1934 Packard Comes Back to Pebble Beach After 53 Years

In 1955, San Francisco police officer Marvin Zukor drove his 1934 Packard V12 Convertible Victoria about 100 miles down the California coast to participate and win second place in the third annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Marvin Zukor has since retired from the police department, but his Packard is reporting again for duty at the August 17th, 2008 Pebble Beach Concours.

This Packard V12 Convertible was originally purchased in 1933 by actor Cesar Romero, and then sold to sportscaster and actor Bill Stern, who broadcast the first major league baseball game on television. After World War II, the car became a Stanford University “rally car”, driven around the stadium track during football games.

Marvin Zukor bought the car in 1953 from the young man who had rescued it from Stanford. “I originally gave it a 1950s type restoration, including a $100 paint job, new engine and upholstery,” says Zukor. “I then showed it at the 1955 Pebble Beach Concours and got a prize for second place (in class) – a little thing to put on my dashboard.”

Zukor says he’s been using the car regularly for the past fifty years and has called in the help of classic car restorers Craig and Sue Lynch to get the car ready to compete. The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance has evolved into the world’s premier celebration of the automobile since the Packard was last there, and if it wins, we don’t think the prize will fit on the dashboard this time.