Flower car the steal of the year already?

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We fell for the 1950s American flower car used at funeral services after seeing that quaint 1969 movie ‘Alice’s Restaurant’, which was based on the quaint (but great) 1967 Arlo Guthrie song with the same name (click here). Both song and movie are linked forever to Thanksgiving. The car seen in the movie was built by coachbuilder Eureka, based on a 1953 Cadillac chassis (that’s it) and we have wondered before if it could survive?

These vehicles are very rare now, but Worldwide Auctioneers offers another for sale in their upcoming Scottsdale Auction (on the 16th of this month). This is a 1954 Packard flower car with coachwork by Henney of Illinois based on Packard’s 156-inch wheelbase commercial chassis and using the faithful 359 cubic inches inline eight-cylinder, good for 212hp.

The seller states: “In 1954, the last year of production, Henney upgraded to the Cavalier trim, and these flower cars are considered the most elegant of the decade.” This particular car was commissioned by CC Mellinger’s Funeral Home in Tacoma, Washington but was found more recently on a farmer’s estate sale in California when the then-owner traded the farmer’s daughter his brand-new pickup truck! The auctioneer believes that it is possibly the only fully restored 1954 Flower Car known, “and certainly one of a only handful built in the last year of Henney production, while it may very well be the very last Henney Flower car ever built.” Fact is that, estimated to sell at $30- to $50,000 but with no reserve, it will be a rare chance to buy one of these rare cars (click here). How about that for the Thanksgiving Parade of 2019..?

(Words editor, pictures Worldwide Auctioneers)

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