The decade of the Fabulous ’50’s didn’t start out well for the Packard Motor Car Company (and wouldn’t end well, either). By 1950, Packard was losing ground in the luxury car field to rival Cadillac in sales as well as public perception. Packard’s post-war styling wasn’t aging well when compared to the sleek lines (and new V8 power) of a Cadillac. Although a totally restyled Packard was just a year away, 1950 saw the continuation of the bulbous “pregnant elephant” look as it was jokingly called by some consumers. Well, here’s one elephant that didn’t get away and it has been miraculously preserved for the past 73 years. This very original 1950 Packard Eight Touring Sedan still sports its original paint, interior, and drivetrain, and has been driven only 24,020 miles (Here’s a brief video of the seller starting up the smooth-running Straight-Eight) . According to packardinfo.com, only 116 of these 4-door sedans are registered on the Packard Vehicle Registry. It has obviously spent a lot of TLC time in a garage and is currently in one in Howell, New Jersey. The seller says it’s been in the family since the late 70’s, but that he can’t care for it anymore and would rather have it go to someone who can appreciate and care for it properly. The Packard is listed for sale here on craigslist for $12,000 and we have Mitchell G. to thank for sending this proud old Packard survivor our way.
The Packard Eight was the base model and was offered as a 2-door Club Sedan, a 4-door Station Wagon, and a 4-door Touring Sedan. This one doesn’t have many options and is equipped with a 3-on-the-tree manual transmission. The seller describes the original black paint as “showing its age although it looks great from a few feet away.” Supplied photos show chips, scratches, and paint cracking in areas, but I’m not seeing any signs of accident damage or rust (the seller shares that the Packard was Ziebart undercoated and rust proofed back in the 70’s or 80’s). All that ’50’s-era brightwork upfront on the grille and bumper looks remarkable as does the large wraparound rear bumper on this black beauty. That large swan hood ornament certainly makes a statement and everything I’m seeing including the trim, badging, glass, tires, and wheel covers look very good.
The condition of the Packard’s original interior is unbelievable. Except for a few spots and stains in the headliner, the rest of the clean interior looks close to new. The tasteful tan-striped broadcloth fabric shows no sign of wear or damage and the door panels look near perfect as well.
The faux-wood painted metal instrument panel and tops of the door panels compliment the tan and brown theme perfectly, and the gauges, chrome, steering wheel, and everything shown in the photos look remarkable.
Under that long black hood, you’ll find the Packard’s original 288-cubic inch Straight-Eight engine with only 24, 020 miles showing on the odometer. The seller says it “runs and drives great” and has been driven less than 1,000 miles in the last 40 years. The seller also lists the thing’s he’s done to it since 2018: a professionally rebuilt carburetor, recoated fuel tank, a new battery, and a new thermostat. He also shares that the bias ply tires have less than 1,000 miles on them, but they’re 30 years old. So, what do you think? This could be the nicest, low-mileage surviving 1950 Packard Eight on the planet. I’m really hoping the seller gets his wish and that the next owner will care for and pamper this time capsule as it deserves. I know I’m not going to look this good and well-preserved when I’m 73 years old!
Any Packard from this iconic period in history is a gold find. Packard made a name in luxury and quality without compromising to the big three of the time. Straight eight at idle, could stand a nickel on its edge on top of the intake and never fall over. Mechanically, aesthetically beautiful machines. I’ll take it any day over Cadillac.
Rather than a knife in the gut with these posts, I see this as a pleasant reminder of happier days for me and my family. As we age, Ron, I can tell you right now, no, you won’t look this good at 73. I’ve found, it’s not about looks at my age, just happy to see another day. It’s unusual to see 2 1950 Packards, and pretty much spilled it on the last one. The seller claims “no options”, that simply isn’t true. Options I see are the hood ornament, the heater, arm rests, clock, and several outside trim options. Packard had dozens of styles and trim. Not many 2 were alike. You can see how the hood opens here, the gauges had that blacklight material and “glowed” at night and the reason these were such quality cars, is the same engineers that built the mighty V-1650 Merlin engine, probably built these as well. As always, thanks for the memories( Bob Hope)
HoA:
You know, this could be a duplicate of my car except its as the seller says a base model. I almost thought it was a Junior series till I counted the spark plugs.
On another memory related issue……On my car, I seem to recall that the chrome strip that ran down the side of the car and met the rear tail light was integrated into the chrome bezel itself. It sticks in my mind as the one design aspect I thought was clunky…..never mind the bath tub shape :)
On this car the chrome spear ends before the tailight . Also it lacks the laprobe cord on the rear of the front seat. The interior is as how I remember mine, Of course I had an over drive and that ‘advanced’ automatic, the Ultramatic
All 1950 Packards were 8 cylinder cars, they dropped the 6 cylinder cars at the end of the 22nd series [1948].
