National Packard Museum

05/21/2026

Only 8 days left to view our Motorcycle Exhibit. May 30 is the last day they are here. If you haven't stopped by to see them, come before they are gone.

05/08/2026

Car enthusiasts will lose themselves in this incredible hidden museum.

05/07/2026

The Packard Motor Car Company employed about 300 workers in Warren, Ohio prior to the move to Detroit in October 1903. These photographs from the museum’s archives show Packard employees building Model F automobiles that year.

Packard’s Model F automobiles were built in a series of specialty shops located on Dana Street, then known as North Street.

The car building process began with the construction of the chassis. Once fabricated, the chassis was sent to the assembly shop where the wheels, engine, fuel and water tanks, oiling system and other parts were added. Then, the tires were mounted and the engine tested.

After that, the completed chassis was rolled into the next building where the body was placed onto the chassis, and both were sent to the paint shop where they were brush painted separately before being bolted together.

The car then went to the wiring department where one man spent half a day assembling and mounting the harness. When completed, the car was taken for a test drive through Warren to make sure everything was in working order.

05/03/2026

Last week we were excited to have students from the Warren City School District come to visit the museum. We were amazed that the students were so polite and eager to learn about the history of the Museum and how it relates to the city of Warren. So far we have had students from Lincoln and Willard. Next week we will get visits from McGuffey and Jefferson!

04/29/2026

We had a great visit on Sunday 4/26 from a couple Harley Davidson chapters.

04/25/2026

This original photo from the museum archives shows WD Packard's only son, Warren Packard II, age 24, sitting in his 1916 Packard Twin Six 1-25 Roundabout in front of newly constructed Packard Manor, the family’s summer estate in Chautauqua, New York.
Warren Packard II attended public schools in Warren, Ohio before transferring to and graduating from the Culver Military Institute in Indiana. He received an engineering degree from Cornell University in 1914. After college, Warren served as his father’s private secretary at the Packard Electric Company. During WWI, Warren served in the Naval Flying Corps Service, stationed in Baltimore.
Packard Motor Car Company introduced the legendary Twin Six, America's first 12-cylinder automobile in the fall of 1915. Offered on both 135- and 125-inch wheelbases, these powerful and luxurious automobiles boasted a 424 ci, t-head V-12 engine that produced 88 bhp at 2,600rpm, 3-speed manual transmission, solid front axle, semi-floating rear axle, and 2-wheel mechanical brakes.
Of the 3,606 Twin Six Packard manufactured on the 125-inch chassis in 1916, only four runabouts are known to survive, one of which sold at auction in 2018 for nearly $400,000. Sadly, Warren Packard’s sports car is not one of the survivors.

04/24/2026

How many boy scouts does it take to fill up a 1949 Packard? Thanks to Boy Scout Troop 150, they were able to get in 11! We had the pleasure of these polite young men to tour the museum, Saturday April 18th.

04/17/2026

04/17/2026

Congratulations to Sarah Hirt Buzulencia for being a 2026 Community Star Award Winner. Sarah was one of the founding members of the National Packard Museum, former board president and currently serving as recording secretary. Not only does she serve on the board but also volunteers many hours assisting in Museum events. We are lucky to have her here!!

04/12/2026

"Justing waiting to ride in the Packard, wearing my mew Packard Bandana"
These Pet Bandanas are available at the National Packard Museum or online at:
https://packardmuseum.org/products/pet-bandanas_pos=1&_sid=6506fa9a7&_ss=r

04/11/2026

George D. Kirkham: The First Packard Car Owner (continued)

In addition to his position with Harris Automatic Press, Kirkham also served as President of the Standard Electric Company, a Niles incandescent lamp manufacturer, and as a Director of the Niles Car & Manufacturing Company, an electric streetcar manufacturer.
In 1902, the Kirkham family moved from their rather modest home into the former Charlotte Tod Freeman mansion on High Street. They lived there until 1917 when George sold the residence to the Odd Fellows lodge and moved his family to Cleveland, where the Harris Automatic Press Company had recently relocated.
Gertrude Kirkham died in 1922, the same year that George, citing poor health, retired as President of Harris Automatic Press. George spent most of his remaining years at the family-owned Crane Point Lodge on Blue Mountain Lake in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. George died in 1935 and was buried in Cleveland’s Lakeview Cemetery.
So, what happened to George Kirkham’s 1900 Packard? In the early 1970s, museum founder Terry Martin asked that question when he visited Kirkham’s daughter Caroline Raymond at her home in Shaker Height. Caroline recalled that her father stored the car at the old Morgan & Williams garage on West Market Street, now the site of Charbenay’s Wine on the River, when he moved to Cleveland. When he returned a few years later to retrieve it, the car was missing.
The whereabouts of George’s Packard remain a mystery, but Terry Martin received an intriguing clue decades ago. Brothers Augie and Carl Thumm, then the proprietors of Thumm’s Bike Shop, told Terry an early automobile rolled down the embankment near their shop and sunk in the Mahoning River. Could that have been Kirkham’s Packard? If so, the single cylinder cast iron engine might be buried in the silt and mud on the bottom of the river in Downtown Warren waiting to be salvaged.