1938 Packard Twelve Landaulet
One of very few surviving late Packard Twelves fitted with truly custom coachwork, this 1938 Twelve was ordered as a chassis by Doris Duke, heiress to the American Tobacco Company fortune. At the age of 25, Miss Duke was already the world’s wealthiest woman, and was a prominent figure in the society and gossip columns for much of her eight decades of life. She was a horticulturalist, a noted collector of jewelry and Oriental art, and famously a Newport resident.
Young women like Doris Duke were in the scope of the public eye during the Gilded Age and into the 1930’s. Doris and other young women of Newport high society were referred to as debutantes when they reached the age of 18, marking the time when they reached the age of maturity and were old enough to be married, usually with a large party or “debut” to celebrate. These debuts were widely publicized, and similar to how movie stars are followed in the news today, many had a bizarre fascination with what these women did to keep busy in society at the time, and Newport was one of the few commonplaces for wealthy women to spend time, especially during the summer. Paparazzi was often seen in places like the Baileys Beach parking lot, where the exclusive beachclub hosted all of the notables in town.
In the earliest days of the automobile, most cars were designed with open tops to allow the public to view the occupants in the car. During this time, many people wanted to be seen in their cars and show them off to the public, so cars were designed as such. Doris Duke was 26 when she ordered this Packard Twelve Landaulet, and after being at the center of newspapers and tabloids for nearly a decade, she was exhausted of being seen everywhere she went. The landaulet design allows just the rear portion of the roof to be removed, which in turn gave Ms. Duke complete privacy if she wished, or fresh air and a view from the outside if she was in the mood to be spotted by paparazzi.
The Duke Twelve was custom bodied by Rollston, New York’s most famous and costly coachbuilder. Similar in style to a Rollston body produced for the Duesenberg Model J, number J-577, the body featured a one-piece windshield, as well as a lavishly appointed interior with a clock and speedometer. The design also featured storage for cocktail accouterments in the rear passenger compartment. Controls for the radio were placed literally at Miss Duke’s hand, in the right rear armrest.
Reportedly the car was delivered to Duke Farms in Hillsborough, New Jersey, and was used to transport its owner on her regular trips between the Garden State and her summer “cottage,” Rough Point here in Newport – just down the road on Bellevue.
Specifications:
Engine: 430 CI V12
Horsepower: 175 @ 3200 RPM
Transmission: 3 Hydra-Matic Synchromesh
Front: Independent with coil springs and tubular shock absorbers
Rear: Live axle with leaf springs and tubular shock absorbers
