Page 28 - Sample pages "Raymond Henri Dietrich" by Necah S. Furman

H. F. Olmstead, Packard publicity director, proudly announced:
Here occupying the place of honor will be on display a Packard Twelve Sedan, selected as the highest expression of the industry that has civilized the world and the only motor car in the unusual display of the finest examples of personal transportation that mankind has been able to produce. Here also will be Model A, first Packard built, standing proudly next to the Packard Twelve as though sharing rightfully its honor.75
The Packard “Car of the Dome,” as it came to be called, reflected a combination of the artistic influences of Ray Dietrich and his successor, Alexis de Sakhnoffsky. Not long after Dietrich sold Dietrich, Inc., Automotive Industries announced February 27, 1932, that Edward Macauley had hired de Sakhnoffsky as Packard’s consulting art director. Carson in The Olympian Cars wrote: “This 147- inch wheelbase V12 sport sedan was at heart simply an
addition to the original Dietrich Vee windshield custom body line introduced in 1931.” 76
When the design had been sold, perhaps after his departure, Dietrich was unaware that it was to be used for the exhibit; however, it was a sporty model and suited Macauley’s taste. The Packard engineering of the car was obvious to all who lifted the hood. The striking exterior with the de Sakhnoffsky elongated hood, rear mounted spare tire, and sloping A-door post with correlating angle to the vent doors and rear edge of the bonnet sides enhanced the original low look of the Dietrich design. The rakish Vee-type split windshield, simple waistline, and overall elegance reflected the influences of Dietrich styling.
Although most writers would agree that the stunning Car of the Dome design was a synchronistic endeavor, it is Packard’s own of-the-era Inner Circle publication replete with photographs that appears to provide the best
THESE TWO PAGES: These special Car of the Dome show cars, 1933 Packard 3182 (above) and 1934 modified (opposite), produced at Dietrich, Inc., were exhibited
at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1933 and 1934 and won highest honors. (DPF and Richard C. Bellage)
254 RAYMOND DIETRICH: AUTOMOTIVE ARCHITECT
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