OUR HOBBY

As a student, I have no life, I have no hobbies other than Cal State San Bernardino, and that can hardly qualify as a hobby. It is a life style that will soon end. Then I can get my (Mary Lou) own hobby. Right now, Leigh's hobby is my hobby, the Packard automobile and our car club, Packard's International. Leigh's profession has been restoring Packard automobiles, but he currently does car interiors, only. Right now, the cars are a hobby.

	When we met, Leigh had a 1956 Packard Caribbean that belonged to a woman in Salinas. He was selling it for her. That car became our car, and we have always had a soft place in our hearts for the 1956 Caribbean. It is also a car that is expensive just to get as a project, let alone restore. Her car was sold at auction before we were married. At the time we were married, he was working on another one of Cheryl's cars, a 1953 red Caribbean. He finished it before we got married, and we took it on our honeymoon to shake it down for her. What a wonderful car, and boy did we attract attention wherever we went.
	We got our very own Packard in 1997, when he bought a 1953 Packard Mayfair, a 2-door hardtop, for $600.00. It was to be a parts car, but cleaned up too well. As you can see from the picture, it is not bad looking, and we love it. One Packard, however, is not enough.
	In 2000, we found our 1956 Packard Caribbean. As you can see, it is a "little rough", but it is fundamentally sound, and it is all there. Someday it will look better than Cheryl's '56. It is already our pride and joy. I call it our "bouncing baby Caribbean."
	There is still another Packard to be done. It is a 1948 Custom Eight. As you can see, it is a diamond in the rough--very rough. Leigh has sentimental ties to the 1948 Custom Eight. He used to have one, that he truly loved. It is now in Georgia. In fact, here is a picture of it that was sent to him but the current owner. Someday, our diamond in the rough will look like the Georgia car.