit or others. A full built-in online administration facility for most aspects of the site was also created that allows me to keep the site up to date using browser-based forms no matter where I am. The secure Classified Ads shopping cart and the Donation areas are provided by PayPal™.
Copyrights
As with any Website, this one is protected under federal and international copyright laws and none of the contents, including photos, may be used without express written permission. This does not include small snippets of text used to describe this site but
copying, direct linking and re-posting pages and photos is strictly forbidden. The photos used either came from my personal collection or were sent to me for use here. However, there is no way to know the original source of the photos so if you own any that are posted without your permission, please be sure to let me know so that you can either be credited or the photo(s) removed. Similarly, if you have other photos, I would love to post them!
