Reply To: Grille shutter finish

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When I look at ’33-35’s with shutters closed I sometimes feel the big wall of chrome is almost too much, and they look better when warm with the shutters open.

I have been looking through pictures of ’34-35’s in old Arrows and find hardly any. The couple I did see were black or dark blue and all had the whole shell chrome instead of just the forward facing surface. Some have the center piece chrome and some don’t.

I will probably wait for the chrome, but I am curious now about what the perhaps theoretical base no-option would have looked like. The closest I can come was the standard finish for a ’32 Packard Light 8 (shovel nose), but it had fixed louvers which saved some manufacturing cost but also made that lower swooping curve of the radiator shell feasible. Personally I think that looks pretty darn good. I am theorizing that the chrome shutters were always put on as a way to add $25 to the list price and avoid the special handling at the factory to match the body color. The salesman could say he would throw in the chrome shutter option at no charge to make the sale. The painted shutters may have actually only been done on special order.

Does anyone know?