Heads up, Larry~! 1930 birthdate for this Packard... 1910 birthdate for the driver....

[Massive Attack]

She looks pretty good for 101.

Exactly my thoughts

She's been driving since age 8 and her first driver's license was at age 12.

[audifans]

Margaret in 1943 in her Red Cross uniform (she drove Red Cross trucks)

A number of years after that she purchased the Packard (1949)

[Internal Combustion]

Honestly, she might be the longest licensed person in the US, 89 years. Great read, and I was just kidding about the would hit. She doesn't look 101 though.

[Nourdmrolnmt]

Honestly, she might be the longest licensed person in the US, 89 years. Great read, and I was just kidding about the would hit. She doesn't look 101 though.

she looks about 6 or 7 years older than my grandma to me(shes like 91)... once you hit the 90+ range, you really dont keep visibly aging... just more internally, or issues from falling

[barry2952]

What kind of car is that? It looks like a push-me, pull-you.

[audifans]

I'd say a Chevrolet Fleetline. First introduced in 1941 and the sides really didn't change thru '48 or so.

Car below is a '48



similar and earlier car

[barry2952]

Wow, those were some ugly cars.

[mitcompressor]

Wow, those were some ugly cars.

yep. Wartime era wasn't particularly kind to "pedestrian" car lines and design.

[nm+]

Wow, those were some ugly cars.

I kind of dig the 48.

That's a cool old lady.
My grandfather just turned 101, unfortunately the last 2 years or so haven't been good to his memory. He was a cool old guy too.

[patrikman]

Wow, those were some ugly cars.

I actually like the '48-'54 GM cars alot, especially the '48 convertibles.

[audifans]

I actually like the '48-'54 GM cars alot, especially the '48 convertibles.

Agreed.

As soon as GM shook off the hangover of war-time dreariness and started to dive headlong into an "up" mode, things improved immensely. Cars, like women, sometimes take on a wonderful pizazz and flamboyance once they drop their top and stretch out their sleekness.

The '48 convertibles (as you noted) laid out some nice lines.

One example, below, is the 48 Buick

[mitcompressor]

I actually like the '48-'54 GM cars alot, especially the '48 convertibles.

You start going topless and things improve a lot in these post war cars.

'48 Olds droptop

[barry2952]

I would concur that chopping the top off of about any car makes an improvement, and I will acknowledge that the cars got better looking in the late '40s, but the transition cars looked like marshmellows on wheels.

[fighters_of_foo]

Pretty awesome story

[Air and water do mix]

I would seriously hurt a lot of people on this thread to be 1/2 as cool as she is.

A 101 year-old woman that does her own oil changes? Awesome.

Before I read it, I was thinking she may be the longest licensed driver in the U.S., too. She got her first license about the time my dad was born!

[audifans]

As far as this lady is concerned, I give her a lot of credit. I hope to meet her at St. John's in less than two weeks. Please, anyone that's going, please look me up. I'll have my '33 Continental Flyer in the show.

Would love to see some more pictures of this lady and her car if you shoot some at the show.

And, of course, pics of your '33 while you are there.

Hope you get to meet her.

[barry2952]

Would love to see some more pictures of this lady and her car if you shoot some at the show.

And, of course, pics of your '33 while you are there.

Hope you get to meet her.

I'm sure I'll meet her.

[mitcompressor]

A 101 year-old woman that does her own oil changes? Awesome.

Before I read it, I was thinking she may be the longest licensed driver in the U.S., too. She got her first license about the time my dad was born!

Something tells me this isn't a 4 quart oil pan for an easy change.

Any idea on the oil capacity of a '30 Packard?

We're gonna need a bigger pan underneath~!

[BumpSteer]

I'm guessing somewhere on the order of 10-12 quarts of oil on this thing

4,250 lb car with 106 hp.... probably a boatload of torque.



She got the optional dual mounted spares (classy)

[Entwerfer des Audis]

I really don't have anything to add — a great story, a beautiful car, and quite the character, by the sounds of it!

[MAC]

This looks like ronald mcdonald's car but somehow it works. I like all the period accessories. If it were mine I'd get a set of custom wing-tips in the same yellow with white accents.

[barry2952]

The '40 Buick convertible in this event doesn't look too much different to me than the '48.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2011110708047

[Air and water do mix]

I'm sure I'll meet her.

aaaaand report back, please!

[Air and water do mix]

Something tells me this isn't a 4 quart oil pan for an easy change.

Any idea on the oil capacity of a '30 Packard?

We're gonna need a bigger pan underneath~!

I'd say you're right on all counts. Dunno the capacity on something like that, but it's safe to say more than my Beetle, at 2.6 quarts.

[Blunderbuss]

The '40 Buick convertible in this event doesn't look too much different to me than the '48.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2011110708047

Hey~!!!!


That's you... and the Lady Wolk..

Nice outreach.

I was trying to embed it... but wouldn't work

dang it...

[barry2952]

Yeah, I did all the work and she got all the press.

[BumpSteer]

As far as this lady is concerned, I give her a lot of credit. I hope to meet her at St. John's in less than two weeks. Please, anyone that's going, please look me up. I'll have my '33 Continental Flyer in the show.

looking forward to seeing shots of the '33 in the show

[lil' thumper]

nice little side story about how her friends got her an exact duplicate key created (just in case she lost the only original one she had)

All these years Ms. Dunning has kept her Packard’s original key with its elaborate crest. For her recent birthday, some friends duplicated the prized key.

“I was thrilled to death to have another one,” she said. “If I had ever lost the one I had, the locksmith would be out here for a week, and I still would not have that crest,” she said.

Ms. Dunning has kept her Packard’s original key with its elaborate crest.

[Lightnin']

Packard Straight Eight

Big 'ol beast of an engine

[Chapel]

L-head engines are just so weird to me...
everytime I see them all I can think of is how the combustion doesn't occur 100% over the piston area and how there's all this quench area

[Powderkeg]

Packard 740 Roadster

A glamorous car for some Hollywood glamorpuss.

Don't know what movie this is from or who was in it.

[Blunderbuss]

These roadsters are absolutely gorgeous cars

[Arsigi]

Very cool stuff!

[vwlarry]

Packard 740 Roadster

A glamorous car for some Hollywood glamorpuss.

Don't know what movie this is from or who was in it.

The woman is Carole Lombard, who later married Clark Gable, and who was killed in an airplane crash into a mountainside near Reno, NV during WWII while on a USO tour. I don't know for sure who the guy is, but he looks like Dick Powell, a journeyman actor in the thirties and forties.

[Boxer2100]

The woman is Carole Lombard, who later married Clark Gable, and who was killed in an airplane crash into a mountainside near Reno, NV during WWII while on a USO tour. I don't know for sure who the guy is, but he looks like Dick Powell, a journeyman actor in the thirties and forties.

Kind-a-sort-a off topic, but I was able to see Clark Gable's one-of-a-kind Duesy SJ (400+ hp) run flat-out through the quarter mile during the A-C-D fest last year. Later, I was able to stand less than a foot from the car and take photos. I still can't believe that happened.





Clark Gable sat here...