UPDATE 11/04/2024: We’re no strangers to owners who try repeatedly to sell their beloved classic, as demonstrated by this 1956 Packard Caribbean. We last saw it in April on Facebook Marketplace with an asking price of $45,000. Wind the clock forward to today, and they have slashed that figure to $39,900 with the option to make an offer. The remaining details are unchanged, and if you missed out the first time, this Packard is now listed here on eBay.
04/22/2024: The Caribbean was Packard’s top-of-the-line automobile from 1953 to 1956. It was both stylish and elegant and would represent the last of the “true” Packards. Beginning in 1957, Packards would become rebadged Studebakers for two years before the marque disappeared forever. This ’56 Caribbean looks like a well-kept original car that you could drive as-is before considering the huge expense of a full restoration. Located in Sonoma, California, our thanks for the original tip goes out to Barn Finder T.J.
Based on the Pan American show car that Packard exhibited in 1952, the Caribbean debuted as a convertible in 1953 and was joined by a hardtop (like the seller’s car) in its final year, 1956). The car was intended to help Packard hold its own against Cadillac and Lincoln, but the effort would be short-lived. The company merged with Studebaker in 1954 and the last Packard-built automobiles were assembled two years later. Production facilities in Detroit would be closed, and the Packard engine plant would be sold off (because the merger wasn’t going well). The so-called “Packardbakers” of 1957-58 didn’t resonate well with buyers and Packard dealers, so the marque died before there could be any 1959 models. Notice the dual antennas out back. When extended, they remind me of fishing poles!
Essentially unchanged going into 1956 (except for the additional body style), the Caribbean received a 374 cubic inch V8 with 310 hp, an upgrade from the 352 V8 of 1955. Production numbers were scant, with just 276 convertibles and 263 hardtops to carry the Packard torch into infinity. The seller’s car appears to wear Dover White paint with Naples Orange accents which are carried over into the lavish interior. The coolest feature of the Carribean could be the reversible seat cushions. One side featured leather, and the other side cloth so you could switch it up depending on the weather!
It appears this Packard has spent its entire life in California, which has helped it survive nicely. The seller says the car has recently been serviced, though we don’t know what that means. While there are ample photos provided in the Facebook listing, you’ll have to go to the dealer-provided video to get a glimpse of the engine compartment. We’re told this machine has only had two owners, so we assume it’s largely original and mechanically sound at 65,000 miles. It’s a shame that the storied Packard brand wasn’t able to get out of the 1950s – can you imagine what the 1960s would have brought forth?
My favorite 50’s car.
Man, what a car! Must buy some lotto tickets!
There’s a Pontiac Solstice with a V8 elsewhere on BF that’s listed for $65k, but given a choice I’d rather pay $65k (even though it’s “only” $45k) for this Packard.
@Terry
It’s not $45,000. It’s now $39,900
A savings of $15,000 on the Soltice.
With the Packard you get room, power, class & prestige. What do you get with a Soltice?
Wow. I thank you for keeping this beautiful in great shape. Packard was my favorite car. I love seeing them at car shows. I seen them at the wine country last time. Hope to see more again.
Wow, say what you want but at least Packard went out in style. The sad part is, the company was bought and then pillaged for its assets by Studebaker. Until then, Packard was still financially solid. Anyway, these last of its kind were truly beautiful cars and they will only increase in value.
It was actually Packard that bought the financially-troubled Studebaker, not the other way around. They were working on a merger with American Motors Corp. in hopes of forming a competitor to the “Big Three” GM, Ford and Chrysler, who were dominating the marketplace. The plan was that Studebaker would be one of the divisions of the proposed corporation, along with AMC’s Hudson, Jeep, Rambler, Nash, etc. But sadly, the whole plan failed and Packard was soon history.
Actually, Packard bought Studebaker, who spent all of Packard’s money.
As others have noted, Packard bought Studebaker, not the other way around. It’s often misrepresented as a merger, but it was not. Packard’s due diligence was lacking, and after the sale, they discovered that Studebaker’s financial condition was much worse than what was disclosed. George Mason’s master plan of merging Studebaker-Packard into AMC with Nash and Hudson died with him. His replacement, George Romney, wanted nothing to do with additional mergers. Studebaker-Packard failed, while AMC limped along until its government contracts ran out and Renault stepped in.
Wow, to think they went from this beautiful car to the “Packardbaker” in one year! Has any other marque fallen so far so fast?
Beautiful car.
One of the men who worked on the merger was George Mason. He died on October 8th, 1954. I was born October 8th, 1954.
