Rare Americans to be auctioned in Melbourne
The Graham marque debuted in 1930, after the three Graham brothers - Joseph, Robert and Ray - purchased the Paige company in 1927. Hit hard by The Great Depression, Graham operated at a loss for most of the 1930s, struggling to match the size, volume and impact of GM, Ford and Chrysler in what was a difficult period for low volume manufacturers.
After a brief liaison with Reo (1935 Grahams and Reos shared the same body style) and selling off some body tooling to Nissan in 1937, Graham decided to offer never-before-seen styling in an effort to stand out from the pack. In many ways, the newly-styled '96 Six' and '97 Supercharger' models represented the company's last roll of the dice.
Graham called their controversially-styled 1938 cars "Spirit of Motion", but the "sharknose" nickname has become far more commonplace. The reverse-canted grille, faired-in headlamps, sloping front and rear guards, and distinctive wheelarch cutouts were like nothing else on the market at the time, and were all the work of Amos Northrop, who had styled cars for Graham since 1932.
As Chrysler had found out to its regret a few years earlier, just because the public were interested in streamlining, they weren't necessarily interested in streamlined cars. Sales of the new-look 1938 models were disastrous at only around 5,000 units, less than 30 percent of the previous year's production.
As the official model names suggest, Graham offered a supercharged model for 1938. Forced induction models had been part of the lineup since 1934, with Graham being the only manufacturer to offer factory supercharged cars in any quantity.
The example to be auctioned by Shannons on November 26 is the '96 Six', which used the same 217.8ci L-head six-cylinder engine as the 116hp '97', but without the blower, which meant 26 fewer horses. Two differently trimmed 4-door sedans made up the 96 lineup.
Only 24 Grahams were delivered to Australia in 1938, with half that number made up of the 96 model. The restored example consigned with Shannons is RHD, and is suggested as being one of the 1938-delivered models. Finished in green with a cream-coloured cloth interior, the Graham presents well, and has been given a pre-auction estimate of $30,000 - $35,000.
The other War-era American rarity to be auctioned in Melbourne is a 1947 Packard Clipper. From the last year before the Packard range was extensively restyled to create the squat "pregnant" '48 models, the '47 Packard was available in five different models across three wheelbase lengths. 4-door sedans and 2-door 'Club Sedans' were the common 1947 body styles, with the top-of-the-range Custom Super Clipper also offering a 7-passenger limousine.
The Shannons-consigned 'Clipper Deluxe Eight' was Packard's best seller for 1947, with almost 24,000 produced. On the same 120-inch wheelbase as the Clipper Six, the Deluxe Eight featured a 282ci straight eight engine, driven through a 3-speed manual transmission.
Like the Graham, the Packard consigned for Melbourne is RHD and has been restored. Well-finished and described as being in good, drivable condition, all components on the Packard work, bar the internal clock on the centrally-mounted instrument cluster.
Finished in burgundy with good chrome, and near-new patterned cloth seat upholstery, carpets and wood-finish dash, the Packard has been given a pre-auction estimate of $42,000 - $52,000.
Other American classics consigned for Shannons Melbourne Summer Classic Auction include a 1927 Pierce-Arrow Model 80 limousine and a rodded 1937 Chevrolet Master DeLuxe 5-window coupe.
Shannons Melbourne Summer Classic Auction will take place at Shannons Melbourne auction rooms, 321 Warrigal Rd., Cheltenham, form 7:00PM. For more details, go to www.shannons.com.au
