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I see this all the time rebodied. Exactly what does that mean ? where the cars in an accedent so bad that the body was shot and replace? Recently I noticed a 41 Packard woodie that said it was rebodied in the late 40s. Why else would the body be replaced.Do these cars have any value?

If the wood portions had deteriorated and was replaced that might mean rebodied for a woodie. Apparently back in the 20s and 30s it was also common to replace a body if a customer wanted a change or maybe a car had front end damage and the remainder of the body was still in good condition. If you look thru some of the service letters from that era you will see the occasional announcement that such and such a dealer had a body for sale and it would go on to give specifics of the type and condition and sometimes the reason it was offered..

Lots of reasons cars get rebodied. These days it is most often because there is no body on the chassis, the body is too far gone, or to mount a more desirable type. Say from a sedan to convertible or coupe.

In their day, rebodies were done for similar reasons, missing, damage, or different tastes.

It is a common way to end up with an orphan car or get much the same criticism as a resto-mod or kit car does, but with none of the benefits.

Everyone flocks to the majestic dual cowl phaeton, till they see the wrong tag and everyone snubs the "imitation".

That said, there is nothing wrong with one, per se. It is a good way to get an otherwise expensive body for a lower price. Depending on when the rebody was done, why, and for whom, it could actually lend legitimacy to the car. For example, if it was done for a famous public figure early in its life, or was brought to a different coach maker and was done "properly" with documentation, etc.

In the end, like anything automotive, it comes down to what one is comfortable with.

Personally, as long as one doesn't attempt to hide its provence, I don't care. But then, I prefer the lowly sedan, so maybe I'm just not refined enough to understand, heh.

It was especially common in the seventies and early eighties when everyone wanted a phaeton. The man I used to work for when I was a teenager that got me into this mess had a 72 car classic car collection, lots of really big dog stuff.

He found a somewhat derelict 740 7 passenger sedan back around 1983, his restoration guy yanked the sedan body and made it into a dual cowl phaeton. He had crazy skills with an English wheel! The finished car was painted cream and it was gorgeous, but, it had started life as a solid black sedan. Often wonder where that car is today!

Maybe that re-body stuff is just made up crap in an attempt to hide the truth. Junk like "period installed standard eight body" on a Super 8 chassis is total crap. Almost every 745 roadster out there is a fake.

Another note: If the car is a fake with a sedan chassis it will not ride well. Hirsch had one and the ride height was all wrong. Open cars had softer springs. As well, no matter how good, I'll wager a reproduction body will not be as good as an original. Despite being composite structures, those original bodies were engineered. So sure, it may look great but ride like crap. Of course today appearances are everything and substance means nothing.

Hi all,

Here's one for sale at Hyman LTD. Now, where did I put that spare $475k ...

hymanltd.com/vehicles/7083-1933-packard-twelve-le-baron-sport-phaeton/

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I'm not seeing this LeBaron anywhere at Hyman for sale.