A Finished Project: 1949 Packard Eight
It’s sad when you see a once loved and cherished car that has fallen on hard times, but I think that it’s even sadder to see one where the owner has gone through all of the pain and heart-ache of undertaking a restoration, only to be struck down by ill health almost as soon as the work is completed. This 1949 Packard Eight is just such a car. Listed for sale here on Craigslist, this mighty car is located in Hernando, Florida, and comes with a clean title. The ad is a bit vague on the price. It lists the car at $6,995 but it vaguely suggests that $5.000 in cash may seal the deal. Barn Finds reader Rusty referred this one to us and I offer my thanks for that.
As I said, it is so sad to see someone pour so much time and effort into a project only to be struck down with ill health just as they are ready to enjoy the fruits of their labor. I have known people who have been through this and it truly is heart-wrenching. The car has been sitting under cover for the last couple of years. The body looks to be in the sort of condition that you would expect it to look following a recent restoration. I don’t see any significant problems that a dose of polish won’t fix. I do like the fact that the seller has covered the tires to prevent damage from UV rays.
The interior doesn’t look too bad, but it does look like there might be one or two little detail things to be addressed. The carpet appears to be a bad fit and the kick-panels in the foot-wells also seem to be missing. There are also a couple of loose trim pieces that need to be secured back in place, including around the driver’s door frame, but none of them are major problems.
Under the hood is that fantastic straight-eight engine. With a displacement of 288ci it pumped out 135hp when new. It is backed by an automatic transmission. The seller doesn’t mention what work (if any) was performed on the engine during the restoration, but he does appear quite confident that it would require minimal work to get it running again.
I’m a soft touch. If I went to look at this car and I really liked it then I’d probably pay the full price for it. I’ve seen how hard it can be for a person to have to sell their project car due to ill health. I scouted around and found one of these for $5,000, but it needed a lot of work. The vast majority of them were priced between $14,000 and $20,000. I think that at $6,995 it represents a great buy. If the ad is correct and they will accept $5,000 then this Packard may represent one of the buys of the year, but I’d still give them the full price.
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Comments
Oh boy, here’s a tear jerker. This was a car just like our Packard, only ours was a ’50. My grandfather bought a brand new Packard Custom 8 in 1948 for $2800, a lot of money, when a Ford was probably half that. Our ’50 Standard 8, which I think this is too, was equipped just like this, 288, the smallest motor and Ultramatic. This has to be a very late ’49, because ’50 was the 1st full year of the Ultramatic. The dash gauges had a neat feature, the needles and numbers had that luminescent paint and a black light, and they glowed at night. One day on a long stretch, I decided to see what my grandfather saw in these cars, and let the old Packard go. It shimmied a bit around 65, but approaching 80, it smoothed right out, and I knew, THIS is what attracted my grandfather to a Packard, and he drove on gravel roads in the ’50’s. I let off shortly after that, it was a ton of lead moving 75 mph and stopping, which was adequate for such a heavy car, requires some extra thought. Steering too, no power, but something about the geometry , it steered remarkably easy. The Ultramatic was a good unit, you won’t win any drag races, but even after a 20 year slumber( the original owner parked the car with 41K miles on it 1959 when he refused to pay more than .25 cents for gas, right from the widows mouth, that was) it still worked. I can say, it really was twice the a ’49 Ford was.
As the (outdated ) saying went, “Ask the man who own’s one”. I’m glad to say, I got to experience these fine cars, even in their diminished fanciness, first hand.
HoA..I think we’ve chatted about this before but this allows me to post my Packard :)
My first car was a ’50 Ultamatic bought from Dad who had inherited my grandfathers garage where the Packard sat for years. I think it was a mechanics lien. A doctor owned it, and in 1970, when I was 16, my Dad sold it to me for $250.00, . cheap bastard. :)
We lived back east then and I can remember it being hauled to our house and in the dead of winter going out to the garage and pouring Marvel Mystery Oil into the cylinders. I got it running, licensed and spent that summer bombing around while my friends drove Chevies, Fords and MG’s.
It was absolutely in perfect condition. Being a kid I decided after high school I’d drive it out to Colorado. There’s a rational thought for a 22 year old car! Anyway the tranny went out while shopping for provisions.. I had to drive it backwards….yes backwards…. a couple of miles to my house. I got away with it! Kids!
Well I gave it to Aamco transmissions to inspect and somehow they repaired the tranny without authorizations. As I recall those trannys were troublesome and when they opened it up the parts probably rained down on them. I think the bill was about what I paid for the car and I didnt have the money so they wouldnt release the car.
My Dad being an attorney could have sought an action for replevin but wanted to teach me a lesson I guess.. Instead he waited all through the summer and fall and while the car was in the yard at Aamco and lost its hubcaps and cormorant to thieves So I sold it and moved on.
48 years later I still remember! Like a first date.
Sorry, Mw, see apology below, I can claim “old fart” status on that one :) We have chatted on this before. Your’s was just like ours. The only thing we have left, is the Cormorant hood ornament, that was my grandfathers.
Wish someone would restore the Packard factory! GLWS
@Hatofpork,
You’ve hit a sore spot with Packard enthusiasts, collectors, and private Detroit historians. Until about 25 years ago the factory for the most part was in usable condition, and most of the big buildings were rented out in affordable sections. Much of the rental space was used to store vintage cars, serve as artist workshops, private auto repair/restoration workshops, small business warehouses, and more.
