In the pre-war years, Packard was riding the tide of its sales of luxury automobiles, until the Great Depression hit. Then the company made a decision that may have doomed it: rather than coasting through hard times on what had become a beefy balance sheet over the years, Packard decided to produce a “junior” line of cheaper cars. Running six-cylinder motors, and later, smaller eights, the cars did sell well, but served to diminish Packard’s reputation with its most important clientele – those who associated it with unreserved luxury. Post-war, the errors piled up. Rather than restarting production of its senior cars, the company made only its Clipper model, with a small eight-cylinder. Next, a scramble ensued when the company missed the “envelope” styling launched by Studebaker, and by the time its offering hit showrooms, the market had moved on. The automotive press skewered Packard’s “bathtub” styling, and sales began to sag. In a series of events including a merger with Studebaker, Packard began its slow slide to oblivion. The last Packard limped off the line in 1958. Of course, with hindsight, enthusiasts have come to favor certain Packard models perhaps more now than when they were new. Here on eBay is one of the rarest Packards ever produced, from that era of “bathtub” styling, a 1948 Custom Eight Victoria Convertible project. Fewer than 1100 of these cars were made. The bidding has reached $7800, not yet enough to meet the reserve. The car can be trailered home – with its copious supply of parts – from Manlius, New York.
The engine is Packard’s massive 356 cu. in. straight-eight. This one has a single carburetor but it was possible to option the car with dual carbs. Output will be 160 hp, once the engine is running again – yes, it turns by hand but hasn’t been started. The seller has owned this car for over ten years, meaning to restore it. In all that time, he delayed cleaning the fuel tank which is what he believes should be done before trying the motor. The three-speed manual transmission is also stuck in gear; the car will only move when the clutch is depressed.
The floors were rusted when the seller purchased the car; he treated the rust with POR15 and began insulating the cabin. All parts including the seats, chrome, trim – virtually everything – are with the car. Most of the chrome and trim-polish work is completed. The convertible top will need to be replaced, and it’s currently only operable manually. The hydraulic pump that powers it along with the windows and the seat is included, along with an extra for good measure.
The sheet metal is straight but for one dent on the passenger’s side rear fender. Mild surface rust afflicts a few of the panels. All in all, this is a good start on a swanky convertible cruiser. Very nice examples can sell for about $40k according to Hagerty, but this well-optioned example sold at RM Sotheby’s a couple of years ago for considerably more.
I have seen this model restored and it is an attention getter. Body style best described imho as 356 on steroids.
More like a 356 on doughnuts
😂
Go away. This “bathtub” Packard is f’n awesome 😎. You obviously don’t know a work of art or the beauty of a forgotten era.
You probably drive a Prius 😄😃😂😂😂
Well put Kurt!
It’s sad that a company which produced those magnificent elegant vehicles of the 20s and 30s could produce such an ugly duckling as this era’s offering (especially the front ends…the rears were more sightly IMO with their flowing lines). What Ian Roussell and Victor Cacho did with a late 40s Packard, their Merc killer, was awesome.
The last of Packards with Studebaker rivaled the late 40s for awful design. Of course this rare car should be restored but ‘lipstick on a pig’ comes to mind. And not to run out of cliches, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I’m a beholder of one, and we 22nd and 23rd Series folks love them❤️❤️.
I agree that Ian did a great job on the Packard, right up to the time he decided to slope the back deck. Making it look like a ’49 Chevy fast back did nothing for the looks he already had.
The Caribbean wasnt too shabby. But you’re right about this one.
I don’t see a bathtub, I see a mid century aeroplane stying. Very aerodynamic.
Bathtub?
Yeah, that’s what they call them.
I always go back to 30’s Packard Advertising.
“Ask the man who owns one”. I think this particular era of Packard has real elegance. Wish I could afford to put one in MY garage.
I’m always amazed at the stupidity of posts on this site. All the incorrect terms and myth. The “bathtub” reference is for Nash. The public dubbed the Packard as ” the pregnant elephant”. Get you insults correct!
