Hansen: The allure of Packard still running strong

For the record, Bonnie and Clyde did not drive a Packard.

It was a 1934 Ford — totally different. Let’s just say a Packard was out of their league.

To this day, Packards are a lifestyle for the discriminating. They are both elegant and approachable. You drive them to the opera and the beach. You have picnics and wear straw hats and bow ties.

You are without question an iconoclast.

“If you went to the country club, you had to be seen in a Packard,” said Robert Escalante, the owner of Custom Auto Service in Santa Ana. “It became the fashionable thing if you were successful to have a Packard in your garage.”

Escalante’s shop, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, is considered one of the premiere Packard restoration centers in the country. His cars compete in the world’s top car shows. And he knows Packards like he knows his family.

“Packard built an iconic car,” he said. “If you look at the stables of most car collectors, there are one or two Packards in that collection.”

When Escalante, 63, answers a question about a Packard — any Packard, any year — it’s usually 10 minutes later before he takes his first breath. His enthusiasm is rivaled only by his near encyclopedic recall.

He knows the names of every one of his clients, the history of every car and the unique distinction of model years.

“One of the biggest details of the Packard is its mechanical engineering,” he said. “They were first on a number of fronts. They had a famous saying, ‘Ask the man who owns one.’

“What makes them special? It’s the design. From 1936 to ‘38, the designs are meticulous. They’re bountiful in the sense that when you sit in one you just feel stately.”

Escalante said that after WWII, Packard struggled somewhat because of competition, higher production targets and other factors. The designs from 1948 to ’50 were not as popular, so the company consulted with a new designer: a woman named Dorothy Draper, known for creating a new style called “modern baroque.”

Her influence apparently helped, because by 1953, the Packard Caribbean arrived. It is now considered one of the most highly sought-after collectible cars on the market.

“They made a million Packards and their survival rate was about 100,000,” he said. “So it’s fair to say if you have a ’56 Packard Caribbean, this is one of 10 to exist. And that’s not far off.”

But for Escalante, it’s not about the investment, prestige or car show points. It’s more about the family lifestyle and helping enable an honest day’s work for his employees.

“It’s not always about having the bottom line for your shareholders,” he said. “It’s about keeping the people that are around you happy. At the end of the evening, when you’re 90 years old and you die, who do you have sitting around you, hundred dollar bills or family?”

Married for 40 years to Gege, Escalante likes to think of his employees as family too — because several of them are.

In addition to his father, Alfred, 91, Escalante’s brothers, David and Sandy, and his cousin Toby DeLeon, work in the shop. And then there is Cal Soest, a Packard master mechanic who has been with the business since it opened. Even Escalante’s daughter, Sara, who is now in law school, has helped over the years.

“I’ve been going through a time warp — ‘20s and ’30 and ‘40s and ‘50s — all maintaining the same value of honesty and shaking someone’s hand,” he said. “I don’t have timecards here. If you’re sick, just call me and tell me you’re not going to be here.”

Those few employees are considered rare in the industry, because young mechanics are not racing to enlist in classic-car repair, let alone lengthy restoration projects.

“The problem is there are no young people who say, ‘Hey, I want to learn what you’re doing,’ ” Escalante said.

In addition, the shop stays true to its heritage and has not gotten into the modification game. While the workers may put in electric fuel pumps or other modern, under-the-hood improvements for efficiency and reliability, they are not going to drop in a Corvette engine or make a fake convertible.

“I don’t really do modifications. That’s not what I’m about. I’m more, you want to make this car as authentic as possible and have it shown to an audience that will respect the authenticity of that automobile? That’s what I’m here for.”

The preservation of the Packard brand is a strong force, one filled with nostalgia and camaraderie. Like-minded people flock together, even decades later.

Escalante likes to tell the story of how he was part of a small business group trying to get a government grant to help with the Fiesta Marketplace in Santa Ana. They had to fly to Washington, D.C., for an important meeting to get approval.

In a conference room around a large table, the woman in charge looked carefully at the various papers spread out in front of her, including a listing of the nearby businesses.

“She said, ‘Who owns the Packard garage?’”

“I do,” Escalante said.

“She looked at me over her glasses and said, ‘Wow, I have to let you know something. I learned to drive in a ’39 Packard, and when this gets approved and I come out there, you have to take me for a ride in a Packard.’”

Escalante has dozens of stories like that: people who love their Packards.

“That,” he said, “is the world that Packard opens up to you.”

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DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.