08/22/2026
Ten Days of Packard 2026 – Deep Dive!
Recently we featured some photos from MCP Member Dave Marold, featuring his and his son Erick’s 1956 Packard Caribbean convertible, and the Mayor of the City of Northville, Brian Trumbull. We mistakenly identified the building behind Dave and Brian as the former Studebaker-Packard dealership. In fact, it was not; it was one of the other 12 different car dealerships that Northville had hosted over the years.
As I was creating the correction to the posting, I wondered where the former Studebaker and/or Packard dealerships of Northville had been located. Thanks to the work of PackardInfo.com and the Studebaker Drivers Club's website, I found that there were up to five different locations where Studebakers and Packards had been sold and serviced!
The oldest mention I could find was Northville Motor Sales at 279 Park Place, which appeared in the Packard Motor Car Co. Dealer Directory from 1938 to 1941. Unfortunately, no longer appears to be a valid address; perhaps it’s a street that has been renamed or that no longer exists. Google Maps directs us today to a newer apartment complex in an area of town that has never been the home of commercial property. So, there exists a cloud of mystery over this site.
After the war, Northville Motor Sales appears again as a Packard dealer, this time at 125 E. Main Street. This information was discovered via an ad that had appeared in the Detroit Evening Times on June 26, 1945. This location is an older building in the core downtown area, right next door to the Marquis Theater. It seems like an odd spot for a dealership, but the building, which predates World War II, does have a pass-through or former garage door off of E. Main Street. Currently this building is a part of a Comerica Bank office.
The Studebaker side of the story seems to start with Petz Brothers in 1945, whose showroom was located at 200 Plymouth Avenue. The address today is now known as 200 S. Main Street. Petz Brothers' first mention in print per the SDC is in the 1949 & 1954 Michigan Studebaker Dealers brochures that were handed out at the Detroit Auto Show. Petz Brothers became Packard dealers for 1955 and 1956 per the PMCC Dealer Directory. By 1963, the business had been sold to Gib Bergstrom, Inc., as documented by the 1963 Michigan Studebaker Dealers brochure, again distributed at the Detroit Auto Show. The original Petz Brothers/Gib Bergstrom building still stands, but is now subdivided and houses multiple businesses.
Strangely, there is a Packard dealer mentioned in the SDC files that is not listed over at PackardInfo.com: it was called Ward Masters Packard, and was located at 106 E. Dunlap Street in downtown Northville. No years of operation were given, and the original building appears to have been razed. The address is now the site of Scores Haircuts for Men.
Where will Ten Days of Packard 2026 take you?
Be sure to share pics of your drives at [email protected]!