Fred,
Having owned well over 30 1948-50 Packards, from the lowly 6 cylinder taxicab to the opulent Custom Eight limousine, I’m very familiar with the nicknames people used, and you are correct, Nash was the bathtub, Packard was the Pregnant Pachyderm.
I have a 48 2 Dr with an 8 cyl and I thought the only engine available was a 288 ci or a 6 cyl. the 356 came in the 50″s when they were trying to keep up with the V8’s
Jeff,
The 9-main bearing 356 was a replacement for the older Super 8 engine, and was introduced on the 1940 senior Packards, and last used on the 23rd series Packard Custom Eight cars thru 1950.
For the 1951 models, the smaller 327 5-main bearing eight was continued in the Packard 300 cars, while the 9-main bearing 327 replaced the 356 in the top-line Packard 400 cars. These engines were used thru the 1954 model cars, the 9-main bearing 327 bored out to 359 cu in for 1 year only.
The 288 was a refinement of the earlier 282 Packard 120 engine, and used thru the 1954 Clipper models. Your 1948 2-door with a 288 would be either a Standard 8 or Deluxe 8 The easiest way to tell the difference is either by the 3rd digit in the VIN, or the Deluxe 8 has a fold-down rear seat center armrest, the standard 8 does not.
It should be noted that all 3 engine sizes [288, 327, and 356] share the same head bolt pattern and the same head gasket. This means that the cylinder heads are interchangeable, so it’s possible to have a 288 head on a 356, or the other way around!
The 1954 senior 359 also has the same specifications for the cylinder head and gasket, except the head gasket was steel instead of copper because the 359 cylinder head was aluminum. Down thru the years the alloy heads often developed cracks around the spark plugs, and many had the alloy version replaced with a 288 or 327 cast iron head.
Didn’t Doc have a yellow convertible of these in the “Back to the Future” movies?
John Calabro doesn’t see a bathrub……
These and Nash look like upside down bathtubs. Bulbous, IMO
Yup and give me one of these over a Delorean any day.
Me too! The whole family of Studebaker Packard and Nash deserve much more love. I would be thrilled to own this beautiful drop top.
I often fantasized in the spring of 1962 driving one of these on a chilly spring night, windows down through a lonely tree lined stretch of road in the company of the blonde Goddess named Dona that I barely knew who rode the same bus as I going back and forth from our separate one sex High Schools in Chicago. Never happened of course. I learned her last name by chance 21 years later.
Wonderful image!
What HS? I’m a Lane alumnus myself. Driving someone down a lonely stretch of road in a Packard sounds like John Gacy’s MO
Lane Tech it was and the girl (from Alvernia) got on the bus at Irving and off both at Lawerance or Anslie. .Reverse order in the morning. Sprig ’61 what a Goddess!
” The three-speed manual transmission is also stuck in gear; the car will only move when the clutch is depressed.” makes me think the engine stuck.
In the centre of the engine photo there is a component that has what looks like a diaphragm chamber and pipes running into it. It also has what looks like its own vertical air cleaner as there is a separate engine vent mushroom size oil separator at the front of the engine. Does anyone know what that component in the centre is? I was thinking it might be for a vacuum clutch.
I think you are exactly right. I read that in one of the auction descriptions that I researched for the article. The description mentioned a vacuum clutch.
Thank you. It might be the reason why the gears can’t be moved. One of the components might be rusted in place.
This is part of the optional Electromatic Clutch, that when working correctly really did mimic the human operation of the clutch. One only needed to use the clutch when starting the car in gear.
The EMC operation does not impact the shifting ability, or putting the car into or out of a specific gear.
The Packard “Handishift’ column shift mechanism had one small problem. In high mileage examples, the 2 cast iron levers at the bottom of the column that transfer shifting points to the 2 linkages down to the gearbox, wear out if not kept lubricated at the point where they pivot around the shifter rod.
