A very early Packard, both 1:1 and also close to 1:43

   In the involved discussion of Brooklin's troubled new Buick, Skip Johnson posted an article that really caught my attention.  Here it is:

https://buffalonews.com/.../article_cfb39cde-4276-11ec...

    The article starts, "The Pierce Arrow Museum is unveiling a 1901 Packard that was used in the first long-distance road race from New York City to Buffalo, as part of the Pan-Am Exposition. The car, acquired and restored by the late Terry Warren, is shown here at the museum in Buffalo, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021."  The photo follows:

A 1901 Packard!  I started searching and posted some quick snapshots, and then it got even more complex, and it dawned on me that my meandering mind (and camera) had nothing to do with that Buick and its mirrors.  I closed off the good discussion on that Buick and opened this one.  So here's a tale of a Packard.

   Thirty or so years ago I discovered an early line of sort of 1/43 French cars based on the holdings of a museum in that country.  These were made into a series commonly referred to as the RAMI line, and they were sold in various ways and means in the 1970's, perhaps earlier, in the United States after their French origins.  Thinking of that glorious 1901 Packard, I opened my RAMI shelves and photographed these.

But these are French cars, and so I turned to another older part of my holdings, the Revell Highway Pioneers.  They're larger than 1/43, but fairly close.  Here's the one I found that was most interesting:

  But that's a Duryea, not a Packard.  And then I found another.   As Revell was really getting started, back in the early 1950's, they made a connection with the English firm of J.P. Gowland and their line of "Controlit" toys.   Soon Revell had a series of these plastic cars, with their rear axles jointed to jump and jump when the plunger was pushed. And in my small Revell holdings was this one: the 1900 Packard.

  This was it.  The museum that Skip Johnson knows has the 1901 version, while Gowland had used the 1900 date.  Yes, these Gowland jumping toys became the earliest part of the Revell Highway Pioneers, which were eventually produced as plastic kits for those of us with lots of glue and paint back in the 1950's.   As kits, Revell dropped the jumping spring/cable/axle mechanism, even though some of the early Highway Pioneers still used the same axle (without its movement mechanism).  

  And stuck back with other old stuff, I found my own Highway Pioneer 1900 Packard, kind of worse-for-wear given the plastic of the early 1950's, but still around.  Here it is:

  One of my dreams is that a modern model manufacturer would make the early American cars, preferable in 1/43 scale, with the detailing and exactness that is possible today.  I wonder it there's a market out there.

   Enough of my meandering.  Thanks, Skip, for giving me an interesting afternoon.

      David H  

OH, yes....  Good luck with the mirrors on that Buick.