Meticulously Restored 1939 Super 8 Packard Hearse Featured on Bring a Trailer

    FORT WORTH, TX, January 19, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Always built to the highest standards, Packards were among the finest of American motorcars during the pre-war period and, consequently, were often called into service as limousines and hearses.

By the 1930s, Henney Motor Company in Freeport, Illinois, had become a leading builder of limos and hearses and was able to place custom orders with makers such as Packard. In March of 1938, Henney ordered two specially modified Packards destined to become hearses for an upscale funeral home in Virginia.

Unlike any other Super 8s from the period, these two Packards used a V-12 frame, wheels, brakes, and front suspension, but had a Super 8 engine. One of the two 1939 Packard hearses with this special configuration is known to have been dismantled. The other remained in service at the funeral home throughout the 1960s.

Eventually, it was retired before being called back into service in the 1970s as a touring vehicle for a rock band. Discovered in a salvage yard, the Packard hearse was purchased and taken to Pennsylvania where it sat for 23 years. In 1998, a new owner began to meticulously restore it.

"Thousands of hours have been poured into making even the tiniest details are accurate and to returning this car to its former glory over a ten-year period," said Fort Worth-based serial entrepreneur and car collector Ron Sturgeon, the vehicle's current owner.

"I am excited to offer this unique 1939 Henney Packard Super 8 Herse on Bring a Trailer," said Sturgeon. This one-of-a-kind hearse will excite Packard collectors and may find new life as a funeral home display piece showing the elegance of a bygone era," said Sturgeon.

About Ron Sturgeon
Ron is a Fort-Worth based serial entrepreneur who experienced success in the auto salvage industry. He founded an auto salvage specializing in imported luxury auto parts and eventually sold it to Ford. Several years later, he and several partners purchased Ford's auto salvage division, GreenLeaf, executed a turnaround and sold it to a publicly traded company. A real estate developer, Ron's current ventures include a shipping container business park and a chain of beauty salon suite rental salons with 14 locations throughout Tarrant County.

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