Rare 1958 Packard Station Wagon

An article over at Hooniverse last Wagon Wednesday.



Welcome to another Hooniverse Wagon Wednesday. 1958 was the last year a new Packard was ever offered for sale, with the exception of some rather bizarre Packard creations. For the 1957 and 1958 model years, Packard offered what was in truth really fancy Studebakers, with the hope that one day truly luxurious Packards would once again roam the showrooms. That would never happen of course, so for this edition of Hooniverse Wagon Wednesday let’s take a look at a last year Packard Wagon, one of only 159 ever produced, and see if this wagon is Hooniversalustworthy.



This car was spotted over at Collectioncar.com on a tip from our own LongRoofian (Thanks Man!), and what a find it is. According to the listing:

By the way, $4,000 in 1958 translates to just under $31,000 today. The asking price for this very rare Packard is $29,995, which is really not out of the ballpark. Look, it is very rare, very unusual, well equipped, and so ugly, you can’t help but love it. See the listing here. So the question is this: Is this Wagon Hooniversalustworthy?

 

I've seen picsof this one before - probably posted somewhere here. Although I'm not jazzed with the double-fin rear end (a bit over-the-top), I really like the front end - more than I like the Studebaker of that vintage that it's based on.

Nice wagon overall...

 

That wagon has been for sale for years now. Yeah, KK...it's been on here before. It is an example of a car company (a good one in its day) that was on hard times and struggled to do the fin thing. I was sad to see Packard go down. They built some beauties in their day.

 

I can only imagine if Studebaker-Packard was able to spend some money and extend the cargo area back about 10". It just looks odd to me being that the fins are so long. I like the front end styling of the Studebaker better but I do like the "double" fins on the Packard.

 

Beautiful car! The fins do look a tad out of proportion to the car, as said it should be a tad longer to make it work better. Oh well, I'd still rock it! I think I've seen maybe one or two Packards in person. But since the other half was mentioned. 53 Commander for the win!!!

The "XX miles since new", thats the second time I've heard that phrase. To me it sounds much better than "XX original miles"

 

I love the whole thing... except 10 more inches I agree with. I guess if I was to have done anything else different I would have gone with a bit of arching added to the fins - from where they start to the tip and real gently so. The more straighter line look that it has now seems to clash with the rest of the flow over the over all design, IMO.

 

Put this '62 Chrysler flat-fin treatment on that Packard, and I think you've got a winner....

 

I have to admit, KK, that I think that that would work out quite nicely.

 

Really like the fins, and the third row seat. The front end, I dunno. There's something I don't like about it, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe needs more chrome?

 

Nice fins by the way!! I wish they still made them today, but no one will like long fins now. It adds to parking problems. I don't think there were problems with parking back when this was made.

Yeah, this wagon is radically cool!! I would not mind a ride in one of those.

 

I have looked at that wagon numerous times and I still feel that the Studebaker version is far better looking. The front end catfish look drives me nuts.

 

It's amatter of personal taste....

I like the Packard front, but the Studebaker back. LOL!

 

Love this ole Packard, would buy it in a heart beat, if I had the extra money. Looking at the pictures I would bet that the top fin bolts to the top of the quarter panel and removed quite easily.That would make the traditionalist cringe, but if it could be done, and boy would it improve it's looks. When you would want to sell the car throw the top fin's in the back of the wagon and give the buyer the option to owner reinstall it if they wanted. Of course as a dyed-in-the-wool hot rodder, besides taking the top fin off, the car would have be lowered, with big and little tires and custom wheels and a change in color.....boy that would spin a bennie or two tradition collector car world.

David

 

:2_thumbs_up_-_animaBeing a tailfin lover I love this wagon.Those Packard tail lights ended up on many Kustoms. But putting my finger on those butt ugly headlights is the only thing making this wagon ugly. They just look too out of proportion and stuck on. But they were just learning about duel headlights back then. I'd still give $4000 for it!As a person of age who lived in this era I rode in many Studebakers and Packards. Brother-in-law had a gold 1957 Golden Hawk.

 

Like this one?