Re: Hello! Newbie Questions from potential Packard owner

Posted by Wat_Tyler On 2022/5/31 19:13:38

I bought a Packard because:

1) I wanted a good-looking fastback coupe from the post-war era. Packard had the most interesting looking coupe out there.

2) Granddad owned a few bathtub Packards and I got a chance to turn a few wrenches on them when I was a teenager. Hell, he even let me change the plugs in his '49 Super which had maybe 40K miles on it at the time. I was 14, maybe.

3) Fixers were available (and still are) for a few grand. Clippers. For a few more grand, you can get a decent driver. A few more grand at that gets you a nice one.

4) Allegedly, the big Packard 8 was the fastest car outta Deetroit those years.

So, I pulled the trigger. I may have gone a bit overboard, but it's my money, damn it. I have a '46 sedan driver, 3 coupes and 2 sedans project fixers, and 4 parts cars.

One car is parked on grass. The horses do a great job of keeping the grass around the cat gnawed down to an acceptable level so we don't (as much) look like Po' White Trash.


Were I you: I'd avoid the 12s. Money pits, they look like. Stick with 8s. Packard may have made as good a straight 8 as came outta Deetroit, ever. The Supers are more expensive, but there's nothing wrong with a good 120, and my opinion is dripping with hubris. I'd have one. The driver has the same 282 engine, and it has more guts than I thought it would. A bit of contempt prior to investigation, perhaps.

Here's the thing. It's like when I bought my first motorcycle after a 30-some year hiatus. I wanted a Harley, so I found a decent Sportster for a reasonable sum. I spent a lot less money on the off-hand chance that if I hated it, I could dump it easily. If I tore it up, I wouldn't be out much. Twenty months later, I traded it for a Deluxe, and next year, that for a Road Glide. I knew what I wanted then.

If you start with a decent 120, then you'll be able to ask the man in the mirror who owns one and see what he says. If you decide that you've lost your mind, you're not out much. Hiring a guy to work on a 12 is how his kid goes to university on your dime.

I love answering questions like these. I should write a @#$%&* book . . . .