Having entered my sixth decade of life recently, I’m old enough to recall when cars were primarily built from metal, before all those plastic components became the norm. However, I’m not quite of the age to remember when station wagons used genuine wood trim on the outside, as opposed to decals that were supposed to make us believe it was real paneling we were observing. With the elegance the Packard automobile was known for, it’s no surprise that when the company designed a woody wagon, it was something special and built to high-quality standards. This 1950 Packard Eight here on eBay is a project, but it appears solid overall, and a restoration endeavor seems like it will be time well spent. This one’s resting inside a large enclosure in Michigan City, Indiana, and can be yours for the buy-it-now cost of $7,000.
There’s plenty of work that will be needed here, but the sturdiness of the frame rails and exterior is impressive, plus corrosion doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. The seller mentions that the lower areas have already been media blasted and epoxy primered, but probably the best thing to find here is that most of the original core wood sections are still present. They’ve already been stripped and said to be ready for finishing, and with their fine condition, I’m envisioning a stunning result once inserts are added and stain applied. Other than the passenger-side rocker panel, the body doesn’t look like it will require very much attention either, so this Packard seems to be at a good starting point for the new owner to take over.
A few parts and boxes are sitting inside, so this blocks some of the view from the interior. What we can see is that the dash and instrument panel appear complete, and while they’ll need sprucing up, at least you’ve got something to work with here. The door panels have been removed, but all of the parts needed to complete this project are stated to be present. The front seat will require new upholstery to cover those exposed springs, but the back seat appears pretty good, plus the key placement up front will be ideal for left-handed drivers.
Ten years are said to have gone by since the engine last ran, so it’s unknown what type of work will be needed under the hood before those eight inline cylinders are ready to operate again. It will take some time and effort to get there, but this one certainly seems to have the potential to become a beautiful driver once again. Is this 1950 Packard Eight wagon one you’d be interested in restoring?
Oh man this car is really cool. It’s fortunate that the wood appears to be in remarkably good condition.
looks like two wood pieces on the passenger front door are missing (hope they are hiding inside), and not sure about the metal piece between the rear door and the rear bumper, otherwise it looks worthy of restoration!
Great post, Mike, wait until the 7th decade kicks in, hopefully. The Packard “wagon” was not even a station wagon. I read, there were no 1950 Woody wagons made, most were made in ’48-’49. They were expensive, almost $3500 bucks, and only the convertible was more at $4200. These were made on a Standard 8 body, and most had the 288 motor. Packard made only about 3800 of these, 1950, #3410, was towards the end of the run. Woodworking craftsmen are going the way of courteous truck drivers, I bet my dad could have finished this, but maybe someone will save it.
Technically, this car was called a station sedan. While the wood trim was real wood, it was just trim. I am approaching my eighth decade and have some memory of them, I believe (with a failing memory) that Ford produced the last station wagons wherein the body was wood from the cowl back. These were 1949 – 1951 cars but I’m not sure when the wood bodies actually faded out completely. Ford owned their own forests and wood working facilities (I believe it was called Iron Mountain) so they were better able to absorb the tremendous amount of hand labor that went into these.
Willys Overland made the first all steel wagons, I believe around 1940. By 1949, almost all station wagons were all steel although some had wood trim. By the late Fifties or early Sixties, the look was achieved through fiberglass and an upscale version of the contact paper you lined your kitchen shelves with in college.
The wood, whether structural or ornamental, was a bear to take care of and was subject to damage by insects. Maintenance was a yearly ordeal to keep them from looking shoddy. I can’t imagine this Packard not being worth restoring, but it would take a lot of money, time, and effort.
A pregnant elephant (derisive appellation given to1948 – 1950 Packard by automotive journalists of the day) Packard Station Sedan is among my top ten desirable vintage cars. The styling of this car came about as a result of a facelift of the 1942(?) Packard Clipper which was the only body that survived World War II. FDR sold the dies for the senior Packard bodies to Stalin (Good Old Joe).
Although Packard was in the black, financially (Studebaker took care of that later), it didn’t have the cash to retool completely new bodies when the automotive industry was about to explode into the Fifties when new bodies were mandatory, usually after three years. The 1951 Packards were Packard’s last attempt at this. The 1955 and 1956, which looked like brand new modern bodies were actually extraordinarily well done facelifts before Studebaker sullied the brand.
Beginning with the 1946 Kaiser-Frasier, the trend was toward envelope bodies, with no distinct, separate fenders. Packard followed suit (another pejorative for the ’48 -b 50 Packard was Bathtub Packard)and then Nash and Hudson, with its pioneering step-down design. Studebaker, which was awash in red ink, didn’t adopt the envelope body style until the celebrated 1953 Loewy coupe. GM, Ford, and Chrysler were better able to adopt the envelope style, financially, but, perhaps because of size, they were very conservative and wary of change although I believe the senior Lincolns of 1949 – 1951 had envelope bodies. The big three finally went that direction in 1955 although Cadillac stuck with its vestigial rear fenders a little longer, with their aircraft-inspired tail fins.
