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Paul Rusnak’s Legendary 1946 Packard Clipper: Journey of Escape and Restoration | Jay Leno’s Garage — Transcript

by Jay Leno's Garage · 3,398 words · 471 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:02did you ever want to be a packet dealer
0:04since your dad had been in the business
0:06well by the time I I wanted to be a
0:09dealer there were out of business yeah I
0:10guess that's sure
0:11[Music]
0:14yeah 165 horss think goes pretty good
0:17not
0:17[Music]
0:21bad welcome to episode of J loon's
0:24garage the car we're featuring today
0:261946 Packard Clipper Deluxe twood door
0:30coupe this was the car to have just as
0:33the war ended this production had just
0:35started up again and it's based on a
0:38pre-war design uh it's about 357 cubic
0:42in 165 horsepower three-speed
0:45transmission with an electro clutch
0:47which means Once you pull that out you
0:50could shift second to third without
0:52having to put in the clutch kind of a
0:54semi-automatic you would call it now uh
0:57you know Packard was the name impress
1:00pres cars in America certainly in the
1:02teens 20s and 30s in the 30s they kind
1:04of come out with the 120 which was a
1:06lower price Packard and that's when
1:10people started to perceive Packard as
1:12less than the top-of-the-line car
1:14Cadillac was moving fast G Motors a 1948
1:18of course cadal 49 rather Cadillac came
1:20out with the overhead valve engine that
1:22kind of Knocked these guys into the
1:24weeds a little bit but in terms of
1:26smooth quiet this Flathead engine I
1:28believe it's nine main bar bearings if
1:30I'm not mistaken I could be wrong just
1:32the smoothest most powerful thing you
1:34could buy you know if you rod in the
1:37back of this now you'd think it was a
1:38modern Rolls-Royce or one of those kind
1:40of cars just so smooth and quiet this is
1:43owned by a friend of mine Paul rnck Paul
1:45has rasnik Auto Group he has uh
1:48dealerships all over California but this
1:50car has a very very special meaning to
1:53him I'm going to ask him to tell us
1:54about it Paul come on in my friend how
1:56you doing I'm doing well Jay thank you
1:58for having me good to see you good to
2:00see you now tell us the history of Sky
2:03you you were born in Czechoslovakia yes
2:05I was born in
2:07Czechoslovakia which young people never
2:08even heard of I guess well uh
2:10Czechoslovakia went through a Velvet
2:13Divorce right at 25 years ago and uh now
2:17they're separate countries Czech
2:19Republic and Slovakia Slovakia I'm a
2:21Slovak right but I'm an American right
2:25now did your parents flee there did you
2:27leave voluntarily what was the what was
2:29the reason well when the Communists took
2:31over the country right we escaped the
2:34country or left the country if you will
2:37well now when you say Escape would they
2:38have seized your property and things
2:40like that if you had not if you had
2:42decided to stay oh absolutely They
2:44seized all my parents' properties wow
2:47and my dad was also a packer distributor
2:50oh okay and he was also a Kaiser Frasier
2:53distributor yeah after war and uh and a
2:56praga distributor in Slovakia and uh
3:00anyway this this was the model car that
3:03we escaped in when the communist took
3:06over the country you now how how does
3:08one Escape you just pack your belongings
3:11and tell people you're going for a
3:12Sunday drive or well no you pack you
3:15pack your bags and you get on your bike
3:19or you get in your car or whatever or
3:22you walk or get right but I mean if the
3:24government knew you were trying to flee
3:26they would have seized you definitely my
3:27dad would have been arrested yes wow wow
3:30okay well that's pretty frightening well
3:32it was you know the country fell behind
3:34the Aaron Cur curtain as a result of
3:37that now at the time I imagine did you
3:39live like a pretty normal life I mean
3:42what middle class life upper middle
3:43class yeah upper middle class life yes
3:46yes my parents were you know affluent uh
3:49on our standard from what I know of
3:51people from that era very old school
3:54education very important discipline dis
3:58discipline yeah which is
4:00which is a
4:02to yeah yeah just yeah something new and
4:05and you know I always I'm always amazed
4:07with Paul I your next birthday you're 91
4:09correct let's not talk about it you just
4:11want to talk about it I do because he
4:12looks better than I do I'm 20 years
4:14younger than he is people how old's that
4:16guy is he is he a younger brother no no
4:18he's older than me so there you go but
4:20see it's Living Well it's that that that
4:23uh rugged life growing up in
4:24Czechoslovakia very good okay so you
4:27would have been what age when I we came
4:29here I was 14 years old okay yeah just
4:32scary was it scary no well it wasn't
