The Packard Model S was a mighty machine for the wealthy and aristocratic motorist, usually seen finished in the livery of dark blue with cream wheels that by that time had become its manufacturer’s signature colors. It was propelled by a T-head four-cylinder engine that produced 24 horsepower, sufficient for excellent performance. In its single season of production, only 728 were made. Only four remain in existence, of which the example offered here is one of three that remain essentially as-produced and one of two extant touring cars. It boasts a particularly fascinating and special history, as while its original ownership is not known, historian Tim Martin’s research indicates that it was registered to a Dyckinck of Millburn, New Jersey, in 1916.

The car evidently remained in the Garden State, as in the early 1940s it was purchased for $250(!) by Andrew Young of Livingston. Livingston sold it in 1944 to a very receptive Roderic “Rod” Blood of West Newton, Massachusetts. Blood was part of the close circle of extremely early enthusiasts in the cradle of automotive collecting in the Northeast, who began gathering significant vehicles when it was a sign of eccentricity rather than connoisseurship; he would be one of the founders of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America. He preferred Packards and eventually built a select gathering of some of the finest early models, including several highly significant cars—the Model S not least among them. Like his compatriots Henry Austin Clark Jr., and George Waterman, his name stands as a mark of quality—a man who knew his subject, and bought well in an era when the finest cars were still ripe for the picking.

Blood passed away in 1966, and his collection went to auction. By that time, he was not alone in his interests, and the Blood estate sale—expected by all involved to have been a sleepy local auction—became a national event, drawing press attention for the then-astonishing prices paid for what most considered just “old cars.” The late owner had paid, it is believed, about $500 for the Model S back in 1944. It sold at the auction to casino magnate Bill Harrah, then in the throes of building the vast Harrah’s Automobile Collection, for $6,000. The Model S was kept in the halls of Harrah’s for the next 20 years, in familiar company; Harrah had bought three other Blood Packards as well.

When Harrah’s Automobile Collection was dispersed in the mid-1980s, the Model S moved to California, first with Bill Evans of La Jolla, then with Scott Newhall of Tiburon. Mr. Newhall sold the car in 1996 to Tom Goodlett of Alvarado, Texas, who would own it for two decades. In his local Horseless Carriage Club of America magazine, Mr. Goodlett wrote, “I made a few changes to the engine, new aluminum pistons, changed the valve timing, and added a starter; [it is] completely original other than these changes…. This Packard is no garage queen. We put a thousand miles a year touring the towns and country roads around Alvarado and Johnson County.”

Following Mr. Goodlett’s passing, his beloved Packard was auctioned in 2019 and purchased by Clive and Janet Cussler, and it has since been one of the centerpieces of their Arizona collection. Its restoration, which dates back to at least the 1950s, remains solid and intact, though with considerable patina throughout from its dedicated touring use over the years. It would be ideal to freshen mechanically for continued long-distance touring enjoyment—in surely one of the most distinctive, impressive, and rarest cars on the event—or as an excellent basis for a future concours competitor.

One of the finest American cars of its era, this may well be the only opportunity to acquire a Model S in its next owner’s lifetime.