Mason was the brains of the whole deal! When he died ! No visionary leadership!
@T-Birdman
Happy belated 70th! 🎂🍭🥂🎈🎉🎊
Awesome ride. Enjoy.
Born in 1947, and first family car I remember was a 50 Nash AMBASSADOR, I recall George Mason’s plan to combine Nash, Hudson, Packard, and Studebaker. Mason’s untimely death and resistance from Packards board, as well as other issues, caused a failure. IF it had been a success, it would have been a force to be reckoned with. But ultimately so many storied Marques have been lost, as the industry shifted to SUVS, crossovers, and melted jelly beans. What ever happened to CLASS?
It went out the window with common sense!
Sad, but the people that can actually appreciate, AND afford this vehicle are almost counted on one hand. $45gs is a lotta lettuce, for a real niche car! Probably better to invest in a really good Corvette, or an early Mustang convertible. You can drive those almost for free as they increase in value.
The problem here, IMO, is your word “invest.” That’s what’s ruined the car hobby for most of us who can’t afford to play in this pool anymore. It’s now all about ROI and those of us who have bought, restored, and driven (!) cars are boxed out by those looking to make a profit on everything. This drives prices up. “I know what I’ve got” has sellers looking to take advantage of old cars as an investment opportunity for buyers so they jack up their prices.
Agree 1000% Craig. I have waited years to get into the hobby, only to be priced out by investors who care nothing about beautiful, old Detroit steel.
@Gavin,
You obviously do not have a love for the hobby or the magnificent old art of automobiles, but are just an investor ONLY concerned with money.
To each his own I guess but this is why these beautiful forms of rolling art are dying on the vine.
JMO
This car is new to me. I’ve never seen one online or in the flesh. But I’m in love. The pod off the steering wheel for the push button tranny, the detail on both headlights and taillights, the turned dash panel, the paint colors….
And the video is from a guy who knows how to sell a car.
Lust!
I thought all Packard Caribbean cars were three colors?
Howard some of them were and a few were one color.
Howard, Packard was flexible to the amount of money you were willing to spend. I used to think that too in my early Packard days but as long as the paint color code plaque on the car matches the book color codes, I guess it’s authentic.
No one ever mentioned the roof. It was covered in a material called Hypalon. Some type of vinyl I’m guessing.
Actually Gary, hypalon is a type oof rubber .Resistant to weathering.
Nothing like it in 1956. Most had a tri-tone paint scheme.
A neighbor had one, red, white and black. The rear bumper scraped the ground when she pulled into the driveway.
Beautiful car !
Ask The Man Who Owns One! Famous PACKARD slogan definitely is appropriate for this PACKARD Caribbean. In 53, J.J Nance told Dick Teague to DO something about those damn Bull Ball taillights. The result can be clearly seen on this Caribbean featuring the famous Cathedral taillights. A variation was seen on the PACKARD Clipper. Last Days In The Bunker tells the story of the last attempts to keep PACKARD going. The PACKARD Predictor shows what might have been. And the PACKARD REQUEST was a one off integrating the traditional Packard grille to a Caribbean. Sad end for PACKARD, which at one time was the Epitome of motoring elegance and excellence.
Fortunately, in America 🇺🇸 we can STILL have our own opinions. Not sure how much longer 😕. But IMO, there is NO comparison with this PACKARD and Mustang. But I have always loved the GREAT AMERICAN LAND YACHTS.
I had forgotten how beautiful the instrument panel and dash were! It makes the state of automobile manufacturing today even more repulsive.🤮
IMO the ’56 Packard Caribbean gave the same year Mercury a run for their money.. Big, bold and beautiful…
Everywhere, but the sales floor. I’d read the Packard V-8 had enough metal to be punched out to 500 c.i.; the Ultramatic transmission had most of its ’55 teething problems addressed; the torsion level suspension was a revelation for ride and handling. The future looked bright, but no one wanted to buy what looked to be an orphan.
Absolutely correct. No one wanted to buy what looked like a soon to be orphan and the US government wouldn’t help Packard either. Packard should have been saved. Studebaker should have been discontinued but Curtis Wright saw it differently. I can only imagine what Packard would have been like today.
There was a PROPOSAL to adopt 56 Lincoln to provide a 57 PACKARD. It was featured in a vintage car magazine. Don’t recall which one. Actually IMO there is a similarly between 56 PACKARD and 56 LINCOLN.
“The coolest feature of the Carribean {or any Packard} could be the…” torsion level suspension. Sorry, Russ, think this beats out the seating. Biggest advance in suspension since coil springs, according to road testers. I’ve heard the same predictions (sorry, couldn’t resist) about the PACKARD Predictor, I’d say it’s an over the top Lincoln Continental Mark III (1957 version) and would have tanked in the marketplace, just as the Lincoln did.
