Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

There is a picture of car on a display stand at an auto show with 1 inch whitewalls, but don't know if that was a common available size by then or just made for show.

Check this picture, there are many others from 1956 that show the emergence of narrow whitewalls. As to whether such tires were offered by the factory is unknown to me.

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More regarding the price paid for the car. Most people that I know think that I'm crazy for having spent what I did to buy my car, then spending close to $25,000 on it to get it where it is (not a perfect restoration but slowly getting closer to a very slightly modified acceptably refurbished driver) and then DRIVING it for daily transportation. To me - and from my admittedly rather peculiar ideas regarding the use of these cars - it was much cheaper than a new Mercedes S-class and oh so imminently more desirable. I'd have paid the price for it had I the wherewithall, kept it as completely original as humanly possible, cared for it like a newborn baby and gloried in driving it every day.

I'd choose (and pay for if able) a top of the line 56th Series, bone-stock, virtually new Packard for daily transportation needs, any day of the year, over a new S-class Mercedes. Even should I surprise everyone (including myself) and live another twenty to thirty years, with proper maintenance and care, my use rather than abuse and barring the odd catastrophe beyond my control, I could still hand it over to a Packard afficianado in near the same condition that I got it after being laid to rest for my dirt nap. It never was hard to take care of these cars. You just have to do it - and I doubt that thirty years of maintaining the Packard in top condition would be any more expensive than maintaining the Mercedes in like condition. A bit more time consuming, perhaps, but maintaining these cars is (to me) a major part of the enjoyment in owning it. After a certain period of time the fact that these cars were built to be maintained rather than thrown away would, in all liklihood, make maintenance rather more feasible than for the Merc (or whatever).

To each, his own and dance to the tune of your own drummer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree, to each his own. It's the buyer's money.

Looking at the fine print in the ad, though, why the H did they list the"Value Today" as $30,000 when their asking price was $55,000???

It looks like they're saying: "Hey, here's what it's worth, but if you're willing to pay $25 Grand more than it's worth, we'll take it! Thanks!

I know it's a very special car, with low miles etc., but how often do you pay almost double the "sticker" on any vehicle. A new Mercedes, like the one Lloyd mentioned, probably wouldn't depreciate by 50% as soon as you drove it off the lot (although some new cars do come pretty close to that).

Lloyd, I agree 100% with your logic: invest in an interesting car with the idea that the total expense would be comparable to a new car, and that you're likely get a decent payback on resale.

A "collector car" can thus be very reasonable transportation over the long haul. And much more pleasurable to drive than a cookie-cutter new car.

BTW, if the buyer was dickering right, he shouldn't have paid more than $42,500 IMO, midway between the "Value" price and the "Asking" price, with an initial counter-offer of $36,250.

the white-wall tire issue i don't think will ever be resolved to any one's satisfaction. i think they look best with the large white walls. however how many of you guys own the two packard photo archive books? if you look at the photos in them, packard approved photos at that, many of the cars wear BLACK WALLS!