I have a 1950 Packard Deluxe 8 here in the San Diego area, but it is presently in the paint shop. It sounds like you are in the same situation I was when I bought my Packard. I would like to offer as much help as I can at this time.
In my situation the car I bought was in Las Vegas, a half day drive away from me. It had many photos in Ebay and lots of description. I also talked to the seller about the car. I was too lazy to go there and look at the car so I bought it based on my trust of the seller. He said the car could be driven to my home from Nevada. What a mistake! The seller apparently got a car that didn't run and mickey moused it just enough to flip it for a big profit. The car could not only not be driven home I barely got it from the street in front of my house into the garage. When I got it drivable I only made it about 30 miles before it died. I have written up most of the details of my purchase and posted it in the Packard owner registry. The car was yellow when I got it.
In spite of my disappointment I continued to fix the problems with the car over the past 3 years and now am on the cosmetic parts. After the paint and chrome work I will have about $45,000 in the car! It does drive nicely however and hopefully it will look good too. I love the car, but just paid way too much for it because of all the problems I had to fix. It would have been much cheaper to buy a totally restored car.
As to your question, the Packard drives like a 1950s luxury car. It is smooth and fairly quiet. It handles well for a 63 year old heavy sedan, particularly after I spent nearly $5000 on the suspension, wheels, and Diamondback radials. Steering is light on the road but super heavy and slow when parking. Visibility to the right rear is limited unless you get a good outside mirror. It has Ultramatic which makes it easy to drive on tours and in traffic. However the acceleration with Ultrmatic is "leasurely". If you want performance you should get a car with stick shift. Also overdrive would be nice if you want to go at full freeway speed. My car cruises at 60-65 mph but it has the shorter stroke 288 engine. The bigger engines are more sensitive to high rpm due to the higher piston speed.
If you still wish to drive a 1950 Packard a couple months down the road I would be happy to let you try mine. Good luck and Happy New Year.
Fred Puhn
National City, CA
(619)475-1155
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