Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 17-19, 2023
Photo – Mecum
The third series of Packard’s Twin Six was sold between 1917 and 1923. These were big, expensive cars. And they were grand enough for heads of state: Warren G. Harding was the first president to ride to their inauguration in an automobile. And it was in a Twin Six.
There were eight factory body styles for this model in 1920, but this example wears custom coachwork by Fleetwood. This is a Norma Desmond-style car, and the red disc wheels are perfection. Power is from a 6.9-liter V12 that made 90 horsepower.
The car was ordered new by the Atwater Kent family in Philadelphia and went into the Blackhawk Collection in the 1980s. It’s essentially remained there since and is now being sold out of the estate of Don Williams. Mecum published an estimate: $225,000-$275,000. Click here for more info.
1916 Packard Twin Six 1-25 Seven-Passenger Touring
Offered by Gooding & Company | Lynchburg, Virginia | April 7, 2023
Photo – Gooding & Company
In 1915, Packard offered one line of cars: the 3-38 six. The next year, the six was dead. Instead, they doubled it to the Twin Six – which was Packard’s first V12. This car is the beginning of Packard’s legendary pre-war V12 lineup that would last through 1923 before reappearing for 1933-1939.
The engine is a 6.9-liter V12 that was rated at 88 horsepower. Two different wheelbases were offered, with this example being on the shorter 125″ wheelbase. On this chassis, nine different body styles were offered.
This seven-passenger tourer has known ownership history since new and has been in static storage for some time. Fun fact, there is a disclaimer at the bottom of the catalog that essentially says “this car may or may not come with a title, good luck.” At $60,000-$80,000, good luck indeed. Click here for more.
1930 Packard Deluxe Eight Series 745 Convertible Victoria by Waterhouse
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 4, 2023
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Packard’s eight-cylinder line of cars was their bread and butter for decades. In 1930, at the dawn of the Depression, Packard offered four takes on the Eight: the Standard, Speedster, Custom, and Deluxe. The latter was their top offering, available in Series 745 form only.
This specified a 145.5-inch wheelbase and a 106-horsepower, 6.3-liter inline-eight. Eleven factory body styles were offered in addition to whatever you could get an independent coachbuilder to whip up for you.
This car was bodied by Waterhouse, who were based in Massachusetts. It was restored in the 1980s, purportedly in colors found under layers of newer paint. It’s a striking combination that, coupled with Woodlite headlights, really grabs your attention. No estimate is yet available, but you can read more about it here.
Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 6, 2023
Photo – Mecum
Tasty. And not just because of the dessert-y paint job. The Caribbean (or “Carribean” as Mecum calls it) was the sort of halo car for Packard from 1953 through 1956. The models were restyled for 1955 (which carried over to ’56), and looked just like this. Convertibles were the only body style offered for three of the years, and a hardtop joined for the final model year.
Two-tone paint was an option in 1954, and two- and three-tone paint jobs were offered in 1955 and 1956. It’s an iconic look. The 1955 Packard Caribbean is one of the most slyly iconic and fantastic American cars of the 1950s.
Just 500 were built for 1955, all of which were powered by a 275-horsepower, 5.8-liter V8. This one was restored 30 years ago, and you can read more about it here.
Offered by Bonhams | Amelia Island, Florida | March 3, 2022
Photo – Bonhams
The Model 30 was one of the great early Packards, and it was produced from 1907 through 1912. We’ve feature two of them previously, including a touring car. This is a “toy tonneau,” which looks pretty much like a touring car but with a narrower rear passenger compartment. You can see it in the photo above how the body sits inward of the fenders.
The 30 is powered by a 7.1-liter inline-four that was rated at 30 horsepower when new. The body on this one isn’t original, as it was recreated in a Holbrook style approximately 20 years ago. The car, which is believed to have been the final Model 30 chassis completed, initially spent time with the Detroit Fire Department.
Packard sold 1,250 Model 30s in 1912, and this, the last of them now has an estimate of $250,000-$300,000. Click here for more info.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 8, 2021
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
This is kind of an odd combination, a Packard-built body on a Duesenberg. Sure, many old cars had their bodies swapped around. It was usually sedans being rebodied as more desirable convertibles once they became objects of pleasure instead of daily transportation.