Although Packards with the smaller bodies, indeed, looked like inverted bathtubs, but the bodies looked quite elegant and beautiful on the much longer senior cars. Doc in “Back To The Future” drove a gorgeous yellow Packard Custom Super of that era, which showed how beautiful that body could be when it wasn’t stubby looking.
Among all the woodies at our annual Woodies At The Wharf car show these stand out. They are big big cars, probably never used to haul surf boards and sandy bodies, but they certainly stand out. GLWTS 👍
I remember when these were new; but there weren’t that many of them.1948 Packard woody wagons are what you usually see (I saw them, new, also). I never much cared for the 1948 re-styling attempt to modernise their prewar car, with that parakeet-face front end (should have either kept the tall grille, or else gone all the way to something like their 1951 treatment). Given all of the work that this one needs, is it worth it to invest the asking price, and then have to do a total restoration? I once was able to start and drive a car that had been sitting outside for 12 years after its owner had passed away — so, anything’s possible. But at my age, a project such as this would be entirely beyond me, much as I love Packards.
I remember when these were new; but there weren’t that many of them.1948 Packard woody wagons are what you usually see (I saw them, new, also). I never much cared for the 1948 re-styling attempt to modernise their prewar car, with that parakeet-face front end (should have either kept the tall grille, or else gone all the way to closer to their 1951 treatment). Given all of the work that this one needs, is it worth it to invest the asking price, and then have to do a total restoration? I once was able to start and drive a car that had been sitting outside for 12 years after its owner had passed away — so, anything’s possible. But at my age, a project such as this would be entirely beyond me, much as I love Packards.
I remember when these were new; but there weren’t that many of them.1948 Packard woody wagons are what you usually see (I saw them, new, also). I never much cared for the 1948 re-styling attempt to modernise their prewar car, with that parakeet-face front end (should have either kept the tall grille, or else gone all the way to something closer to their 1951 treatment). Given all of the work that this one needs, is it worth it to invest the asking price, and then have to do a total restoration? I once was able to start and drive a car that had been sitting outside for 12 years after its owner had passed away — so, anything’s possible. But at my age, a project such as this would be entirely beyond me, much as I love Packards.
I remember when these were new; but there weren’t that many of them.1948 Packard woody wagons are what you usually see (I saw them, new, also). I never much cared for the 1948 re-styling attempt to modernise their prewar car, with that parakeet-face front end (should have either kept the tall grille, or else gone all the way with something closer to their 1951 treatment). Given all of the work that this one needs, is it worth it to invest the asking price, and then have to do a total restoration? I once was able to start and drive a car that had been sitting outside for 12 years after its owner had passed away — so, anything’s possible. But at my age, a project such as this would be entirely beyond me, much as I love Packards.
I was vacationing on Cape Cod one summer when one of these woody Packards pulled up next to me in a parking lot. It was mint. I complimented the driver and he said, “I bought this car in a box. I did everything myself. It took me nine years and $109,000 to do it.”
Hope that man reads this forum and is angling for another project.
Still doing the multi post thing, I see. I think 4 posts is the new record. You are the only one that seems to be affected by that. I thought of starting my own website, Old trucks and oddballs, that’s right, USA, USA, nothing wrong with a little competition, but seeing what these guys go through, maybe not.
Poor old Packard. They emerged from WW2 in great condition, but made too many wrong decisions after the war. What could have been if they went down a different road . . .
Have you recently turned 50, or 60? If you turned 60, you have recently entered your seventh decade of life, having completed six to reach 60.
I restored a ’50 standard eight 2 door slopeback and these cars are now bringing big bucks! Yes, not everyone liked the ’48 to ’50 styling but these cars engines (288 cu. in and the bigger eights were bullit proof).Once in 1970 I had a chance to buy a staion sedan(woodie) for $2,000.00 a condition 3 I think but did not have the bucks. I am too old to take another resto now, but these are the rarests of woodies. The price seems fare enough but more photos should be seen as again it aint cheap to restore any car today especially chrome etc. I like to see this car kept original! P.S. Packard did try in the end to power their cars with V-8’s and evan sold v-8’s to the new AMC corp for a brief time. Packard’s biggest mistake was to merge with Studebaker as they were in the red and Packard coe’s did not check stude’s books?? Anyhow, I feel they were are great company that that should not have failed.
Why did someone screw pallets onto the side of this giant upside down bathtub? 🤔
It is a really ugly car. Really ugly.
Leave it as it is. Flip it upside down. Tear all the guts out of it. Use it for a goose blind. Nobody ever seen one like that. Including the geese.