Then the city of Detroit decided to totally renovate the entire facility, and kicked everyone out. They quickly found out what the REAL COSTS were going to be to make it happen, and the entire effort collapsed. I’m told the Asbestos removal costs ALONE were more than the city expected the entire project to cost. This was about the same time the city faced serious financial problems too.
So the city basically stopped doing anything and let the entire factory deteriorate, while maintaining only one thing: Ownership of the property. The city did nothing to the property except to deny any use by others. We all know what happens when older buildings sit vacant for even a couple of years . . .
Adam,thank you for this; I would be all over it except that I have no room and I’m about 4000 miles away from it. I’d probably foot the bill for transport anyway but in my part of the country storing cars outside is a really bad idea. Looking for more space now…….someone buy this and give it the love and use it deserves.
Where’s Woodieman? I think he had a Packard like this.
Up above HoA lol Good memory!
Oops, sorry, Mw,,,I was close.
I love Packard! If a person grabbed this one, and continued the restoration the money is there! Nice car, I am sorry for the owner tho! I am kinda in the same situation, a little different than this guys tho!
About the steering: I read somewhere years ago that when Rolls-Royce knew they needed independent front suspension, the best system they found was Packard’s, very much including the steering. I don’t know if that was their first collaboration with Packard, but the engineering philosophies of the two companies was very similar in those days, and long had been.
The “whale” body style is not my favorite Packard look by any means, but if the interior work has mostly been done the $7K original ask represents one (heck) of a bargain. Especially if the headliner is done right, which I have read is a task to make strong men weep: imagine trying to wallpaper the inside of a big dome with floppy soft cloth!
@Will Owen,
You are correct that the post war Rolls-Royce cars used a front suspension based on the Packard setup, that dated back to 1935. The steering was just the typical tie-rod end with idler arm, and many other companies used the same.
As for the headliner, there were 2 types on the 1946 to 1950 Packards: The vast majority had ribs from side to side. The big Custom Super Eights for 46-47, and the Custom Eights for 48-50 used long ribs that run from the windshield back to the rear window area.
The side to side ribs headliners are easy to install, but the longer front to rear ribs don’t have as much leeway in tightening them up. Like all cotton or wool fabric headliners of that era, creating that final wrinkle free fit depended on a steam machine to cause the fabric to shrink and remove the wrinkles.
With the long ribs, if you didn’t get it right when sewing the headliner sections together & adding the rib sleeves, when sitting in the rear seat you could very easily see a curve in the stitching. But those long ribs really did make the interior of the car look 50 feet longer! Note that the Henney-built Limousines and 7-passenger sedans didn’t have the long ribs, they were simply too long & unable to support themselves.
Just the paint job and the tires, assuming they are wide whitewalls, justify the asking price. You cannot purchase and put a 1940s or 1950s Packard in this kind of condition for twice the asking price. While I greatly admire the quality and engineering of all Packards, I have never liked this “bathtub” styling of the 1948-50 Packards–the beginning of the end. The dashboard looks so small and cheap; the trunks have room for little else besides the spare tire, and the whole car looks like a jelly bean. No one else, though, had a finer engine than Packard. And you have to appreciate the ease of steering these, compared to, say, a 1949 Buick Roadmaster, which steers and handles like a 2-ton truck!
Since 1968 I’ve owned about 30 of the 1948 to 50 Packards, and own a 1948 Super Eight Convertible today. What people don’t realize is that while the cars quickly became dated style-wise, when new in 1948, those Packards were awarded all 8 of the major styling awards, and the convertible was actually put on display at the Museum Of Modern Art in New York for a few months. these were the first production cars from a well-respected manufacturer to have a truly straight body side from bumper to bumper.
YES, SIR!! A fellow car guy offered to sell me a 1950 Packard around 1977; I drove it around the block, and I could not BELIEVE this thing did not have power steering!! I never got over that; I should have bought that car.
I, too, hope this car finds the place where it needs to be, and it may indeed be a bargain at the price.
But let’s keep the terminology straight – this is no ‘restoration’. It’s an amateur fix-up of what appears to be a fairly solid old Packard, and with some attention to the details it will make someone a nice driver, something to take to local shows and break into the classic-car scene. But ‘restored’? Uh, no.
Still, Cycle: a lot more approachable than a frame off done by the pros for an investment play.
This is an honest, well loved car.
Fix up is right. And they should be applauded. I would say they are the bulk of the hobby and it’s participants.
Well said.
I don’t know who is selling this car I have it on consignment bens detailing empiourm in hernando fl but I will look into to it yes the car can be bought for 5000 but u have to go thru me have a blessed evening ben 352/586/5104
“this big floating boat was restored then due to health reasons was parked under a car port for the last couple should fire right up with a little tlc needs cleaning and detailing these cars were amoung the nicest riding cars of there time u eather love them or hated them but pakard built some fine autos thru the years thanks for looking have a blessed day ben these cars had a straight 8 engine”
Several misspelled words and not a lick of punctuation. Sorry, but I don’t trust people who write like this.
There was a movie called “Impact” that featured a 48 -49 Packard convertible as the lead’s car.
Great shots and plenty of action footage of it taking curves, the streets in San Francisco and even getting a flat.
Ritchie Valens brother drove a Packard like this in the movie “La Bamba”.
https://www.imcdb.org/v085612.html