The Predictor and proposed 1957 Packard design heavily influenced near future design at Ford, Mercury and Lincoln.
Extraordinary styling. Beautiful. The main problem in buying this car is the low production. Where are you going to get parts when needed? So this car should go to one of those guys who have a massive number of collector cars but does not drive them. They can also afford to drop $45K without effecting their lifestyle.
I don’t know if they still do, but Kanter Auto Parts carried tons of parts for Packards. Actually it looks like they still do. Don’t drive it in rain or snow, don’t crash it, you’ll be all right.
I had parts remanufactured for my ‘55 Patrician.
Gorgeous car. However, it does seem to be suffering from Torsion-Level sag where the torsion bars lose some of their tension which makes the car sag, albeit, evenly from front to back. You can detect this by the top of the front wheel well should be in the sidewall black instead of covering part of the white wall and the rear fender skirts should be half way in the center of the red hexagon. This can sometimes be corrected by replacing the torsion bar link pins at the front of the bars unless this has already been done with pins of the maximum length. In that case replacement of the hard-to-find bars is necessary.
The People who can afford this vehicle can be counted on one hand, I wouldn’t say that they’d appreciate it, as most of those people are investors, flippers and people who only care about “value”, not so much the car.
Buying a Corvette or Mustang instead of this beauty shows breeding. No class at all. IMO
It seriously upsets me that the hobby has been reduced to money, money, money.
Looks like Russ forgot the most important facts, they had dual quads and added 35 ponies rated at a lower rpm
Any one know the compression ratio?
I’ve seen a few of these in my lifetime, but never once noticed what is apparently a side marker light behind the back edge of the door. Or is it a light to help a person enter the car when it’s dark? This car is stunning, and I would drive it in a minute if I had the money.
I never recall seeing this light either. Seems to be connected to headlights, which would not make it useful as a light for entry. Perhaps this was another PACKARD innovation which later became 70s Opera Lights 🤔. Like the old PACKARD slogan, Ask the MAN who Owns One!
My Packard had those courtesy lights. They were standard on the 1955-56 senior models.
That’s the first thing I noticed when I first saw one of these waaaaay back when. I love little details like that. Always thought it was cool. Useless, but cool.
Now-a-days you could put a LED bulb in there that changes colors as you drive down the road.
This car exudes class.
Why would anyone want to put a multi-color LED light on it?
What a beautiful tasteful car. I was born in the mid 60s and in the early 70s my father bought a classic car price guide. I remember Packards, Duesenbergs etc. My father liked old Lincolns. I remember being 18 and a Caribbean convertible for sale behind a donut shop for $800. I let my older brother talk me out of it and I bought a FIAT X/19 instead. I still feel that pain. Like my father’s beloved 1940s Lincolns, the future is not bright for other than a few select models of 50s cars.
Link now say listing has ended. Anyone know if it sold?
It ended, not sold
it now says ended due to error in the listing
What a beauty 😍.
OH HYEAH this Packard is sooo SWELL my new ranch barn has room for another??? MAYBE mu wife will??????n
if you really want to see how expensive it is to own a Packard, buy one and have repairs done like an engine overhaul, the prices go way up when you tell them it’s a Packard. even though they don’t command big money like they used to try buying parts, the guy selling Packard parts might as well be selling gold, I had one for thirty years, when it came time to rebuild the engine I couldn’t justify the cost, it would have been more money than the car was worth.
Always buy the finest car you can afford rather than a barely decent one that needs restored. This is a perfect case in point. I suspect the market will soon dry up for all but the most pristine Packard Caribbeans, Studebaker Speedsters, Hudson Hornets, Kaiser Darrin’s and other similar collector cars. They just don’t bring that much in today’s marketplace or at least enough to justify a costly restoration.
I’ll cross my fingers and hope that leads to a new market of affordable drivers. Unfortunately, the machine shops and foundries that could make this hobby more affordable are shutting down, often due to old age.
Howard Hughes also liked this car!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/howard-hughes-classic-ride-a-look-at-his-favorite-car/ar-AA1poTVe
Typically, the MSN-linked story is mostly wrong. Nothing in it backs up the assertion that this was Hughes’ “favorite” car. In fact it wasn’t even a car he drove as it was purchased as a birthday present for actress Jean Peters, whom he was dating at the time (they later married). Peters didn’t like the car, though, so it was stored undriven for many years.
