Property from the Robert Lee Collection,
The Last of Four Built and Formerly the Property of the Harrah Collection
Model 1106. 160bhp, 445 cu. in. side valve V12 engine with Stromberg downdraft carburetion featuring automatic cold start, three-speed synchromesh transmission, shaft drive with hypoid rear axle and four-wheel adjustable vacuum assisted brakes. Wheelbase: 135"
In the world of collector cars, there are many wonderful cars.
There are but a handful, however, that earn universal acclaim. These very special cars are, inevitably, exceedingly rare. They are invariably built on the finest chassis. Most important of all, they are achingly beautiful, the pinnacle of achievement for their coachbuilder.
The LeBaron Runabout Speedster is just such a car.
The Packard Twelve
Packard’s Twelve was, in many ways, the signature car of the classic era – it was the top of the line offering from America’s leading manufacturer of fine cars. It was the Brooks Brother’s suit of the time: a conservative car with finely tailored lines, elegant appointments, a refined chassis and a whisper-quiet twelve-cylinder engine.
In a sense, Packard’s Twelve was never meant to be. In fact, the car’s history goes back to the Cord L-29 and the great Miller engined front drive race cars. Packard’s management was intrigued with the idea of front drive and commissioned the construction of a prototype. A decision was made to develop a twelve-cylinder engine for this new car, as the shorter length of a V12 – compared with Packard’s venerable inline eight – allowed more flexibility in packaging the front drive chassis.
Extensive testing revealed weaknesses in the front drive chassis’s design and anticipated development costs soared. Meanwhile, Cadillac had ignited the multi-cylinder race with their exquisite new sixteen and twelve-cylinder models, and Packard’s dealerships were feeling the pressure.
The solution, born of necessity, created one of the defining models of the classic era: install the new twelve-cylinder engine in Packard’s proven Deluxe Eight chassis. The result was christened the Twin Six, in honor of Packard’s first V12 introduced more than 15 years earlier.
By 1933, the name had been changed to the Packard Twelve to more clearly convey the power behind the new car. It and the 11th series were the last cars with flowing fenders and classic lines, before the advent of the streamlined look. The front ensemble is truly beautiful, with a graceful v-shaped radiator and matching headlights and fender lights. The dash is a work of art, looking more like a jeweler’s display than an instrument panel.
Few collectors today would argue that the 1934 Packard Twelve represents the ultimate expression of Packard’s leadership in the fine car market.
LeBaron Inc.
LeBaron Carrossiers Inc. was founded in 1920 by two of the most respected names from the era of the great coachbuilders: Thomas L. Hibbard and Raymond Dietrich. Both young men worked at Brewster, probably the leading coachbuilder of the day. Since the carriage era, America’s leading families had patronized Brewster.
In fact each family had their own unique carriage colors; some had different color schemes for summer and winter bodies. According to Lamm and Holls, writing in A Century of Automotive Style, there were literally thousands of such combinations maintained on sample boards in Brewster’s paint shops – each a little different from the others.
Brewster’s market position allowed the company to attract the brightest and most talented designers, and Hibbard and Dietrich were no exception. However, the pair were ambitious and decided they wanted to try their hand at their own designs. They took to whiling away their spare time planning their new venture. Unfortunately, Brewster got wind of the plan, and fired them both.
Unexpectedly forced to set up shop, they settled on a location and a name. The location – 2 Columbus Circle, New York City – was more than they could afford, but they decided it was essential to their image. Coincidentally, it was also home to Fleetwood’s design offices.
They chose the LeBaron name because it sounded French – and would lend a sophisticated air to their firm. Most interesting was that they chose to have only a design office, without coachbuilding facilities. Not only was this practical – they had no coachbuilding skills – but it allowed them to work independently from (and with) both chassis manufacturers and coachbuilding firms.
The idea was not new, but it was certainly unusual. Work was slow in coming, and the two found themselves struggling for survival. Fortunately, a break from the New York Packard dealer gave them a commission – and such a prestigious commission piqued the interest of other dealers and manufacturers.
Work began to flow, and soon the pair were approached by Ralph Roberts, who knew Dietrich before he had gone to Brewster. Roberts wanted to design cars, and when he applied for a job Hibbard and Dietrich liked him enough that they offered him a full one third partnership – but with the provision that he serve as the firm’s business manager.
In 1922, LeBaron was offered space at the New York Auto Salon at the Commodore Hotel – an unprecedented achievement for a two-year-old design firm. As momentum began to build, contracts from manufacturers began to arrive, including Crane Simplex and Locomobile.
Hibbard wanted very much to work in France, and in 1923, he left for Paris to look into establishing an office there for LeBaron Carrossiers. While in Paris he met another American designer, Howard “Dutch” Darrin. The two hit it off, and decided to start their own company, Hibbard & Darrin. Hibbard sold his shares in LeBaron to Roberts and Dietrich, and moved to Paris.