This usually happened when shifting from 1st to 2nd. If this happens, a swift smack with a hammer to the levers usually makes the levers move to the neutral position. It may be that the car is stuck in 1st gear and not 3rd. If it’s stuck in 3rd, I suspect the shift lever for the 2-3 shift needs to be re-adjusted. In all the Packards my shop worked on over decades, we’ve never had a gearbox that was stuck due to an internal issue.
Those gearboxes are almost bullet-proof. JC Whitney actually sold used [and tested] Packard 8 gearboxes for many years because they were in demand by hot rodders and racers, because they were considered almost indestructible. [1959 Whitney catalog part numbers U-4484,5,6, and 7]
We’re going to have to call you Britainica, Bill. I stand in awe of your in depth knowledge.
Marty McFly’s dad drove a ’48 or ’49
ragtop like this one in Back To The Future in 1985. Owned a ’50 limousine myself and it was a really
nice car too. I used it to ferry myself
and my band mates from job to job
in the early ’70s playing music. Mine
had that huge 356 straight 8 that was
butter smooth and oh so torquey. We
used to pull a trailer full of music gear
behind us with no trouble at all. Paid
$250 for it and I sure got my money’s
worth.
What a fantastic car but oh boy that hydraulic window , top monster can be more scary than the clutch/ engine mysteries. Miles of lines and gallons of fluid. Rusted pistons seized pumps. Yup your gonna drop a queens ransom at Hydro Electric …lol. I fixed a 53 Caribbean back in the 80s…Yikes!! Locked straight 8s are fun also…
Bathtuba they were.
My very first car was a 1950 Packard in 1970 as I have probably said before. Absolutely cherry.belonged to a Doctor and left in some fashion in my grandfathers garage in Brooklyn. My Dad made me pay him 250 bucks for it! lol. Of course it was the Ultramatic with a straight eight. Tranny went out as I prepared to drive it to Colorado! after high school. Ended up in an Aamco yard in Bridgeport Conn until the old man agreed to file an action of Replevin. Someone stole the cormorant and I sold the car before heading West. But I was very popular in the summertime as lots of kids up to no good fit in the cavernous rear/
The designer of this Packard went on a dive and frightened a puffer fish – and then thought “That’s cute – I’ll design a car that looks just like that.” — and he did! No wonder Packard went belly-up. What would possess someone to design a car this way – and what would possess someone to buy this ugly thing? — Obviously, not many did. — Just like Studebaker who just kept trying to get more and more weirdly flamboyant with their designs – which fewer and fewer people wanted to be seen in – it all comes down to “who will buy this THING?” – and if the answer isn’t in the tens of thousands – you may as well close up shop and go looking for puffer fish again….
Judging from the number of Bathtub Packards out there now, I’d say that they must have been quite popular in their day.
Nash went down the bathtub road, so did Hudson and Mercury. Heck, take a look at the senior Lincolns of the period. They made the Packard look glam. However, put them next to next to the 49 caddy , especially the sedanette or hardtop, and to plagarize Chrysler suddenly it’s 1952.
Every machine you mention was gorgeous and/or innovative and I’d throw in ’49 Olds 98. I’d give the nod to the Lincolns and Mercs personally. but the Packard Convertibles. Coupes and Station Sedans always had a special for me. Don’t know your LTHS year Kim but if it was ’62, or ’63 you might remember my late Buddy Irwin (Tex) Garber’s ’33 Stude or his ’32 Packard in the parking lot. Regular drivers, Kim. And get this: The Stude turned up on Ebay in Ukiah CA in 2010! THE VERY SAME CAR!
The car actually was rather modern in styling it was slab sided no fenders protruding front or rear,,look at GM, Ford,Chrysler, dodge, Plymouth, all had the old style from the early 40’s and late 30’s,, what made them look fat was the roofline,,if that was either squared off instead of that slope or more slanted ,,fast back like they would have looked alot better,,but eventho they looked fat they rode very nice and smooth.
If one simply takes into consideration the time period this beautiful machine was made in, and the then-prevailing conditions, this car was, and still IS a beautiful work of automotive art. Having worked on and driven several Packards from the ’40’s and ’50’s in my teens and early 20’s, I found them to be solid, well-engineered and dependable.