Hughes wasn’t into flashy cars for his personal use by this time and was known for driving battered old Chevys instead of anything that would draw unwanted attention to himself. Former Hughes cars that have surfaced at auction include a ’53 4-door Buick and a ’54 Chrysler 4-door built to his own specifications that are more utilitarian than showy. The idea that he drove around in this Carib is absurd. He did buy flashy cars for his girlfriends, though.
Really cool car.
Never thought I’d ever say that about a Packard!
The finest Packard ever!
Why the 2 different mufflers? Money must have been tight.
Hi Angel! Like Rick W said when he
quoted that Ask the man who owns one slogan. Well, I did and I really loved mine. It was a ’50 Packard 9-passenger Limousine. Bought it from
a guitar teacher friend of mine for $250 back in ’71. He was selling it dirt cheap after a drunk driver sideswiped it while the car was parked in front of his house. And when Dad saw it, we had one of those
father-son discussions about buying
an orphan car due to lack of parts to
fix it up and keep it running the way it should My ace in the hole was an old
man I knew named Joe Levavich, who
owned Reliable Auto, a different kind of parts store where you could get most anything you needed to keep an
old car going. That’s where I got the master cylinder for my ’52 Chevy sedan I bought for $10 that same year. Well, I go up there with a polaroid photo of the Packard’s engine, and Presto! Joe sends me out the door with an NOS rebuild kit for the engine, which was a 356 straight 8 mated to an Ultramatic
transmission. I had 2 weeks off from
playing music so with help from Dad
and Uncle Dean, I got the engine rebuilt before I went back out on the road. The rest of the car got fixed when I came home to start my junior
year in highschool. (I only played 3
months out of the year while in school and had to keep my grades up too) By 1972, I had the limo cherried
out and was using it as a band vehicle
to take us to a lot of one night stands
my Senior year. We even pulled a single axle trailer with no sweat at all.
That straight 8 was as smooth as fresh churned butter and didn’t protest one bit! After the band broke up, I got hired as a front man for a band that owned a bus, so I left my
Packard at home for my Mom to drive
when her new Caprice wouldn’t start
Which brings me to the end of the story. I loaned the car to a friend of mine so that he and his date could go
to the Drive In theater. True to his word, my buddy brought my car back
to our house with a full tank of gas and another embarrassing surprise in
the back seat. Well, Monday morning
came and the Caprice wouldn’t start so Mom drove my Packard to work that day. When she pulled up to the
guard shack, the security guard pointed out that there were a pair of
girl’s panties lying on the back seat of
the car. My Mom turned seven shades of red and I got an earful when I came home for a short vacation. I sold the limo to keep the
peace with my Mom but never forgot
about that big old limo and all the fun
my buddy and his date had iny back seat. 50+ years have gone by since
then and I’m still proud to be one of the men that owned one.
Hello Kenneth!
You always have such interesting stories about your life.
So you got your Packard limo while you were in junior high. I got my ’56 Cadillac Fleetwood when I was in junior high. It didn’t run and my father was not one to help me with such things even though he was a mechanic. To this day I don’t know why it didn’t run, but my father being who he was would let his brothers store their old junk cars on the 5 acres he had but let me? Hell no! Came home from school one day and it was gone. He junked it. Same thing happened to my ’62 Lincoln convertible. That’s the problem with having a cousin who owns a junkyard.
This is a very nice car, but let me make those aware of a few flaws of these years 55-56. First the transmission in these cars are problematic just a simple two speed but they cannot be interchanged with other transmissions but can be if you are willing to modify? Secondly is the torsion suspension which is the best handling of the 50’s cars but the problem lies with the rear which has motors on each side to level the vehicle, this is an expensive fix and complicated to fix and understand, besides that it is a great car with all the goodies and prestige but for the price you can get another vehicle almost as nice for the asking price at 39,000 is not cheap, i just recently sold my 1955 packard 400 hardtop because of te main two problems that i mentioned- just think about it do you want to put out all this money and have to put out more when you run into these problems??
@Angel Cadillac Diva:
No dear, I got my Packard while in my
Sophomore year in highschool. I was taking guitar lessons from Rick Brooks, the man I bought the car from. He was heartbroken as he showed me the car one afternoon when I came by to show him a song
that I wrote for weddings called “Happy Golden Years”. Well, after I recorded the song at his house and
showed him the chords, we started
talking about the car and what he was
gonna do with it. So when he told me
that it was for sale, I had him drive me
to my bank to get the cash for him.
