Stolen ’37 Packard recovered; man who tried to sell it sought

AUBURN – Police are investigating the theft of an antique convertible in showroom condition and valued at $120,000 that was found in the parking lot of an Auburn hotel a week after it was reported stolen from a home in Naples.

The cream-colored 1937 Packard 120, along with the trailer in which it was stored and the pickup truck that was used to haul it around, were recovered late Tuesday after police received a tip from an employee of the Fireside Inn.

John Betz, the car’s owner, who spends the winter in Florida, had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the vehicles and the arrest and conviction of the thief.

The truck and trailer had been parked in the lot for most of the past week. Investigators are seeking a man who was seen in the area and reportedly told strangers that he was trying to sell the Packard.

Police were alerted to the vehicle by a maintenance man at the hotel who had struck up a conversation about the car with a man who opened the trailer and showed him the vehicle, said Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion. The employee called police after later seeing a story on the TV news reporting the same car as being stolen.

The Packard, with a rumble seat and side-mounted tires, wouldn’t have been easy to sell.

“Your typical customer involved in collecting and preserving this type of vehicle is not your average blue-collar worker,” said Lt. Don Foss of the Sheriff’s Department. “Your potential customer base will be extremely limited.”