Custom 1934 Packard Twelve wins Pebble Beach Best of Show award
If winning the world’s most prestigious classic car show once is a dream for most collectors, what’s it like to win twice? Like repeating at the Olympics for one New Jersey-based collector.
Joseph Cassini’s 1934 Packard 1108 Twelve Dietrich Convertible Victoria won Best of Show on Sunday afternoon at the 2013 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Cassini had previously won in 2004 with a 1938 Horch 853A Erdmann & Rossi Sport Cabriolet.
“This is the Olympics of car shows,” Cassini said, flanked by his daughter and wife on a stage littered with confetti. “You never think you can win the Olympics twice.”
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Yet winning such an award was just as emotional the second time, Cassini said, citing the loss of his parents in between the two wins. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to do this,” Cassini said.
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Cassini bought the car three years ago with the goal of showing it at Pebble Beach. It was in rough shape then, Cassini said, and it took two and half years to restore. Work on the car finished only eight days before he brought it to Pebble.
Though Packard built over 35,000 Twelves from 1933 to 1939, this is the only model with custom bodywork by coachbuilder Raymond Dietrich. A Custom Victoria body was used as the starting point for Dietrich’s design.
Sunday’s win also marks the first time an American car won this award at Pebble since a Duesenberg claimed the title in 2007. Cassini attributed Sunday’s victory to being in the right place at the right time.
“Timing is everything, right?” Cassini said. “It was time for a good, sexy American car to win.”
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