As most of the visitors to our Instagram account and the busy readers of our news page know, we are quite big Packard fans here at Gents Barn! Cars, engines, history – we are fascinated by the entire spectrum of this glorious, old luxury brand. As part of our portfolio, we already have a perfectly restored, inline six-cylinder 1M-245 Packard Marine engine in our inventory. We also own the only surviving and completely restored 1M-245 R racing engine from 1947, once ordered by the Shah of Persia. And now the next 1M-245 follows – still unrestored, but 98% complete and therefore important for a possible new build or as a possible spare parts supplier – we are very happy that of the only 1,865 engines built (plus approx. 10 racing versions) now three “survivors” have already found their way to us – and thus, to our knowledge, 1/3 of all Packard 1M-245 models still in existence that were built almost 75 years ago.
News
First Dodge Boat in Europe
We are so delighted that our new Dodge Boat, as far as we know the only one registered in Europe and one of the handful survivors worldwide, finally arrived! On its customised, wooden trailer made of white North-American ash its beautifully showing of its lines from 1930. Once built in what was the largest and most modern boat plant worldwide, today it’s nearly forgotten that the heir of the Dodge Brothers empire, Horace E. Dodge Jr., tried to establish his own empire in the boating industry. Thanks to the wonderful Breuner family, who owned and restored this beautiful boat, “Miss Tessa” is one of the new highlights here at Gents Barn.
First test of “Miss Persia”
It is with great pleasure that we can confirm today that in a few weeks – after five years of hard restoration and reconstruction work one can probably say “finally” with a big smile – our first test drive of the legendary “Miss Persia”, our 1936 Gar Wood Speedster, is getting close. At the end of September / beginning of October there may even be up to three tests – the first in the water basin of our trusted restoration shipyard, the second trial possibly in the middle of Dortmund city (we will also report on this if we get the okay from the city council) and the third test on the Datteln-Hamm-channel north of Dortmund to extensively test all functions under real conditions. We have already received an exemption from the Münster district government in order to document this event by aerial drone. Many thanks to the super friendly colleagues there and the employees of the WSA Rheine, who made this exception possible. We are incredibly happy because it will be the first time in about 70 years that Miss Persia can be admired on the water again. And almost 85 years after its presentation at the Chicago Boat Show in 1936. Be curious and keep your fingers crossed that everything will go smoothly!
“Smitty traveling the US!”
Our wonderful, unique Tarz Speedster “Smitty” is now also known in the USA – today we received the spring issue of ACBS’ (Antique & Classic Boat Society) magazine “Rudder” – and were pleased to receive a wonderful article about our little GDR star . Who would have thought that the Eastern Bloc would still conquer the West? 😉 We are definitely happy, send a big thank you to our Woody friends in the States and wish you all a great time despite Corona – to read, slow down and dream of having fun on the water soon with a smal,l but wonderful mahogany Boat. 🙂
Season start with Gents Barn & Gents Barn Consulting
Season start for Gents Barn & Gents Barn Consulting – time to get back on the road and (y)our cars, bikes and boats ready for the Spring and Summer season! We hope you all had a great and cosy winter time and that you share the passion for classic vehicles as much as we do! 2020 will be an exciting year – new plans soon to be announced. Stay tuned! 😉
Always a pleasure – Boot Düsseldorf fair 2020
This morning we received entry vouchers for Boot Düsseldorf 2020 from our favorite shipyard! Many thanks, Bootswerft Baumgart! As always, we try everything to be there – even if we have to travel a little further this time to our favorite place! In any case, we wish all other water sports enthusiasts, who are also planning to be there, a safe journey and a great trade fair with many beautiful boats – preferably in a classic wooden construction, of course! 😉
Seldom Dodge Boat now part of the Gents Barn-Collection
We are very happy that we achieved a new coup last weekend in the USA! One of the few surviving Dodge boats from the Horace E. Dodge Boat & Plane Company from 1930 was auctioned off at one of the world’s rare, pure boat auctions and Gents Barn won the highest bidder! Alongside Gar Wood, Chris-Craft and Hacker, Dodge boats were among the big four US boat builders from the pre-war years and were built in what was then the most modern shipyard in the world – until the economic crisis also crashed Dodge’s boat dreams! Find out more in recurring posts about this Dodge classic here on our Instagram channel! Even if it will be a few more weeks before we can receive our new mahogany runabout – look forward to an absolutely rare piece of boat building history here with us!
Gents Barn now a member of the Nordic Packard Owners Club
Due to the early completion of the restoration and reconstruction of our famous Miss Persia, the 1936 Gar Wood Speedster of the Shah of Persia equipped with the original Packard Marine racing engine, it was very important to us to join what is probably the best club for Packard enthusiasts here in Europe and to become an active member – at the Nordic Packard Owners Club. With almost 350 Packard automobiles, it is the largest club outside the United States and the few German members are therefore part of the huge, Scandinavian fan community of this legendary, luxury brand. Although Gents Barn is the only member with the two Packard Marine engines 1M-245 and 1M-245 R (acing), it is nevertheless a great pleasure for us to be part of the automotive Packard Club scene. Thank you for the friendly reception – we look forward to the future exchange and participation in many club meetings in the far north!