4:35scary to me because I didn't realize why
4:37we were leaving oh okay I had a twin
4:39brother right and my brother and my
4:42mother and my dad we were the ones that
4:44left uh together and went to Switzerland
4:47and eventually to United States dad just
4:49say we're going for a Sunday drive and
4:51then your next thing you know no my no
4:53actually my mother said P you back's
4:57voice and we thought we were going on
5:00vacation we had no clue it's a long
5:03vacation we had no clue why we were
5:04leaving okay so you drive to Switzerland
5:07was your goal to live in Switzerland or
5:09was your goal no the goal was to come to
5:11United States yes now had your dad ever
5:13been here before yes on business of
5:16course represented Packard guys of
5:19Fraser General ties yeah but you had
5:23never been here before never okay so and
5:25you did you speak English I did not no
5:28we didn't speak English
5:30so you come here and okay had to learn
5:32the language yeah yeah how long did that
5:35take you still working on it oh still no
5:38you really don't have much of an accent
5:39only when I drink oh okay when I Dr yeah
5:42don't get them drunk that's a whole
5:43another a whole another thing and this
5:45was the model that you fled in so that
5:48this obviously had a special meaning to
5:49you well that's very much so and when I
5:53saw the scar and I decided that for
5:56nostalgic reasons obviously I wanted
5:59wanted to restore it so we did a frame
6:02up off frame up a restoration as you can
6:05see and uh it's a labor of love for me
6:08you know did your dad live to see this
6:10restoration no oh he passed away uh oh
6:14my goodness he was 75 okay best okay so
6:19obviously a special meeting to yes very
6:21much so but it's a wonderful driving car
6:23isn't it yeah and I it's a very stylish
6:26car especially for its era I think it is
6:28you know it's funny I was
6:30reading an article the other day it said
6:33the average height of the average
6:34American car now is the same as it was
6:36in
6:371938 High roof like this because
6:40everything's now an SUV so the cars are
6:43Big T you know for a while they got
6:45lower and sleeker now they're back being
6:47high again and this has I mentioned the
6:50straight can we open the let's open the
6:53hood here this is like driving a bank
6:55vault one of these things right okay
6:57here we go here we go
7:07okay now not it's not sexy like a
7:10dusenberg engine dual overhead cams four
7:12valves per cylinder but just dead
7:15reliable just bulletproof these are just
7:18wonderful wonderful Motors big cast iron
7:21lump just run forever uh look how simple
7:24it is to work on everything is right
7:26here custommade Packard battery that
7:29fits right in here try and find one of
7:30these today I guess you almost have to
7:32have that custom made 6vt system which
7:35is fine um yeah these just run fantastic
7:41quiet smooth flath hands you know I was
7:43on a big cruise ship once doing a show
7:47and I see all show me the engine room
7:48and they had this 16 cylinder engine
7:50enormous thing it was a flathead and I
7:52go what year is this engine they go it's
7:54new because those old flatheads they're
7:57reliable they just
7:59just run they're smooth they're quiet
8:01you know no no parts you don't need you
8:05know that's a big I guess that a two
8:07barrel carburetor probably maybe a big
8:09one barrel I'm not sure what that is
8:11runs on regular gas yeah these are just
8:14oil filter right there horn carburetor
8:19here let's put this back down
8:31how fasten we get back inside I just
8:33fastened you fast inside uh let's see
8:35what else we have here just across this
8:37roof line fast back I mean it still
8:41looks good today so it must have really
8:42looked unbelievable back in the day it
8:45certainly was it was uh very unusual car
8:49to see in Europe at that time and it so
8:52it was a new car wasn't it was a brand
8:53new car yeah yeah so it must have been
8:55one of the first ones very first after
8:57the war after the war and he escaped
9:00that was the second world war he he
9:02escaped with the car got it to did you
9:05sell it in Switzerland then come to
9:06America did you actually my I think my
9:09dad sold it in Germany oh okay and then
9:12it came over oh okay all right I'm all
9:15kinds of
9:16room as you see it's a big car you've
9:19got an enormous trunk here as
9:24well spare tire in there nicely done gas
9:28flap right here these have an
9:30interesting feature the gas cap whistles
9:34when you put the pump in you hear
9:37like and as it as it gets Fuller the
9:40pitch gets
9:41higher and when it gets really high oh
9:44yeah that's when you know you're just
9:45about full and you know to shut off the
9:47pump it's got the electro clutch as I
9:50mentioned before which just makes
