– 22 – SUMMARY of BULLETIN No. 137 By: OLE BÖÖK
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
– 22 – SUMMARY OF BULLETIN no. 137 by: OLE BÖÖK Cover The journey home On Sunday it was time to say farewell to both Packard friends and the gracious This year’s annual Fall Tour in Denmark was replaced by a tour to Berlin, arranged town of Berlin. Before departing we promised ourselves to meet up at the next by the Club’s German members. Seven Packards joined from Denmark and one major NPOC event, the annual meet to be held in Varberg, Sweden in 2011. The from Sweden. A few members came by air. On Saturday a flash action was staged, German arrangers accompanied us on the way and the rest of the journey was without any permits whatsoever, when the cars were parked in front of Brandenburger without drama or incidents. Tor for a photo shoot. The entire action lasted only a couple of minutes. Read in this issue the report from Berlin, an article about the disintegration of the Packard plant, Many thanks for a magnificent arrangement a Norwegian hearse and a little about oil. As far as I am concerned it was a great experience to see Berlin again. I hadn’t been there since 1982 and I got a lump in my throat when I saw the monumental Page 3-7 change that has taken place in the years since then. The “concrete-gray” communist Berlin Rendezvous atmosphere has been replaced by optimism and belief in the future. Many thanks to Text: Jens Jørgen Pedersen Photography: Hans Schmidtz Gundi, Wilfried, Peter and Wolfgang for a meticulously planned program and your patience with our Scandinavian need for a few last-minute changes. Our appetite NPOC’s late-year tour September 9-12 2010 went to Berlin. It was an arrang- for more has been aroused. ement that almost didn’t come to be, but thanks to the efforts of our German Berlin – auf wiedersehen – Ich bin dabei. club members it became a resounding success. We thank you for a fantastic The Packard name will never wane. experience. Page 8 Berlin The disintegration of a unique plant Year 2010 was an emotionally charged year for all Berliners as it marks the twen- Text: Bertil Dimander Photography: Craig Handley tieth anniversary of Berlin’s unification. The German capital has undergone formi- dable change during the past 65 years. From being a gigantic pile of the rubble of In the summer of 1954 the once eminent Packard Motor Car Company locked bombed buildings, the city was divided based on well-known political and economic the doors to its 1580 East Grand Boulevard plant never to return. Operations circumstances. were moved to Conner Avenue, where the 1955 and 1956 models were to be The eastern part was governed based on the principles of the proletariat’s built, and then to Studebaker-Packard Corporation in South Bend, Indiana. dictatorship, DDR, from 1947, whereas the western part was managed according The old Packard factory was abandoned and came to be the home of dubious to democratic principles and lost its status of capital for a while. During the years companies, quarters for people at the bottom of society and fraught with 1948-49 the 2 million Berliners depended on all supplies ferried in by air since Soviet vandalization and arson. The Packard factory now remains as a dilapidated troops cut off all access to the city by land. East Berliners rose up against the regime ruin amid a slum area. Only one company, Chemical Processing, remains and and in 1953 it came to bloody revolt during which 500 persons were murdered and according to the New York Times of November 16, 2010 it is about to move out. ten times as many were imprisoned. To prevent escape to the West the Berlin wall was built in 1960-61. For several decades we have been reading about and experienced how parts The communist regime collapsed in 1989 for economic reasons and the two of large cities have changed character. Take the Docklands in London for instance. Germanys were reunited and the wall was torn down. Berlin became the world’s It has been transformed from a badly run down harbor area to an attractive location greatest construction sites, the Soviet style concrete monstrosities were demolished for offices and other business pursuits, or Central Park West in New York, which after and many of the magnificent old buildings were recreated using the old architectural a building boom around the turn of the century fell into decay, only to be resurrected drawings. After some wrangling with Bonn, Berlin again became Germany’s capital. as a home for art activities, exclusive shops and, especially, luxurious dwellings. The transformation process has not ended. A new airport, to be named Berlin- The area around East Grand Boulevard