The Seattle Packard Dealership

Member Fred Gilchrist sent in the following information regarding the Seattle Packard Dealership.  A fellow car club member of Fred’s, Paul Shager, had an uncle named C. Max Whitcomb who owned the Packard dealership on Pike St at Melrose near downtown Seattle .  The building still exists and currently is an arts supply company (see the before and after pictures on the next page).  Paul’s uncle insisted that all of the family relatives own and drive Packards, either new or used.  

The Dealership at Pike & Melrose, Circa 1937

Paul’s dad was a doctor, and in February of 1937, took delivery of two identical 1937 Packard Eights.  Both were 4 door sedans with side mounts; one for himself and one for his wife.  Paul’s father died of a burst appendix in October of 1937 (two months before Paul was born).  Shortly after WW II began, Paul’s mother died of cancer and he became an orphan and a ward of the court.  

The Snohomish County courts decided that a six-year old orphan living in a state-run orphanage could not control and sustain the inheritance of two 1937 Packards plus homes and other properties.  The court ordered the estate be sold with the funds held in trust for Paul Shager.  

In the 1940’s, Paul’s uncle C. Max Whitcomb contracted an odd stomach disease.  No cars were being built because of the war effort and he was unable to continue as a Packard dealer.  Mr. Whitcomb’s son (Paul Shager’s cousin) currently owns a 1937 Packard Twelve and resides in Vancouver B.C. at age 79.  The son has his dad’s gold Packard pocket watch that was presented to him for outstanding sales in 1937.  He also has several other plaques, ashtrays and awards that his dad was given by the Packard Motor Car Company over the years.

The Dealership Building Today