9:52shifting a little easier drum brakes
9:54obviously big steering wheel no power
9:56steering no power brakes but my favorite
9:58thing about these cars is in the days
10:00before power steering and power brakes
10:02everything was nicely weighted it was a
10:04little heavy but not overly heavy it was
10:07just nicely weighted so the average
10:10person could drive the car and get a bit
10:12of Road feel to it and modulate the
10:14brakes and everything like that you know
10:16so uh yeah just wonderful wonderful cars
10:19and what and what what they call this is
10:21this a corduroy material is that yes it
10:24is it's corduroy the original
10:26corduroy and something almost no nobody
10:29does anymore and it's because it's so
10:31impossible to do this this this is metal
10:35this Frame and the dashboard is metal
10:38but it looks like wood grain and that's
10:41done with a series of little brushes and
10:43sponges you just sort of T I mean it's
10:45an art form I found one old guy who'd
10:49been doing it since he was like 14 years
10:51old and he did my pord which I have next
10:54door a lot of people now they put like a
10:57a wrap like a tape that has a wood grain
11:00on it but this is all hand painted and
11:03then laminated over uh yeah just nicely
11:06done boy they did a beautiful
11:08restoration on this they did a very nice
11:10job now you did you discover this one
11:12day or you set out to to recreate the
11:15car your dad left no I decided I found a
11:17scar actually the scar was uh from uh
11:21was domiciled in h Scottdale yeah
11:24Arizona yeah and then we brought it here
11:27and sent it to uh Rob Escalante down San
11:31Anna for yeah Packers International is
11:33the name of his place ready to go for a
11:35ride Paul yes I do thank you let's take
11:38it for a spin here we do see how she
11:42goes a very
11:46comfortable it's running oh yeah that's
11:48a that's a
11:55package Bo it doesn't get much smoother
11:57than that EX no not bad at
12:15all what a nice shifter on the tree
12:20there L that was such a breakthrough
12:22happening on the tree you know in the 60
12:25came along all the kids wanted back I
12:26know yeah the very first scar I've ever
12:30driven was
12:33a what's the French car that you have
12:36one one yeah PUO sitron sitron sitron
12:40yeah and I was uh so ahead of its time
12:44yeah now where did you sit when you left
12:47chosak in the back seat you're in the
12:49driver's side or passenger side you and
12:52your brother I said right behind my dad
12:55driver yeah and my brother said next to
12:59me I think I told you I had a twin
13:01brother yeah right right he passed away
13:04but oh I'm sorry he was an architect oh
13:08yeah
13:14yeah got some power it goes all right
13:16can drive this every day bad for 165
13:19horsepower no not bad at all how long a
13:22drive is that from Czechoslovakia to
13:25Switzerland well it took us uh we of
13:28course we stopped once we got through
13:30the the challenge for us was to get
13:32through the Russian zone right because
13:35if you remember Germany was divided into
13:38four zones right so our challenge was to
13:41go get through the Russian Zone once we
13:44got through that and it was my dad
13:47planned a shortest Ruth now did you have
13:50phony papers and things or no we did
13:53have visas right to go to
13:57America because we were my dad was
14:00planning to take us right there before
14:03the
14:04Takeover and uh which we didn't realize
14:07was going to happen so we did have visas
14:10to come to America but of course those
14:12were tourist visas right and uh we had
14:16to get a sponsor to even get a tourist
14:19visa and I don't know if you recall
14:21Henry J Kaiser oh sure was my sponsor
14:25wow well our sponsor I should say my
14:28mother my brother and I did your family
14:31know him or my dad did business with him
14:33oh okay he was a distributor well that's
14:36where Kaiser FR and that's where Kaiser
14:38perenti comes from that's right he's one
14:40of the first guys to have healthare heal
14:42care that's right and of course you know
14:45as you all know Kaiser they were they
14:48were primarily in arm to the business
14:51during World War II we were fortunate
14:54enough to have family here in New York
14:57New York when we came here they kind of
14:59looked after
15:01us my dad thought that that takeover was
15:06going to last only about 6
15:08months and we would be able to return
15:11right man of course that never happened
15:13right
15:15right here we are yeah we're very
15:19fortunate was there a big checkos ofan
15:21community in America when you came here
15:24well in different in uh Illinois in
15:27Chicago of course right right uh in
15:30Pittsburgh there were quite large Czech
15:34and Slovak communities right how did you
15:37like America when you first came here