The junior cars did have the side chrome ending in front of the taillight housing, The Super, Super Deluxe, and Custom cars had the trim integrated into the side of the taillight chrome housing. Your car was not a junior car.
Check out this old Packard thread from 2003 on the issue of the Ultramatic trannies.No wonder Aamco took advantage of a 16 yr old kid with mine back in 1970!
It would help if I posted the thread LOL
https://forums.aaca.org/topic/41888-history-of-the-packard-auto-transmission/
For some reason the link didnt work on the issue of Packard auto trannie…..here it is again for anyone interested
https://forums.aaca.org/topic/41888-history-of-the-packard-auto-transmission/
I’m sure Bill McCoskey can add much to the issue as he is so knowledgeable and so well respected in the hobby.
My reference to the Junior cars was in the context of consideing the ’48 to ’50 series cars to be the same, more or less. Mt bad :)
I m not far from Howell and would be happy to inspect for a modest fee.
Amazing what $2500 woul buy back then. That’s about 37500 in today’s worth less dollars
This is one of the cleanest, 50 Packards that I’ve seen on this site in awhile. Fair price for condition too. Bill McCoskey can share some thoughts on this one I’m sure. Great find.
HC
My first car I bought in 1968 was a 1950 Packard Eight sedan like this one, except mine was painted Lowell Gray. My car had done only 1,800 miles from new, and had the exact same interior.
For the 23rd series cars [like this one], Packard revised the row of push-button switches at the base of the radio speaker grill area. The 22nd series cars had a row of small light-up labels denoting what the individual switches were for. The later push buttons eliminated the light up labels, instead the buttons were imprinted with the descriptions.
Problem was, some people said that at night it was difficult to quickly and safely determine which button to push. For those owners who did complain, the Packard dealer was instructed to install a polished stainless steel row of lamps just above the push-buttons, and as can be seen in the dashboard photo, this car has that rare optional light. That row of lamps snaps into place using the horizontal ribs in the speaker grill, and the 2 wires powering the lamp were pushed thru the speaker fabric before installation of the lamp.
Bill that one story you told me about Packard having to design an electrical instead of mechanical design on its transmission fluid drive or semi auto trannies, cause Chrysler owned the patent was interesting. Especially, that Packard used gold tip terminals to the trans selector. Still working on getting my Chrysler L8 carb to relay working. For now driving in 3rd gear.
Exactly like the car I used to learn how to drive. Dad’s had the OD transmission but everything else looks the same as this car. I thought it was the ugliest car I had ever seen. Imagine how happy I was when he traded it on a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker with the hemi engine a week before I got my license.
Lovely-looking Packard! My father’s ’51 (entirely different body, with more rear leg room) did have that rope cord on the back of the front seat. Packard radios were great performers, and the clocks actually KEPT TIME! Age 73 is so far in my rear-view mirror, that I cannot say much about how a 73-year-old looks: a lot younger and fresher than I do now, let me tell you! But each day, when I open my eyes and see the light after sleep, I am profoundly grateful to still BE here, and still know who I am. Sadly, most of the people I knew no longer are with us. And one who still is, sits in a wheelchair with a blank stare in a nursing home, and has no idea where he is, nor who I am. When I come to visit, he’s glad to “meet” me. But most of his attempted sentences trail-off into lost thought. He used to be a brilliant engineer; now a nurse ties his shoes. Sorry to end on that note, Friends — it’s hard — that’s all.
Harrison,
The chassis and lower body [including floors] from the 1941 Clipper remained the same until the end of the Detroit Packard in 1956. The rear seat legroom remain the same To win a bet about 30 years ago, I took a 1947 Clipper rear door assembly and put it in place on a 1956 Packard. While the wheel arch was different and the hinge points were different, the basic door shell fit the opening!
Harrison,
The chassis and lower body [including floors] from the 1941 Clipper remained the same until the end of the Detroit Packard in 1956. The rear seat legroom remain the same To win a bet about 30 years ago, I took a 1947 Clipper rear door assembly and put it in place on a 1956 Packard. While the wheel arch was different and the hinge points were different, the basic door shell fit the opening!
Bill McCloskey, I didn’t know that! Thanks for the info-mation.😊
That’s a keeper. Considering a Nissan Versa with manual transmission is $5,000 more, this is definitely worth $12Gs!
I AGREE!! DEFINITELY worth $12,000 — if only I HAD that much at the moment!