chapter two ◆ ◆ ◆
willy
I was standing on the roof of a 1948 Packard Model 2293 Station Sedan, gazing out over a sea of faded but not rusted Packards, circa 1946–1956. This area of the warehouse was nicely segregated by year, but still chaotic. Seventy-thousand square feet of parts, rebuilds, and partial restorations. In my hands, I had the front seat covers that reversed from cloth to leather. These were a new feature of the 1956 Packard Caribbean convertible. All I had to find in this graveyard of metal was a 1948 Model 2293 dash-mounted rearview mirror. The Model 2293 I was on the roof of had already been cannibalized. I jumped one roof over, mumbling, “Hmm, rearview mirror? Is there any other kind?” Times were good. Gustin’s Packard Restorations could absorb Howie’s appetite for losses and wasting money. Gustin’s could flame out just like Packard did in 1956; both not big enough to not fail. The company had a backlog of orders, so we worked the most lucrative rebuilds first. Gustin’s had twelve employees, not including Howie Gustin, the owner, who handled sales from the tables of the finer Detroit restaurants, the ones that brought a telephone to his table.