Packard Forum Index » Packard Vehicles - For Sale, Wanted, Trade

Third Packard in a collection now for sale on ebay. CONSIDERING OFFERS Item #355513773745, Reads as follows "Up for sale is a 1956 Packard 400 2 door Hardtop, being offered as a Buy it Now/Make Offer format. I am working with a family selling the car collection of an elderly family member who has passed away. We believe the car was purchased out of Pennsylvania in 1966 based on the plate on the car and the temp transfer tag in the trunk. The odometer reads 39383. The engine appears to need some major work as one valve cover and the oil pan have been removed and are stored in the trunk with other parts. While he owned the car it appears to have always been garaged. The floors feel and look mostly solid with little rust thru(top of fenders) and surface rust to the areas shown in the photos. The car appears to be complete except the small dogleg trim at the back of the rocker panel ,driver's side. The drivers side fender skirt/trim is heavily damaged. All the glass looks good. The stainless is good but the die cast pieces have pitting. We do have a clear NY transferable registration for the car. Prior to 1973 NY State did not issue Titles only transferable registrations. It appears that even though the car was off the road the owner kept the car insured and registered thru 2008. Please Look at the Photos, it was difficult getting good undercarriage images. The car is located in New York's Columbia County, south of Germantown. We will consider offers on this car. We ask that once the sale has been made a $500 deposit thru ebay be made within 48 hours and the balance paid within 14 days via cash on pickup or wire transfer. The car can be stored up to 2 months as long as full payment has been made. We can help load the car on to a trailer, and also depending on destination can offer enclosed trailer shipping for a reasonable fee. This is a good car for restoration. Good Luck and Thanks for Looking

Attach file:

---

  IMG_3493.JPG (5,252.88 KB)

Looks like a big, but doable, project. Everything seems to be there, but my concern is whether the engine turns over. If you have to drop a new one in, the value drops significantly. Obviously rust is a concern but this could literally all be caused by the original 11 years / 40k miles of New York driving. For whatever reason the white paint on these really did not last the decades even when stored well. I notice also there are visor protectors installed. I believe they came from the factory wrapped in paper, so those would be aftermarket.

Note that the VIN tag has been removed and welded back on. For anyone buying that needs a VIN inspection to process the NY registration into a title, this will be a big problem.

Assuming the engine is in pretty good shape I would ballpark the value to be about half the asking price. With 5k there are so many better examples (e.g. the one below they were asking 6k, and it ran and drove fine, just with no brakes).

P.S. Here is a picture of an original white paint roof off a pretty well cared for 56 Patrician (Note the bronze paint is new).

Quote:

Same here in California and as a licensed VIN verifier, it would be an automatic referral to the California Highway Patrol by ticking a box on the form.

That car set outside a long time, someplace, aside from the road salt. What's with the spears on top of the front fenders....more holes to patch. That engine being open all those years could be a boat load of aggravation.

Spears appear at least on driver side to be stainless trim on lower side of of side trim below 400 script

Quote:

Correct, that's where those come from. Why they were moved up there is anyone's guess. Not one of the better aesthetic modifications I have seen 😬