Andreas Straube and his wife, Elisabeth, pose in front of a Packard that looks similar to the 1934 Twelve 1108 Limousine they own. (submitted photo)

Andreas Straube, an engineer who lives in southeast Germany, has never visited La Grande. Still, he knows a long forgotten tale of its automotive history.

The story is one Straube learned while tracing the ownership history of his rare 1934 Packard Twelve 1108 Limousine, one he purchased in 2014.

Straube has discovered the names of six owners dating back to 1952, the year Harold Woodruff, then the manager of La Grande’s Safeway store, purchased the Packard. Woodruff’s purchase was news in Union County and led to a three-car Packard exhibit at the Union County Fair, according to a Sept. 23, 1952, article in The Observer Straube found on the internet. The other two Packards in the exhibit were 1923 and 1952 models.

The 1934 Packard Twelve 1108 Limousine is almost as rare as snow in July. Only 190 were manufactured, Straube said. Its rarity is just one reason owners easily recall this car and its many features, including a 12-cylinder 160-horsepower engine, which was powerful for its time.

“It is such an impressive car that nobody forgets it,” Straube said.

Unfortunately, Straube’s ownership search is stalled on 1952. He has yet to find information on who owned the vehicle before Woodruff, who had it for about six years.

Straube traced his Packard to La Grande after finding a sticker inside indicating that it was serviced at Perkins Motor Co. The company operated in La Grande from 1923 to 1955, according to La Grande historian and author Bob Bull. Perkins Motor Co. was located for most of its history, including the 1950s, at Fourth Street and Adams Avenue.

Straube, after finding the Perkins sticker, did some internet searches and found the 1952 Observer article saying that Woodruff purchased the car in Oregon City and that it had been previously used by a funeral home. This did not surprise Straube.

“Limousines were often used by funeral parlors,” he said.

This much is known for certain about the vehicle’s first 18 years — it was driven relatively frequently. The car had about 39,000 miles on its odometer when it was purchased by Woodruff and 45,137 miles when Straube bought it in 2014. This means it was driven an average of 2,167 miles a year its first 18 years and just 99 miles a year the next 62 years.

“It is a car people owned because they liked to look at it. It was not used as a daily car (after 1951),” Straube said.

The Packard is almost exactly the same vehicle it was in 1934.

“It has all of its original parts. None of them have been exchanged,” Straube said.

The owner said the vehicle even has the same coat of paint it had when it was brand-new.

The car’s other features include ride control, which is used to control tension on the shock absorbers. The tension can be adjusted in accordance with the type of road the car is running on.

Interior features include tube radio and a window divider between the front and back seat, with an old phone device passengers could use to speak to the driver. The phone offered only one-way communication.

“The driver could not comment,” Straube said.

The Packard, which was first sold for $5,100 in 1934, “was a very expensive car at the time,” according to Straube.

The car was manufactured in August of 1933 in Detroit and later sold from a Packard dealership on 11th Avenue in New York City on Oct. 20, 1934, Straube said.

Straube is encouraging anyone to contact him if they:

• Remember seeing the 1934 Packard Twelve 1108 Limousine in this area.

• Knew Harold Woodruff or members of his family.

• Know who Woodruff purchased the Packard from in Oregon City.

• Know any of the original members of the Historical Automobile Club of Oregon, which Woodruff belonged to.

• Have photos of the 1934 Packard Twelve 1108 Limousine when it was in La Grande.

Straube said he hopes that anyone who has information to share “can shine some light on the last unknown 18 years of the car between 1934 and 1952.”

Straube said all comments are welcome and should be sent to amstraube@web.de.