Meanwhile, back at 2 Columbus Circle, LeBaron’s reputation was growing quickly, but the partners were not making a lot of money. Part of the problem was that overseeing the construction of bodies at many different facilities resulted in a great deal of travel time. Secondly, without the profits from coachbuilding, design work alone was proving less lucrative than the partners had hoped.
As a result, in 1923, when Roberts and Dietrich were approached by Charles Seward and James Hinman, owners of the Bridgeport Body Company, they quickly made a deal to swap shares, and the new firm became known simply as LeBaron Inc. The idea was that LeBaron would give Bridgeport a design office, while Bridgeport gave the design team control over the body making process as well as a share in the profits.
At this point, LeBaron hired Werner Gubitz and Roland Stickney as draftsmen, designers and illustrators. Dietrich continued as chief designer, while Roberts managed the business.
Before long, another opportunity presented itself. Dietrich had formed a friendship with Edsel Ford that had lead to a very lucrative business for the firm designing bodies for Lincoln chassis. Edsel asked Murray Body president Allan Sheldon to invite Roberts and Dietrich to come to Detroit to join them. Initially, the two men declined the offer, not wishing to desert Seward and Hinman so soon after they had come to LeBaron’s rescue.
Edsel Ford and Sheldon again invited the pair to visit Murray, no doubt planning to make another offer for LeBaron. Unfortunately, Roberts was ill, suffering from the flu, and could not make the trip. Before Dietrich returned, he telegraphed Roberts to say he had made a deal for himself, and was leaving LeBaron to join Murray. There they formed a new company, Dietrich Inc., jointly owned by Dietrich and Murray, and in return, Murray set up Dietrich with his own body building facilities. He sold his shares to Roberts, Seward, and Hinman.
LeBaron, meanwhile, continued to prosper, even after the loss of its two founders. Ralph Roberts proved to have a good eye for design and excellent rapport with LeBaron’s clients. He and Stickney made a great team, with Stickney refining and implementing Roberts’ ideas.
In 1927, LeBaron was acquired by Briggs, one of Detroit’s largest body building firms. Briggs’ clients included Chrysler, Ford, Overland and Hudson. LeBaron continued to operate within Briggs, whose strong Detroit connections soon lead to prestigious custom work for Lincoln, Cadillac, and Pierce Arrow. In effect, LeBaron became Briggs’ in-house design label, as Dietrich had become Murray’s.
Shortly afterwards, Briggs hired designer John Tjaarda, and he and Roberts assumed joint responsibility for running LeBaron. Together with their in house design staff, the two were responsible for LeBaron’s designs for the next several years.
LeBaron was ideally positioned to take advantage of the burgeoning demand for coachbuilt bodies that developed in the late 1920s. If fact, the firm survived the onset of the Great Depression (likely as a result of the support of Briggs), and produced some of its best work in the early to middle 1930s.
Factory design work included the legendary Model J Duesenberg, for which LeBaron bodies were among the most prolific. In addition, LeBaron designs graced the top of the line CG and CL Imperials, as well as the remarkable Marmon Sixteen.
By 1934, LeBaron was an established firm, with 15 years experience catering to America’s leading families. During that time, LeBaron bodies were known to be more stylish than most, although few were truly revolutionary. Among the exceptions were the Runabout Speedster and the Sport Phaeton designed for Packard’s 1934 Twelve chassis.
There was, in fact either a precedent or an inspiration, depending on your point of view, for the runabout speedster. Known as the Macauley Speedster, it was a styling and design prototype that was developed by some combination of Packard’s in-house staff, Dietrich designers, and input from Edward MaCauley, son of Packard President Alvan MaCauley and newly appointed design chief. The car went through at least three makeovers, but the second version incorporated both the general shape and the pontoon fenders of the LeBaron Speedsters.
The fact that the cars wear the LeBaron name must be indicative of the firm’s leading role in the design and development of the cars – although clearly with the heritage of the Macauley speedster in mind.
Regardless of inspiration, these cars were quite simply, stunning.
Imagine a world still dominated by Model T and Model A Fords – where nearly every car on the road was black and where construction quality was, at best, weak. Now, imagine that into this world glides a Runabout Speedster. With its streamlined pontoon fenders, long hood and elegantly tapered boattail, it must have looked like a vision from another planet.
There is no modern comparison. Rolls-Royce builds hundreds of New Phantoms; Maybach likewise builds hundreds of its super-luxury sedans. They are certainly imposing and rare, but most have seen one, and many more could afford one.
When 1106-12 was new there were only three others in the world – and there would never be any more. It cost more than a luxury home, and as much as any yacht.
