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In 1955, Marvin Zukor, A San Francisco police officer, drove his 1934 Packard V12 Convertible Victoria down the California coast to the third Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.  Fifty-three years later, Marvin Zukor and his prized Packard will again compete in this year’s Concours.

Zukor’s Packard was originally purchased in 1933 by actor Cesar Romero, who starred in dozens of films, and is best known as the Joker on TV’s Batman. After Romero the next owner was sportscaster-actor Bill Stern, who broadcast the first major league baseball game on TV.  After World War II, the Packard became a Stanford University "rally car" driven around the stadium track during football games.

"The car was used and abused when I bought it," says Zukor. "The V12 engine had holes and was shot, there was a busted water pump and the entire car was a mess.  But I loved it."

Zukor purchased the Packard in 1952 from a young man who, according to Zukor, had rescued the car from oblivion at Stanford, but was leaving to serve in the Korean War. 

"I originally gave it a 1950s-type restoration, including a $100 paint job, new engine and upholstery," says Zukor, a founding member of the Northern California Region of the Classic Car Club of America.  "I then showed it at the 1955 Pebble Beach Concours and got a second place prize for in-class - a little thing to put on my dashboard."

First conducted in 1950, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance has become the world’s premier celebration of the automobile. Only the most beautiful and rare cars are invited to appear on the fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Zukor, was invited to return to the event by Chris Bock, a member of the Pebble Beach Selection Committee.  Bock says that his committee loves the fact that the car has been used its entire life and "for most of the past 53 years, Marvin has been pouring oil into the car and driving it around northern California.

To ready his Packard for Pebble Beach after a 53-year absence and thousands of driving miles around San Francisco and environs, Zukor has hired classic car restorers Craig and Sue Lynch to return the vehicle to pristine condition. 

"I was a San Francisco cop for 30 years, a U.S. Marshall for 15 years.  Now, within the past few years, I’ve been focused on restoring my Packard once again.  Let’s just say I’ve spent a little more on its second restoration."