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This might be a little sacrilegious, and I don't know how the community will respond to this, but here goes. About 9 months ago I bought a 1950 Packard Eight from a very nice man in Michigan. He'd bought it to restore but found himself burdened with other projects and health issues. I walked away the first time, but when he called back and lowered the price from $2500 to $1200 and threatened to scrap it, I couldn't pass. I drove it home, 327 with three on the tree, and parked it. Then started planning.


The plan: A body off restomod with the intent to enter the 2013 La Carerra Panamericana.

The Gear: The straight eight will remain, but after going through it and rebuilding what it needs, a modern automatic will be fitted, along with a 12V system, new front suspension, four link rear with a Ford 9", new floors, corrected body panels, a roll cage and appropriate race interior.


I purchased this car expressly for this purpose. I am a car nut (Associate Auto Editor at Popular Mechanics) and live in the Detroit metro area. I respect the Packard brand, the engineering that went into these cars, and the mystique associated with them. This was Detroit at its finest and I hope to bring this car, nearly put on death row, back to life in a new and creative way.


I also hope to glean bits of wisdom and guidance from this excellent community (I've been lurking for a while), bouncing ideas off of experts and gathering tidbits of knowledge available nowhere else.

Ambitious? Yes. Fool-hearty? Certainly. But hey, you have to spend your money somehow.

G'day Ben,
A very warm to PackardInfo. Although most here have a penchant for originality, the Site also caters for those who wish to modify their Packards as evidenced by the Modification discussion Forum. Your saving of this Packard, from the threat of scrapping, is the first of many steps of what you'll do with your Packard. Retaining the straight eight in conjunction with the body maintains a definitive link with it's Packard identity and heritage. I'll be following along with great interest as you progress with the "build". With Packards being entrants in some of the earlier races, your the car in the "....2013 La Carerra Panamericana...." will be a little bit of back to the future!

Lastly, a request, could you please include your '50 Packard Pan American in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo?

Welcome to Packardinfo. As Mal says most of us favor original autos, BUT it is your car. I hope we can help answer any questions you have. Glad to see another Packard on the street to foster interest in the make.

I understand the desire to keep 'em original, and while anything can be restored, this one would have taken a small fortune to put right. It looks okay from afar, but up close and personal there's a lot of cancer and 62 years of shade tree mechanics.

I tend to buy well-used cars that are never going to be concours quality again and make them fun drivers cars. I also have a '64 Continental hard top that had a small branch fall on it, slightly tweaking it's unibody frame so the doors don't have proper gap. It's rounding the bend with body work now and has a new carb, carpet, and sneaky hidden toggle switch panel. I just like foolin' around with cars, hopefully I can do this one justice.

Hello Ben:

Welcome to the world of Packards.

There is another guy, David Koffel, in Walled Lake, Michigan that has modified his Packard - a 1949 model. It is a drag car that runs by the name of "Flintstone Flyer." He also owns a speed shop that restores and modifies all type of motors www.B1Heads.com This is not that far from you in Ferndale.

Now for the hustle. Why don't you join Motor City Packard Club? We have 200+ family membership and have a ton of activities. We will be hosting the Packard National Meet in June 2013.

Just go to www.motorcitypackards.com , click on application and download. Then mail it to our Memebership Director, Richard.

Best of luck with your project.

--Roger--

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Also see this previous thread about the Flintstone Flyer.

I am familiar with the Flinstone Flyer, however I had no idea it lived in the area. When I get deeper into things I'll definitely look Mr. Koffel when I get into the finer details. Maybe even ship the mill off to him to give her a bit more pep in her step.

Go for it--for many reasons: there are more than enough of those cars around for those that want an original. You efforts will probably bring more favorable interest to Packard than a whole row of restored sedans. And finally, from the mid-thities onward Packards were production line automobiles like everything else, albeit better engineered than many, and I really don't feel they deserve holy cow status. Lastly, as you probably know, many Packards were flogged through that race back in the day. Be sure to check out Robert Neal's "Packards at Speed" book.

I have tons of thoughts on your project and have built several ah, performance enhanced and modified Packards with more underway. I am hoping the have my replica of Jean Trevoux's car that he raced in 53-54 done this year. All the best--and get the name of Packard in front of the public.

Don't shoot me everyone, but at some point there will be another clipper in
My garage....tubbed, caged, gutted and all Packard motor, ready for some Friday night fun.

I have a question. My car clearly has a "327" cast into the head, however the tire hood ornament and trim level leads me to believe the car was a Deluxe Touring Sedan, which was advertised as having the 135 hp 288, whereas the Super Deluxe Touring Sedan (with the swan ornament) was advertised with the 150 hp 327.

Was there an engine upsell option for the Deluxe? If not, what's the best way to figure out what's going on with engine? It may be with 288 with a 327 head or a 327 swap, I have no idea.