For Sale: 1958 Packard 58L 2-door Hardtop - "Rare, Running and driving with current registration" - $12,000 - Bakersfield, CA - Not Mine - 5/21 New photos, Updated info - 7/15 SOLD!

[6T-FinSeeker]

For sale on Craigslist: 1958 Packard 58L 2-door Hardtop in Bakersfield, CA  -  $12,000  -  Text only:  661 369 40 seven four

 

Link: https://bakersfield.craigslist.org/cto/d/bakersfield-1958-packard-door-hardtop/7619067028.html

 

5/21 Listing on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/216104341162542/-1958-Packard-58L

 

Seller's Description:

1958 Packard 58L 2-door Hardtop

• condition: good
• cylinders: 8 cylinders
• transmission: automatic
• odometer: 12,345
• paint color: brown
• cryptocurrency ok
• title status: clean

Extremely rare 1958 Packard 2 door hardtop. This was the last year Packard was in business and they only made 675 of these. This car is running and driving with pink slip in hand and current registration. The transmission has less than 100 miles on it. Brand new radiator and heater core. The interior was redone prior to me getting it. The curved glass is all intact. Some of the side flat windows are cracked but are easily replaced. The trunk is full of extra miscellaneous extra parts and pieces. Everything works in this car.This is probably the only one you will ever see, unless you are familiar with Packard, or are a Packard Collector. Asking 12k or best offer. No trades, cash only. Text only, I will not answer phone calls unless previous contact has been made through text. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by 6T-FinSeeker
update status (see edit history)

[Rivguy]

The seller is correct, not something that you will see everyday!

 

[suchan]

Tacked-on headlights, tacked-on fins...

The design bar was set pretty low in 1958, but this takes the cake.

[58L-Y8]

2 hours ago, suchan said:

Tacked-on headlights, tacked-on fins...

The design bar was set pretty low in 1958, but this takes the cake.

The 1958 Studebakers and Packards show what a car company on the verge of bankruptcy can afford to do to somehow update their existing styling to vainly try to compete with far better financed and equipped competitors.   If you read the book Champion of the Lark, Harold Churchill and the Presidency of Studebaker-Packard, 1956-1961 by Robert R, Ebert you'll understand how touch-and-go it was month-to-month throughout 1957-'58 just to keep the lights on, the employees paid and ongoing automaking operations until the compact Lark could reach the market.   The 1958 Packards were largely irrelevant to the survival of the company, presented to fulfill dealer contracts and if possible, keep the Packard nameplate on the market in the event future profitability allow the creation of a proper all-new Packard.    No marque nameplate, once withdraw from the market, had ever been successfully reintroduced.   Some cite Rambler as an example to the contrary though the 37-year absence of was long enough to refresh the nameplate, at least for a model name.

[George Smolinski]

13 hours ago, Rivguy said:

The seller is correct, not something that you will see everyday!

Not something I'd want to see every day. You can't unsee it and even 3 drops of Tabasco in each eye doesn't help. There wasn't a lot of crack back then so I'm guessing the designers were doing a little LSD and visited Alice in Wonderland before coming up with this "thing."

[58L-Y8]

3 hours ago, George Smolinski said:

Not something I'd want to see every day. You can't unsee it and even 3 drops of Tabasco in each eye doesn't help. There wasn't a lot of crack back then so I'm guessing the designers were doing a little LSD and visited Alice in Wonderland before coming up with this "thing."

The demand to accommodate quad headlights and tail fins issued from the Sales/Marketing Department.  The 'Electrolux' low grille was done to placate Roy Hurley, Curtice-Wright president who was largely calling the shots for S-P through their 'Joint Management' agreement that came about when C-W was pushed to bail out S-P in mid-1956.   Design was told to make the changes but allocated little tooling money so these are the compromises that resulted in the 1958 Studebakers and Packards presented.  Duncan McRae who led S-P styling at the time described later what miserable, unhappy job it was and how dissatisfied all involved were with the results. 

