RARE 1958 PACKARD 4 DOOR STATION WAGON for sale, not mine

[CarNucopia]

Here’s an oddball for someone up North. 

 

https://shackeltonauctions.hibid.com/lot/171850957/rare-1958-packard-4-door-station-wagon?ref=catalog

Only 156 built.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Thanks for posting this truly rare find.  Someone with

a taste for the unusual might really like this car.

Those fins really add useless length to the wagon:

See how far they protrude past the tailgate!

 

The auctioneer does a good job of pictures--dozens.

I wonder whether correct front seats could be found

to replace the incorrect modern front seats.  Perhaps

from a Studebaker?  Would they be unique for a wagon?

 

In my eye, the fin-atop-fin style looks especially unusual

on a station wagon.  And for the record, here is some

more information about the auction:

 

Puslinch, Ontario, Oct. 2 to 23, 2023  [21 days long?]

Shackelton Auctions Inc.

Telephone 519-765-4450

 

Edited October 13, 2023 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

This one is much better than the one that showed up a few months back. Still a car for those who appreciate the offbeat and bizarre, and who are up to the challenge of owning and maintaining it.

[Twisted Shifter]

 

I feel the original '53-'54 Studebaker design and even the stubby Lark were much better looking than the Packard wagon.

 

[wayne sheldon]

The '53 Studebaker and later Lark may in fact be better looking and maybe even more practical (unless you want to haul a credenza?). However that Packard is so bizarre looking that I like it!

 

I would have to win a major lottery before I would consider buying something like that, however, because it really isn't my thing. There would be at least a hundred cars I would have to have first.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Rebadged is rebadged.   Just a gussied up Studebaker.😁

 

  Ben

[EmTee]

Between those pointy fins and the dual antennas, opening the rear glass and tailgate must be like petting a porcupine - eye protection may be beneficial! 

[rocketraider]

Looking at side view of the Packard I think I see where the "Animal House" Deathmobile got the inspiration for its fins.

[Dosmo]

[58L-Y8]

Although the excesses of the styling really are indefensible, reiteration of prior comments on the context of these unfortunate last Packards are in order:

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 in a vain attempt 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.   The fact that the last products to carry the once-glorious nameplate were such a compromised set of unattractive and ultimately unsuccessful cars emphasizes the dire circumstances under which they came to be.  However, 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.
 

[Fossil]

This is a nice looking car.  Even more so than the sedans. The color is very attractive.

[rocketraider]

The coupes and wagons are well-proportioned and attractive. These years Studebaker sedans are the definition of "frumpy". The quarterpanel and roofline just didn't translate well. Needed some length aft of the rear wheel openings.

[DFeeney]

I have seen these Packard Wagons posted before.  I did brace myself before I looked at it.  All I can say is "Every shoe has a Foot"

[CarNucopia]

8 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

 However, 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.
 

While this is generally true, Bugatti and Indian seem to be heathy after their reintroductions. Scout will be reintroduced in a few years.

[theconvertibleguy]

Wild, I literally drove by that town two days ago. Sadly for it, wagons are definitely not my thing but that is a very rare find.

[58L-Y8]

3 minutes ago, CarNucopia said:

While this is generally true, Bugatti and Indian seem to be heathy after their reintroductions. Scout will be reintroduced in a few years.

For reintroduction of a nameplate to succeed, it seems to require some decades to elapse for the aura of failure to be replaced by nostalgia which makes the nameplate desirable again.

[7th Son]

15 minutes ago, 58L-Y8 said:

For reintroduction of a nameplate to succeed, it seems to require some decades to elapse for the aura of failure to be replaced by nostalgia which makes the nameplate desirable again.

 

...or for the old farts, who were there to see the old marque crash and burn, to die off, and take the memory with them.

[George Smolinski]

On 10/12/2023 at 8:06 PM, CarNucopia said:

Here’s an oddball for someone up North

With a strong emphasis on odd!

[Xander Wildeisen]

https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1807777696342273/?ref=search

[58L-Y8]

9 hours ago, Xander Wildeisen said:

https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1807777696342273/?ref=search

The 1957 Packard Clipper Country Sedan, one of the 869 built, is a good deal easier on the eyes...

[Joe Cocuzza]

1 hour ago, 58L-Y8 said:

The 1957 Packard Clipper Country Sedan, one of the 869 built, is a good deal easier on the eyes...

Might be easier on the eyes but will be harder on the pocketbook....$$$$$$

[Xander Wildeisen]

Long after you forget what you paid for it, you will remember if you like it or not.