But in this case, this Model J was fitted with a period Packard roadster body… in period. By Duesenberg. The story is that a Duesenberg branch purchased a brand new roadster body from Packard before it could be installed on one of their cars and fitted it to a J chassis in 1931. It’s said to be one of very few true roadsters on a Model J chassis. And probably the only Packard-bodied car.
The engine is a 265-horsepower 6.9-liter straight-eight, and this particular engine was fitted in this chassis in 1989. The pre-sale estimate is $1,400,000-$1,800,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | September 3-4, 2021
Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers
Packard’s Model 18 went on sale for 1909 and would remain in production through 1912. Launch-year body styles included a limousine, landaulet, touring, and demi limousine, in addition to the runabout. While Packard was known mostly as a luxury car manufacturer, this one has a twinge of sportiness.
It’s powered by a 5.3-liter inline-four rated at 18 horsepower. The two-seat body is finished in white, with a matching fuel tank, trunk, wheels, and tires. It’s a lot of white. I can’t imagine it was ever this clean back in the day.
Only 802 Packards were produced for 1909, and this is said to be one of a dozen Model 18s known to exist across all model years and body styles. It would’ve cost $3,200 when new and will sell at no reserve for much more next month. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | September 3, 2021
Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers
Packard was one of America’s grandest automobiles around the start of WWI. But they were also producing some pretty heavy-duty commercial vehicles at that time as well. We’ve actually featured a 3-ton variant of the Model E in the past, but this earlier 2.5-ton variant features a C-cab design.
Power is from an 8.6-liter inline-six good for about 60 horsepower. This truck was built in 1916 – the first year for shaft drive after Packard ditched its drive chains. This thing is pretty massive and sports a cool period-style corn starch livery.
Old commercial vehicles are always a treat as their survival rates are dismal at best. This one is coming out of a Packard-focused museum and will sell at no reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
We stay in Britain for Brightwells’ Leominster sale where our lone feature car, the Jaguar XJS Monaco, failed to sell. The top seller was this 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS for $75,101. Click here for additional results.
Photo – Brightwells
Onward now to Amelia Island and Bonhams, where we featured a lot of interesting cars. Remarkably, only one of them didn’t sell according to Bonhams’ results: the 1910 Pope-Hartford that was supposed to be offered without reserve. Not sure what’s going on there.
Relative deals consisted of the $62,720 Columbus and the $60,480 Crow-Elkhart. A previously-featured 1904 Knox sold here for $252,000. Final results can be found here.
We also featured quite a few cars from the RM Sotheby’s sale in Amelia Island, including some we featured from past sales like this 1924 Isotta Fraschini, this V-12 Cadillac, this AAR Eagle – all three of which failed to sell. The big-dollar Bugatti failed to find a new home as well. The overall top sale was the 1930 Duesenberg we featured. It sold for $1,650,000. We will award Most Interesting to this wicker-bodied 1911 Napier 15HP Victoria that brought $156,800.
Of our feature cars, the OSCA 1600 GT sold for $489,000 and the Kurtis $263,200. A previously-featured Abarth 207/A went for $362,500. Click here for complete results.
Offered by Oldtimer Galerie | Zurich, Switzerland | June 16, 2018
Photo – Oldtimer Galerie
In 1953, Packard was acquired by Studebaker. It was a bid for survival for both marques that ultimately worked out better for Studebaker (but not by much). The last two years of Packard production were 1957 and 1958 and the cars they churned out in these model years were essentially just re-badged Studebakers.
For 1957, the Packard model line consisted of a lone model: the Clipper. Two body styles were offered: a four-door sedan and a four-door wagon. Interestingly, the 1958 model year had twice the offerings.
This six-passenger Country Sedan station wagon was one of just 869 examples built. It’s powered by a 4.7-liter V-8 rated at 275 horsepower. It was restored by a marque specialist and is finished in pretty lilac and white. Imported into Switzerland in 2010, this rare American wagon would be at home in any collection worldwide. It should bring between $55,000-$70,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Update: Not sold.
Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Ft. Lauderdale 2019, $56,100.
