Oh, how the mighty have fallen.  Twenty years ago, classic car enthusiasts were hunting down mere rumors of classics like this 1938 Packard Super Eight for sale on eBay.  A full Classic Car Club of America eligible automobile, this handsome and stately Packard is languishing at a $4,600 bid with less than four days to go in the auction.  This Charlotte, North Carolina barn find has not, however, made reserve yet.  Given its condition and the exorbitant costs of restoration that await the new owner, will this high end luxury car sell for a respectable number or is the lack of interest a sign that the market has moved on from full classics?

While Packard died a painful and humiliating death at the hands of Studebaker, the marque was one of America’s premier luxury automakers before World War II.  Often the preferred ride for royalty, heads of state, businessmen, and celebrities, Packard was well respected for their engineering and the elegance of their automobiles.  As the Depression wore on, the practice of purchasing a chassis from a luxury automaker and having a body constructed by one of the many custom builders waned.  By the late thirties, most luxury automakers produced completed cars as rule.

Packard survived the Depression by building a lower line of cars to sell in volume, while their larger eight and twelve cylinder models continued the high end tradition that had made their name synonymous with quality.  The car you see here is a Super Eight.  These models shared bodies with the twelve cylinder models, which would disappear by 1939.  Mostly hand built, Packard Super Eights are considered full classics by the Classic Car Club of America.  This list contains many of the prewar cars you might see on display at Pebble Beach and Amelia Island.  The acknowledged best of the best, in other words.

The Packard you see here is definitely in rough shape.  Who knows how long this car has been sitting and just decaying.  Still, my guess is that it was stored inside.  The place it was stored in likely had major humidity, insect, and vermin problems, but the vast majority of the car is solid.  The seller tells us that the car ran in the seventies, and that they have the headlights and bumpers.  The condition of those bumpers is important.  High level chrome plating is ridiculously expensive.  If they are a rusty mess, then that adds thousands to the project.  It would be nice if we were provided more details.  Even the location of the metal covers for the tires that sit in those dual side mounts would be greatly appreciated.

Inside we see the promised headlights and a few more small parts in boxes.  We also see that the plastic on the steering wheel has completely crumbled off.  The seat springs are also missing, as are the plastic knobs for the window cranks.  Knobs such as these are now being reproduced using 3-D printing technology.  This makes replacement far cheaper, as molds and decent sized production runs aren’t needed anymore.  We are also told the car has a straight eight engine, which I am assuming to mean that the engine is intact and goes with the car.  A picture would have been nice.

To get an idea of what a Packard Super Eight looks like fully restored, and the effort it takes to do it right, take a look at this ad for a similar car from Vaultcars.com.  As you can see, bringing this car back from its current condition will be frightfully expensive.  You could do a garage restoration on it and make it very presentable.  However, it just doesn’t seem like the right thing to do.  Hopefully a savior with deep pockets will be along to rescue this car.  It deserves to be restored and used, even if that savior turns out to be someone who isn’t so well heeled.