Then I called my Dad and told him to
bring my future BIL with him so that we could get the car home. Once there, we piled into it and took a test
drive. It ran and drove perfectly. The
engine ran with no smoke or noises
and it rode great. Did I need to redo
the engine? No, not at that time, but
I thought it was a good idea as rebuild parts were still available at that time. At least I’d know that everything in and on the engine was brand new. We took it to twin City Hydramatic downtown and had the tranny serviced with tranny parts from
Reliable Auto Parts. Old Joe had done it again! He had some NOS tranny parts and sold them to me at a
very reasonable cost. Now mind you,
we got this stuff all knocked out before I left with Duke Babb to do shows in Las Vegas and then work our way back home as school would
be starting soon and I had to get back
to it. Once home, I still played one
nighters on weekends with some friends of mine. That’s when we racked up all those miles on the limo.
Think I wore out 2 sets of tires in the
time I used the car as a band vehicle.
But the guys at Clay Dooley Tire came
through in spades. They had sets of
NOS tires and tubes that fit my car
just right. In my spare time, I pulled
and straightened the stainless steel
trim, popped the dents out of the body, and got it ready for paint. In
doing all that work, I completely forgot about girls! That worried Dad
to no end as he was beginning to think I was gay or something. So he
planned to take me to a brothel in
Peoria to get me serviced instead of
my car! Mom found out and she almost went ballistic! So Dad dropped the situation and no one spoke if it again. I’d keep the car for
another year until I sold it to keep
peace with Mom. It went to a collector from Chicago for $2K in
’74. And to quote Paul Harvey,
…And now you know the rest of the
story.
@Angel Cadillac Diva:
No dear, I bought my Packard at the end of my Sophomore year in highschool. I bought the car from Rick Brooks, a guitar teacher I was taking lessons from at the time. He bought it with about 32K on it and drove it sparingly for the fear that he’d
break something that couldn’t be fixed. I went over to his house to record a song I had written about weddings and a friend of his liked it
so much they used it when they got
married that year. Midway through the session, we went outside for a smoke break and that’s when he told me that car was for sale and that I could buy it for $250. He was thinking of scrapping it as it had been
sideswiped by a drunk driver while
parked in front of his house. We finished the session and after that I had him drive me to my bank so that I
could get the cash for him. Then, I called my Dad and told him to bring my future BIL with him to help out.
As we drove home, he and I had that
father-son discussion about buying an orphan car and keeping it running the way it should. But I had an ace in
the hole in a friend of mine named Joe Levavich who owned Reliable Auto Parts. Walking into Joe’s place was like walking into a candy store!
His place was crammed from floor to
ceiling with NOS parts for cars from the ’20s to the early ’60s–and he had a 3-stoey building to boot! And every
floor was crammed full of stuff and ALL of it was for sale! Think he even
had parts for a 1911 Huppmonile but
don’t hold me to it, it’s been almost 55
Years ago since I’ve been there. Do I
go down there with a Polaroid photo of the engine, and Presto! Joe sends
me home with an NOS rebuild kit for my car’s engine which was a 356 cube straight 8 mated to an Ultramatic transmission. I had a 2 week vacation from playing music so
I put the time to good use by rebuilding the engine and getting the
tranny serviced. With help from my Dad and Uncle Dean, we got everything done in 10 days which left
me 4 days to chill out before going to
Las Vegas with Duke Babb for a 20
city tour that would end a week or so
before school started again. My friends and I used the limo as a band
vehicle to play one nighters all over the state on weekends and during the
week, after I got my homework and chores done, you’d find me using a
rubber mallet to straighten the bent
stainless steel trim that was damaged when the car got hit or popping out the dents to get it ready
for paint. And in all the work and excitement, I completely forgot about
girls! That really worried Dad as he began to think that I’d turned gay or
something. Any time my parents saw
me, I was studying, typing up my homework, or out in the garage doing
body work to the Packard. Well, he
devised a plan to take me to a brothel
over in Peoria to get ME serviced instead of the Packard! The place was owned by Richard Pryor’s aunt,
and yes THAT Richard Pryor. When my Mom found out about it, she went
ballistic. She chewed Dad’s ass out
for almost a week before they dropped the subject and never spoke
of it again. Dad didn’t have much longer to worry though. I did finally
discover girls just a bit later than other guys my age. One day I’ll tell you the story of how our union rep
caught me with my pants down but
I’ll save that one for later. You’ve already read about the reason I sold
the car so I won’t rehash it. I sold the
car to a collector from Chicago for $3K in ’74 and bought a ’59 Sport Fury
2-door hardtop to take it’s place. And
to quote Paul Harvey, …”And that’s the
rest of the story.”