I prefer the 1942s with fender demarcations.
The story my dad always told was that cars were hard to get after the war and he bought the car actually for somebody else but they must not have wanted it so he was stuck with it and now I have it !!
Am I the only one offended by Fred’s remarks? Or am I the only one not impressed by Fred’s self-assumed encyclopedic automotive knowledge?
Kenn,
While 95% of Americans called Nash cars a bathtub and the Packards pregnant elephants, a few people got it backwards. Basically Fred is correct.
Richard Kirschenbaum- For some reason I can’t reply directly. I was class of 68, so I missed those beauties. The only car that stands out to me at school was some student’s early VW with semaphore turn signals. Rather surprising considering the school was pretty much 5000 shoppies.
Mr. Bauer, one of the assistant principals owned and drove a ’51 split window VW which was given a complementary “restoration” so as to be displayed at the ’63 Chicago Auto Show. Might have been that one.
The Stude had a superb original body and interior with one torn fender. “Tex” had it repaired and all four fenders and a gas tank shield repainted for $150. Not exactly Pebble Beach, but a damn nice driver. The ’32 Packard I actually spotted driving past the Addison/Elston intersection on the last day of school ’62. Tex bought it the following May. It had a garish paint job over acres of Bondo as we learned later that year. when it was hit. The RR fender was especially laden with Bondo. I took it all out and replaced it with lead. I was surprised that the car didn’t sag in that corner. He blew the engine up on a trip to Milwaukee, rebuilt it and blew it up again. Took off the spark wire to mask the knock and sold it to Edmund Hock of Ozark Classic Car Farm in the fall of ’64. It blew up on the way there enraging Mr. Hock but there is little one could do to a 19 year old who has joined the Army. Tex went to bed one night in ’72 and never woke up. Something of a glorious misfit, his IQ was 164.
Mr. Bauer, one of the assistant principals drove a ’51 split window VW that received a complementary “restoration” so as to be displayed at the ’63 Chicago Auto Show. Might have been his that you mentioned.
I love Packards. I respect all Packards for their quality and engineering. But as a kid in the early 60s who loved cars, I could distinguish a Packard, Hudson, and Nash. Seeing the occasional postwar Packard still running around, my relatively unadulterated child’s mind told me back then that Packards looked like upside-down bathtubs. “Pregnant” probably wasn’t in my vocabulary at that point so I can only give an honest early view to the bathtub comparison.
Lots of passion on this subject
Hell of a beautiful lady.
A interesting man once said that the only thing worse than being talked about is that no one talks about you at all…
Michelle,
When first introduced in early 1947, the Packard Super 8 convertible was considered a very beautiful car, and was briefly displayed in the Museum Of Modern Art [MOMA] in NYC. There were a total of 8 “styling awards” at the time, and according to Packard ads, Packard styling won all 8 awards.
The start of their polarizing style problem was that it quickly became obsolete at a time when many American car companies made rapid advances in styling. Just look at most car company styling advances between 1950 and 1955. Within a few years the plain slab styling was out, lots of chrome and a wide selection of colors was in, and made cars like the ’48-’50 Packards look old.
As for optional twin carbs, Packard never offered a factory option of a second carb until the advent of the new V8 in 1955 and 56. That said, Edmonds did make an aftermarket alloy intake manifold for both the Packard 6 and 8 cars, JC Whitney carried them in their catalog, part numbers 35433 & 34, covering 1937-54 straight 8 engine. Those Edmonds manifolds are extremely rare, and expensive when they do appear for sale.
Styling and aesthetics in cars are such a brief and fickle thing. Look at the huge difference in cars 1955 to 1960 with tail fins and tons of chrome ” quote, unquote” outlandish styling, as seen later, but at the time was seen as jet age rocket futuristic. I loved the 59 Cadillacs back when they were hated and routinely junked. I would have bought as many as I could have, but I was always in the wrong place the wrong time and too poor lol