has evolved in a different direction. Brandenburg International, is under construction to replace Tempelhof, which was From having been an area high up on the social scale, with elegant boulevards and closed in 2008. Berlin has regained its status as a beautiful metropolis, with a wealth populated by people who could afford to buy a Packard, it has evolved into a slum of historic and cultural landmarks and is richly “decorated” with large green areas area where you shouldn’t set foot after dark. Or even during daylight hours. It’s an and streetlights in classic design. With 3.4 million inhabitants Berlin is again a vibrant enormous area of more than 325,000 square meters and more than a mile north to place, but the transformation has been expensive and the town is heavily in debt, south. By the end of the thirties it had the capacity of producing 100 cars an hour. almost to the point of financial collapse. Since Packard moved, many companies have tried to establish themselves within the walls of the old factory. The City of Detroit and a private company have Three days long been fighting about the right of ownership. In reality the factory has been empty The tour began in Copenhagen with seven Packards. Two modern cars joined up in and abandoned, with virtually all windows crushed and walls and bridges crumbling. Gedser and Jerry Grandin connected in Rostock. Jonni Sprang joined in from south There have been many fires, the first of which was Detroit’s largest. It erupted on Jutland and 75 kilometers north of Berlin we were met by four German members led February 9, 1959 and took thirteen days to extinguish. by Wilfried Hüttmann. Two groups arrived at the hotel destination in central Berlin, The real deterioration began in 1989. Plans to revive the plant and make it into near Kurfürstendamm. Six people arrived by air from Sweden and Finland. Dinner was a corporate center came to naught and a turbulent time with ownership disputes served at the hotel and Peter Burton had arranged that each participant received a and unpaid taxes ensued. An effort by several well-known Packard enthusiasts model Packard held by magnets on a mahogany base, plus a 48-hour pass allowing to make the four-story office building into a museum also came to naught. Metal free transportation by public transit, including canal boats. thieves caused further damage and nature is starting to take the whole complex back. Arsonists have also had a field day. Friday In August 2008 the main entrance on East Grand Boulevard and a similar The Friday program included a visit to Meilenwerk, a former streetcar depot trans- but smaller side entrance were auctioned off and ended up at America’s Packard formed into an exclusive-auto-brand workshop, where classic cars are also sold, as Museum in Dayton and at The Packard Proving Grounds in Utica, respectively. well as books and models. There is also a small museum with old cars and some Some of the oak and hemlock fir wood paneling from the Packard offices has been motorcycles. saved and can be purchased from AuthenticPackard, L.L.C. Go to their website www.AuthenticPackard.com for pricing and ordering info. Saturday After some internal discussion, a quick photo session was arranged at Bran- Page 12-13 denburger Tor, a rather unique happening. The rest of the day was spent touring “From Harald’s time” Frederik the Great’s summer residence, Park Sanssouci in Potsdam, a truly Excerpt from Bulletin #8, August 1973 fantastic place, rich in history and with something to satisfy every taste. One of the palace’s former horse stables now serves as a film museum, replicating the After the second NPOC meet held in Bergen, Norway, the club’s founder, Harald nearby Bapelsberg, which between 1920 and 1940 was Germany’s Hollywood. Jonsson, wrote the following introduction in the Bulletin. Packard reflections Many films were shot here, initially for entertainment and later propaganda films before that heading even existed. The text remains entirely relevant today. for the Third Reich regime. Potsdam is also known for the Cecilienhof palace located at Neuer Garten am In connection with this year’s meet and the framework around it I have pondered Heiliger See. This is where Churchill, Truman and Stalin had their famous meeting over all the pleasant and interesting things we experience with the old car hobby, when the lines for Europe were drawn up for the postwar period. Potsdam is also with our Packards and our club. So why, then, are we involved with old cars and known for Glienicker Brücke where a chalk line on the bridge denoted the border Packard cars in particular? There are as many answers to the question as there between DDR and BRD.