Stan, The Man

© Robert Knapp
Wisconsin Packards

Stan Ruesch and Belle. They were a pair in my mind, even though I had seen Stan and his lovely wife Mary Ellen at several Wisconsin Packard picnics, along with their other family member, Belle, a deep blue 1949 Deluxe Eight Touring Sedan.

Stan’s pursuit of a Packard interested me, and I felt it was high time I paid him a visit to find out about the man behind the car. The car and Stan’s adventures with Belle were somewhat well known, due to Belle appearing at regional classic car shows and in some local newspaper articles. Stan well remembers the day in the late 1940s when his uncle, an undertaker, visited the family in Janesville, showing off his brand new Packard Hearse. What an impression such a luxurious and imposing commercial vehicle that must have made on a young boy’s mind. When friends of Stan in the Lodi area purchased a pristine 1947 Chevrolet, he started accompanying them to car shows to such an extent that he knew the story and the shtick as well as they did! He was determined to have a car of his own.

The search began in earnest after Stan retired from the Lodi school district in 2002. There were trips to car shows, to St. Louis to a well-known classic car dealer, even searches on the Internet. All led to disappointment, except one Internet “hit” that described in detail a blue 1949 sedan then residing in Connecticut. After extensive phone conversations, Stan decided to make the trip to see the car. He had found Belle at last, but there were some intensive negotiations needed to bring the price “within budget.” In August, 2003 the car was finally in the family, all 3,840 pounds of her with 56,000 miles showing on the odometer. The previous owner(s) had replaced the interior upholstery and had given the car its current blue lacquer exterior. The broker in Connecticut advised Stan that this was a fifty-five year old car. Don’t expect jackrabbit starts or stops with this two-ton sled!

Stan was fortunate to have a local used car dealer as someone he could trust, having taught the owner’s children over the years. He arranged for reasonable truck transportation of the Packard back to Wisconsin, something Stan felt was a wise decision granting the car’s age and condition. Once home and in their slightly sloping driveway, Stan noticed that Belle was slowly sliding backwards into the street! Thankfully, the Packard started quickly and control restored. It was then that it dawned on Stan why the previous owners stored a small log in the trunk!

“The first order of business was getting new brakes for Belle!” Stan explained. “Even so, I never go anywhere without wheel chocks.” Then followed several projects—replacing the spare tire so that it matched the ones holding the road; rebuilding the Carter carburetor; replating the rear bumper (after which Stan appreciated all the more that the previous owners had already replated the front grillwork and bumpers). And then there was the nasty business of sediment from the gas tank causing fuel line fouling and poor performance. It took two replacement tanks to solve the problem (the first replacement being a reconditioned tank that had the same issues as the old one!). But all-in-all, Stan has enjoyed showing Belle at local various events, winning such awards as “Best Car for Romance” or “Best Hood Ornament.” 

So much for the car. But what about Stan, the man? Just looking through his photo album and listening to his story of placating Mary Ellen with a bright red, used 1999 Sebring convertible with black leather and top didn’t really prepare me for the invitation into the “inner sanctum”—Stan’s den literally filled to overflowing with years of soothing the “collecting urge.” There were literally a hundred large models of classic cars, boats, and airplanes. It was difficult to take in all the various kinds of cars, Packard and not, represented, most of them from the classic era, very few later than 1950 (I did notice a fabulous Packard Caribbean). I had to be careful how I moved about in the room for fear of bumping into a case or knocking over an intricate display.

Stan had open on a sofa his extensive literature collection for all things Packard circa 1948 and 1949. I could flip through page after page of catalogs showing every conceivable accessory available for purchase with a new Packard. Three different hood ornaments besides the Cormorant. Interior rear view mirrors (dimming and one etched along the edge for noting, presumably with a grease pen, data such as oil type, mileage at last oil change, etc). Radios. Heaters. Antennas (one roof mounted that rotated and extended, controlled manually from inside the car). Backup lights. Different styles of steering wheels. Windshield visors.

Stan and I looked at an ancient issue of “Collectable Automobile” that featured the “bathtub” Packards of 1948-1950. Stan said, “I call it the Rodney Dangerfield of Packards, because it doesn’t get respect. But it really is a successor to the gorgeous 1941 Clipper design. We all recognize that the 1946 and 1947 production by Packard used the Clipper body styling of 1941 and 1942. By taking the body shell of the ’41 Clippers, the roof and the rear deck, the folks at Packard could save some money, but bring out a “new” car by smoothing the body panels from fender to fender. And, voila, a refreshed “new – old” car. But you can also look at articles in the trade magazines in the early 1940s about where automobile design would be in ten years, and you see bulbous, slab sided concept cars with soft curves that would eventually become the “pregnant elephants” of the late 1940s.” 

I had mentioned that the 1948 designs won several design awards. Stan said, as we looked at ads showing the new 1948 Convertible Victoria, “How do you advertise a convertible—with the top up or top down? With the top down, as is proper for any respectable convertible, you don’t really notice how the sedan tops, which weren’t removable, looked too small compared to the lower body. The convertibles somehow always look fabulous (with the top down), don’t you agree?”

Stan lovingly opens a salesman’s book from 1948 (essentially, Belle is a 1948 Packard). “I found this on eBay, and I just had to have it!” Stan explains. There we admire a special page that is folded on itself, top, left and right sides. When all of these pages are folded over properly, one sees the 1948 Packard as it might appear on the showroom floor. But as each over-leaf is lifted, it reveals a part of the chassis without the bodywork. The prospective customer can then admire the frame, drive train, engine, and other components not readily visible to the layman.

Over the next hour, I spent many a pleasant moment photographing some of Stan’s fabulous car models. It was almost like seeing the cars themselves. Classic 1930s and 1940s Packards including Darrins and Seven Passenger Limousines danced on my digital view-screen, while we were sprawled on the floor, Stan opening hoods and secret compartments with a special plastic tool to reveal mechanics or a lined trunk or a golf-bag door. It was a special gift—a short-lived but sweet reverie back into childhood.

As I said my thanks and goodbyes and rejoined my long-suffering wife who had spent the time in our car working in her Kakuro puzzlebook, it finally dawned on me that this was the most unusual interview I had ever done… after two hours of enjoying Packard literature, accessories, gossip, and models, I hadn’t seen Belle at all!