MOTORINGPURSUITS  12.24

Restored, Resurgent Packard

Back on its Historical Journey

The JBS Collection’s 1934 Packard Twelve 1108 Custom Convertible Sedan by Dietrich, originally owned by heiress-turned-explorer Louise Arner Boyd, won two awards at the 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and is the first automobile to be featured in the upcoming interview series, The Journey.

The JBS Collection and owner Jack Boyd Smith Jr. had a day to remember on Sunday, Aug. 18, in Monterey, California. At the 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the collection’s freshly-restored 1934 Packard Twelve 1108 Custom Convertible Sedan by Dietrich was awarded both the Gwenn Graham Most Elegant Convertible Award Sponsored by Lalique North America, and the Briggs Cunningham Trophy Sponsored by Ford Motor Company.

The 12-cylinder 1934 Packard 1108 Custom Convertible Dietrich Sedan—its restoration recently completed to original specifications by LaVine Restorations, Inc. of Nappanee, Indiana—was originally owned by infamous California heiress-turned-explorer, Louise Arner Boyd. Boyd was a U.S. delegate to the 1934 International Geographical Congress in Warsaw, Poland, and had this very Packard custom built for her three-month journey across Poland.

Referred to as “The Girl Who Tamed the Arctic” by newspapers during the 1920s, Boyd originally gained notoriety for arctic explorations and research expeditions that sometimes included hunting polar bear. In 1934, as a U.S. delegate, Boyd toured the Polish countryside in this Packard, photographing and recording the customs and cultures of the ethnic groups in the area. Her journal from the trip, supplemented with over 500 of her photographs, was published by the American Geographical Society in 1937 as ‘Polish Countrysides’, and includes myriad black and white photographs of this very automobile.

“This particular Packard has such a fascinating history,” said Smith Jr. “When I sat down with Vivian, Eric, and Travis LaVine to envision this restoration, we were so excited about the prospect of bringing this Packard back. The goal was to restore it to its original glory in every detail, just as it was when Ms. Boyd owned it. This project was painstaking—we even custom built the original, one-of-a-kind polar bear hood ornament. We’re honored to have our work acknowledged and awarded at Pebble Beach, and we look forward to sharing the story of this Packard’s restoration in the debut of our video series, The Journey.”