Curbside Classic "Find Of The Year" Packard For Sale

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

It’s one thing to find a car featured on Curbside Classics for sale on Craigslist or Ebay… in fact, according to our trackbacks, a number of used car sellers have even taken to linking to the relevant CC in their online ads. But finding a beast of a Packard Clipper that Paul Niedermeyer himself once called “the biggest find of the year so far” for sale for the low, low price of $4,700 (as of current bidding) just doesn’t happen every day. If you’re on the West Coast and you’re looking to scratch that hard-to-reach Packard itch, your barge may just have come in (so to speak).

According to the owner, the damage is limited to

Some rust in front floor pan. Will need front pan, drivers side window gone. But it’s solid and all there, and very restorable.

No mention of the paint damage caused by some mysterious vandal. Also beware Paul’s warning that

The guy that presumably owns this Packard threatened me in numerous ways. Bad vibes surrounded him and his car from the minute my eyes laid on him… He had a sour look to start with, and instantly started yelling at me insisting that I can’t photograph his Packard. He made a cryptic remark along the lines of “I’ve had enough problems with this car, and it won’t be here much longer”. I tried in vain to reason with him and explained that I have every right to shoot it sitting on a public road, but he started jumping in between me and the car, and threatening to call the the police. That was an empty threat, but he became more agitated and aggressive, so I let it go for now.

It sounds like the old Packard is moving to a happier place… and for the right money, that happier place could just be your garage. It’s too bad Paul is too busy with his new site to take on a “sitting for 30 years” project, as his CC on this rare Packard concluded on what has to be described as a wistful note:

I’m trying hard to get the Clipper out of my head; not only wondering what happened to it, but imagining tooling this majestic coupe down the McKenzie highway on a warm summer night, and opening the cutout on the exhaust. Nothing quite beats the sound of a big honking Packard straight eight (listen for yourself here and here).

[Hat Tip: William Garrett]


Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • FleetofWheel FleetofWheel on Mar 15, 2011

    If Paul had that Packard as the official Curbside Cruiser, what a sight it'd make rolling on up new CC conquests. It might put to ease some of those reticent car owners who are puzzled as to why this guy is photographing their old car. Or they might think he is some kind of Man in Black coming to take them away.

  • Colin42 Colin42 on Mar 16, 2011

    It's been delisted from Ebay

    • See 1 previous
    • Cfclark Cfclark on Mar 16, 2011

      My money's on psychotic episode. If it wasn't sold locally, I'm not sure what exactly the guy is looking to get out of it. This sounds like one of those situations where the owner deliberately trashes the car (or other rare possession) just to be an ass.

  • Corey Lewis Think how dated this 80s design was by 1995!
  • Tassos Jong-iL Communist America Rises!
  • Merc190 A CB7 Accord with the 5 cylinder
  • MRF 95 T-Bird Daihatsu Copen- A fun Kei sized roadster. Equipped with a 660cc three, a five speed manual and a retractable roof it’s all you need. Subaru Levorg wagon-because not everyone needs a lifted Outback.
  • Merc190 I test drive one of these back in the day with an automatic, just to drive an Alfa, with a Busso no less. Didn't care for the dash design, would be a fun adventure to find some scrapped Lancia Themas or Saab 900's and do some swapping to make car even sweeter. But definitely lose the ground effects.
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