It is interesting to note that while the LeBaron Sport Phaeton was built on the long wheelbase 1108 chassis, the Runabout Speedsters were built on 1106 chassis, which combined a short (135 in. wheelbase) eight-cylinder chassis with the Twelve drivetrain. In addition, both front and rear axles, wheels, brakes and transmission were eight-cylinder components. Since the Speedster body itself was lightweight, using the shorter chassis and lighter eight-cylinder components, it resulted in a higher power to weight ratio than any other Packard Twelve. It was, in effect, a factory hot rod!
Each of the four Runabout Speedsters differed slightly from the others. One had a rear mounted spare. Another had step plates rather than running boards, although some believe these were modifications carried out in the period by Bohman & Schwartz. There were variations in interior trim, and at least one had wheel covers. Priced at $7,746, FOB Detroit, they were the most expensive Packard money could buy.
Known within Packard as style number 275, each LeBaron Runabout Speedster was also assigned a Job Number within LeBaron. 1106-12 was the last car built, assigned Job No. 176-4.
Delivered new in Washington, D.C., little is known about 1106-12’s first owner, a man named Mr. E. Specth. When new, the car was finished in black, with black leather. The car remained with Specth until it was purchased by George Hormel, founder of the George
Hormel Foods in Austin, Wisconsin – best known for its 1937 introduction of a spiced ham product called Spam. Even today, more than 120 million cans are sold annually.
Hormel kept the car for many more years, until his death in 1946, when it is believed to have passed to his son, Jay Hormel. Jay kept the car until he died in 1954, when it passed to his son, George A. Hormel II. Known as “Geordie,” he was a fascinating character, who turned his back on the family business to seek his fortune in the music industry. A long-haired, bearded free-thinking hippie – then and now – he wrote many television theme songs, including "Lassie," "Ozzie & Harriet," "The Fugitive" and "The Untouchables". Later, he built a state of the art 24 track recording studio called “The Village” that still operates today, having recorded music for many artists, including Robbie Robertson, Janis Joplin, Sly Stone, the Pointer Sisters, Neil Young, and Steely Dan.
Geordie was always a fan of mechanical things, from cars to airplanes, which may explain how he ended up with the family car collection. Finally, on January 16th, 1961, he made a deal with noted collector Jack Nethercutt of San Sylmar, California to sell him a package of five cars for $23,000. The cars included the Speedster Runabout, a 1934 Packard Dietrich Sport Sedan, a 1931 Packard 840 Kellner Town car, and a 1934 Packard Twelve Rumble Seat Coupe – along with 2,700 pounds of new Packard parts!
Nonetheless, the Runabout Speedster was one of J.B.’s favorites, and as a result he kept the car for 15 years or so before finally selling it to Bill Harrah in the early to mid 1970s.
After Harrah’s death, the collection became the property of the Holiday Inn Corporation, and a series of auctions were held to liquidate the collection. In September of 1985, General William Lyons of Trabuco Canyon, California bought the car for the amazing sum (for the time) of $710,000. Lyons commissioned restorer Richard Martin to conduct a comprehensive restoration of 1106-12 between 1990 and 1992, changing the car to the lovely shade of blue it wears today. Finally, in 1994, the vendor persuaded General Lyons to part with the car (as part of a deal to acquire one of the 1108 LeBaron Sport Phaetons) and 1106-12 had been in his collection ever since.
While all the surviving Runabout Speedsters are well known, the provenance of 1106-12 is particularly good, comprising a who’s who of American classic car collecting in the latter half of the 20th Century. Nethercutt, Lyons, Harrah, and Lee – these men collected only the very best. Consummate car guys, none has ever been known to own a car with poor history, and consequently, their ownership of 1106-12 constitutes a ringing endorsement of the car’s provenance and quality.
With only four cars built, the opportunity to acquire an original LeBaron Runabout Speedster will always be rare – and it is likely to be a great many years before another is offered. Of the other three, one has been in the same hands since 1947 despite numerous and persistent attempts to buy it. The second is in the hands of a well-known and highly respected New England collector who has rarely – if ever – sold a car from his permanent collection. The last is in the hands of the vendor of 1106-12, and he intends to keep it – and indeed, is selling now only because it represents a duplicate.
Exquisite beauty, extreme rarity and flawless provenance – in the art world, those words could easily be attached to a $100 million painting. It has been said that coachbuilt cars are vastly undervalued when compared to objects of value in other fields – and nowhere does this seem truer than it does with LeBaron’s masterpiece, the Runabout Speedster.
Many have called it the most beautiful Packard ever built. Some say it is the prettiest coachbuilt American car of all. Regardless, there is no denying that the Runabout Speedster was one of the greatest design achievements of its time – and perhaps, of all time.
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