[Xander Wildeisen]

Ugly car, great info by 58L-Y8

[avgwarhawk]

Oh my....

[wayne sheldon]

They are what they are. And were what they were. A very sad end to a once proud marque.

 

If I had the means to have  a real collection of automobiles? I would like to have one of these. Proof that no matter how good you once were? One can still fail miserably.

And for some silly reason? I kind of like these?

[George Albright]

I love them!

[DrumBob]

That's hideous. The front clip looks like a platypus. Epic fail.

[6T-FinSeeker]

On 5/21, Seller also listed on Facebook  -  1958 Packard 58L 2-door Hardtop in Bakersfield, CA  -  $12,000  -  Text only:  661 369 40 seven four (Phone # from Craigslist ad. Alternatively, contact Seller through Facebook.)

 

Link: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/216104341162542/-1958-Packard-58L 

 

Seller's Description:

1958 Packard 58L 2-door Hardtop

Extremely rare 532 of 675 running driving car. This was the last year of production for Packard. This car had been stored indoors since the early 1980's. When removed from storage, I completely replaced the brake system from the master cylinder to the wheels except for the lines which where in good shape and flushed. The transmission was rebuilt and has less than 100 miles on it. The radiator and heater core were both recently replaced. While in storage, the interior was redone with the intent of doing a color change. I guess the project stalled there. It will need 3 new tires and it can be driven down the road. Pink slip and current registration in hand. This is a very solid California car. It does have a small cancer spot on one of the fins, but can be easily repaired.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sal Hepatica]

The one year only hardtop roof is gorgeous. Looks much like the '57 Mopar, but the lead time required tends to think that Stude came up with it independently.

Considering they were using the '53 body, McRae's considerable facelift in '56 was very contemporary. 
I've pondered in the past of using the '58 hardtop and turning it into a '57. That would be stunning.

I own the polar opposite of this: a '58 Studebaker Scotsman 2 door sedan.

I'm tempted to "go look" at this Packard (even with that horrible interior)...but we all know where that leads!

 

[John_S_in_Penna]

On 5/20/2023 at 7:10 PM, 58L-Y8 said:

The demand to accommodate quad headlights and tail fins issued from the Sales/Marketing Department.... Duncan McRae, who led S-P styling at the time, described later what miserable, unhappy job it was and how dissatisfied all involved were with the results. 

Steve, do you recall what book (or article)

that information was in--specifically Duncan

McRae's first-hand account of that era?

People writing in the 1970's or 1980's had direct

access to people involved from the 1950's,

and how grateful we can be that their memories

were recorded!

 

To me, it sounds like fascinating reading to

hear first-hand from one of that era's stylists.

I'd like to get the book.

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

1 hour ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

Steve, do you recall what book (or article)

that information was in--specifically Duncan

McRae's first-hand account of that era?

People writing in the 1970's or 1980's had direct

access to people involved from the 1950's,

and how grateful we can be that their memories

were recorded!

 

To me, it sounds like fascinating reading to

hear first-hand from one of that era's stylists.

I'd like to get the book.

 

John:

One book would be Studebaker: The Postwar Years by Richard M. Langworth.  The author interviewed a good number of the people who were involved in the company so its primary source information.  Duncan McRae's reflections on his role in the Studebaker styling department were written up in various issues of "Turning Wheels", the Studebaker Drivers Club monthly magazine.  I can look through my stacks for the specific articles and send you photos of the pages if you'd like.  

 

McRae may also have given oral recollections to the automotive history project which might be found in The Henry Ford Research Library.  He began his career with Ford in 1940, moving onto Chrysler, then K-F, S-P, C-W then back to Ford in 1964, retiring in from Ford in 1974.

Steve

[John_S_in_Penna]

6 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

John:

One book would be Studebaker: The Postwar Years by Richard M. Langworth. 

The Studebaker book sounds excellent.  I've read others

by Mr. Langworth.  No need to look up anything further, Steve.

Thank you.

[6T-FinSeeker]

On 7/15, Seller marked the Facebook ad "SOLD!"