15:38did you adapt to it right away or did
15:41you well you know challenge was the
15:43language course you know so the very
15:46first thing they did they sent us to a
15:48summer camp because we came here in May
15:51right so we had a great uncle in pearled
15:55River in New York and they found a
15:58summer camp for for
16:00us and my brother and I of course we
16:02were totally lost because could speak
16:04the
16:06language and then they put us in a
16:08boarding school in New Jersey and uh you
16:13know it took us a few months to get
16:15conversational right right English and
16:17then eventually each year we got better
16:20at it yeah and uh pretty much learned
16:24the language and um although I'm still
16:26working on it yeah yeah
16:29but you had a lot more cars here in
16:31America than you had in Czechoslovakia
16:33oh absolutely yeah although you know I
16:36have to tell you uh Czechoslovakia was a
16:39pre-World War II was one of the largest
16:43automobile uh producers in in a in a
16:46world well sure tatra you had tatra you
16:48had Arrow you had praga they were four
16:50Brands yeah buil there were more cross
16:53built than in Czech Czechoslovakia than
16:56in Germany so what do you think
16:59oh it drives very
17:00nice I love these Packers these are just
17:03wonderful cars well I I love that
17:06Patricia you have that convertible
17:08that's a beautiful it's Caribbean
17:12Caribbean yeah it's beautiful question
17:14was the next step down right right yeah
17:17those are the last two years of the
17:19Packers did you ever contemplate going
17:21back to Czechoslovakia after you came
17:24here or back to Europe to live no yeah
17:27no
17:29actually you know I was honored uh many
17:32years ago I was elected
17:33chairman I should say president of the
17:36Slovak World Congress which was a
17:39umbrella
17:41organization so I used to go there every
17:4310 weeks for a number of years oh yeah
17:48yeah and uh of course the goal was
17:53to to gain an independence for Slovakia
17:57right also uh
17:59admission to Nato and admission to
18:03EU and repatriation of the confiscated
18:07properties right right that were that
18:12happened during
18:15the
18:16Russian domination and we got that all
18:23accomplished keeps up with traffic quite
18:26adequately got automatic electric
18:28Overdrive which is kind of cool yeah
18:30well the GES work yeah yeah you only
18:33have one American dealership was that a
18:35Chrysler dealership no over the years I
18:38had U Chrysler dealership then I had a
18:42Chrysler Dodge dealership up in Thousand
18:44Oaks yeah and and Jeep of course right
18:49and uh I had a Pac dealership in
18:51Pasadena which one Pontiac ponac yeah
18:54yeah and uh yeah over the years uh
18:59and then I made a decision pretty much
19:02about 25 years ago to concentrate on
19:06uh Imports yeah I am yeah and uh later
19:12on
19:13actually even to start concentrating on
19:16the
19:17luxury luxury end of the course so
19:20that's why we're known
19:25for having our group next event yeah oh
19:29that's our air condition there you go
19:31air there you go look at
19:32that because when it rains you get a
19:35footb yeah have you have you had an
19:38opportunity to test any of the Genesis
19:42product wonderful aren't they great boy
19:45that's that's a very impressive car that
19:48g impressive and great value yeah that
19:51top of the line one yeah rival the
19:54Rolls-Royce yes I'm building uh we're
19:57just finishing a brand new store yeah in
20:00Ontario it's going to be beautiful
20:02state-ofthe-art yeah yeah dealership and
20:05I'm really really high on the product
20:07yeah they do a nice
20:09job the '90s the top of the line model
20:12right yes and The Styling is outstanding
20:15yeah quite Sleek yeah did you ever want
20:17to be a packing dealer since your dad
20:19had been in the
20:21business well by the time I I wanted to
20:24be a dealer they were out of business
20:26yeah I guess that's true yeah well Paul
20:28thanks a lot of thanks for what you do
20:29for the car community and uh thanks for
20:32running a a great
20:35dealership Jay thank you and it's it's a
20:38pleasure car for 40 years I know I
20:42remember when you bought the first car
20:44for me yeah yeah was that
20:47Bentley yeah that's right you're just a
20:49kid at the time right you told me you
20:50only got two payments with that's right
20:54yeah that was a good line well folks I
20:57hope you R enjoy this a little trip down
20:59memory lane in this 46 Packard it's kind
21:02of a cool story escaping from Europe and
21:05all that kind of stuff Intrigue
21:08Casablanca was the big movie Humphrey
21:10Boger right this is the kind of car you
21:12did in it so Paul thanks again and folks
21:15thanks for watching we'll see you next
21:16week byebye thank you

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