Packard Twelve 1108 Dietrich Sport Sedan

Information

This particular 1108 Dietrich Sport Sedan is the first of the long-hooded Dietrich custom bodies built, and it was specifically created for the 1933 'Century of Progress' World’s Fair in Chicago, IL. The design was stunning with its long hood, rear-mounted spare, the graceful V-windshield and perfectly proportioned body. The interior was luxuriously appointed with all plating done in gold, burled Carpathian elm wood trim, including a rear compartment cabinet containing a magazine rack, makeup mirror, smoking set, clock, writing desk, radio speaker, divider window and a bar with gold cups and flasks. The final result was so spectacular that a jury of artists selected this one car to be taken out of its normal display and placed under the central suspended dome of the Travel & Transport Building as the finest representation of the advancement of the automobile at that point in time. This was truly an honor, and Packard lost no time in capitalizing on it by calling it The Car of the Dome and heavily promoting it both at the fair and throughout the country. Following the close of the fair in November of 1933, Packard returned the car to the factory for a full upgrade from its 1933 origins to a full-blown 1934 Packard Twelve, and then took the car on a whirlwind promotional tour of the Northeast U.S. It was on this tour, that the car found its first owner and it was sold for $12,000, making it the most expensive new car ever sold by Packard in its entire history as an automobile manufacturer.