Royale 848 Convertible Sedan Concept Sketches

Steve that is great! You make me want to cut the roof off my car :).

As an aside, I was contacted by a fellow ACD member who is 100% confident he saw the real deal sometime in the last 15 years. It was owned by friends of his parents and was in rough shape but complete. He's been trying to track them down. I will post anything if we find it.

I studied these drawings a bit more. Steve, I could not find the 31 Packard 845 Dietrich convertible sedan that you reference. For me I really like the first one... naturally. If I was going to guess, I would bet the actual car is actually like the 3rd picture.

Hi AJ

I goofed, that would be the '31 Packard 840 Dietrich convertible sedan. Dietrich preferred that 3-2-1 proportion for the windows/top quarters size relationship, its an approximate, all done to please the eye. In working these up, I discounted the styling Dietrich did for the '32 Lincoln KB convertible sedans, it just doesn't seem to be in the same idiom as the streamlined Royale. The V-windshield matches the radiator theme but the moldings and rear treatment harken to an earlier ethic.

Picture three might well be what the actual car looked like, though when working it out, I realized those didn't appear on either Packard or Lincoln until 1932....though that wouldn't have prevented Dietrich from having one created earlier. Do we know which model year the one-off convertible sedan was? The '32 Lincoln KB Twelve Dietrich Sport Berlines are a real favorite, wonderful proportions and so elegant. I've been told only three of the eight still exist.....and none have been restored, as yet. Have you ever run across one?

Steve

There was one of those Sport Berlines for sale in Ohio about 5 years ago. I agree with you and love them. I believe that all 3 8-48 Royales were produced at the same time as period literature refers to them as a group.

Steve: Gorgeous drawings, congratulations! I would choose the first one, no doubt...

But, and this may be a big but... most cars were 135" wheelbase, A.J.'s is apparently the only recorded 148" wb, and then there was the huge 152" wb. Is there any material confirming a convertible sedan was ever built and if so on what chassis?

If it wasn't built, it should have been done, to your first design!

victor

Victor, I believe somewhere in my pile of paperwork on my car I have a letter from the factory confirming that 3 148 inch chassis were built.