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1904 Packard Model L 1,000 mile car with driver Charles Schmidt & mechanic Edward F. Roberts

Packard Motor Car Company

Detroit Public Library

Packard automobile--History

Schmidt, Charles

Packard automobile--Speed

EB01c072

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8x10 black and white sepia-toned Packard Co. file photograph of 1904 Packard Model L. Inscribed on photo back: 4-cylinder, 22-horsepower, 94-inch wheelbase, body stripped of tonneau & fitted with truck bed for carrying spare parts & tires; driver Charles Schmidt and mechanic Edward F. Roberts. Taken after Packard's second attempt at "the World's Fastest 1,000 miles Non-stop Record for anything on Wheels" at Grosse Pointe track which began Aug. 6, 1904, and crossed the finish line at midnight plus 9 minutes, 37.6 seconds on Aug. 8, -- 29 hours 53 minutes, 37 3/8 seconds, an average speed 33.5 miles per hour. Packard's first attempt at Grosse Pointe track on June 20th, 1904 ended in a crash, driver was Jack Boyd and Charles Schmidt the mechanic. Note: while all available information & reports of the event seem to agree that the car used was a Model L, the radiator shown here is of the style used on the 1905 Model N. An unidentified newspaper clipping on photo back states "In 1904 the Packard Motor Car Co. staged a 1,000 mile run to demonstrate the merits of the new 4-cylinder engine which was developed by a Frenchman with the German name Charles Schmidt. The non-stop run took place on the Detroit Driving Club track located on the present site of the Chrysler factory out Jefferson..."