RIDE OF THE WEEK: 1950 Packard Eight

by Michael Golubiewski
Production Editor

The thing that has always impressed me about the Packard is how solid and sturdy the car looks. Some cars don’t look like they would be very safe in an accident. This week’s ride, a 1950 Packard, looks like it would be able to take on some incoming artillery and keep right on going.

The Packard, named the Packard Eight, is a four-door sedan owned by Jeff Morrow of Montrose, and even though he hasn’t had it for long, the car’s been in his family for a while.

“The car actually belonged to one of my great uncles who lived out in Illinois,” Morrow shares. When his uncle died, Morrow drove out to get the car and brought it home on a trailer. “This is my first summer with the car. I still need to do some work on it, especially on the exterior, but I’ve been so excited I’ve been taking it out to shows.”

The Packard was a luxury automobile built by the Packard Motor Company (and later the Studebaker-Packard Corporation) in Detroit from 1899-1958. The model gets its name from its “straight-eight” cylinder flathead engine. The engine is 352 cubic inches (5.8 liters). The Packard features a three-speed manual transmission, synchronized in second and third gears, a displacement of about 288.64 and a horsepower of about 130. The compression ratio is 7.0:1. It features a Carter two-barrel carburetor. The sticker price for a brand new Packard in 1950 was $3,425.

Morrow’s favorite feature on the Packard is the hood ornament which, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Packard described as a “winged swan with a down turned head, the beak almost touching its breast.”

“That was the first thing I noticed about the car,” Morrow said. “I flipped when I saw it — you don’t get hood ornaments like this today.”

Morrow says the interior of his car is in good shape, but the exterior paint is a little worn from exposure to the elements, something that will soon change.

“I plan on getting a new exterior coat of paint soon, the same maroon color that it is now,” Morrow explains. “But I couldn’t just let it sit in a garage all summer until I’m able to do the job — I had to get the Packard out and let people see and enjoy this great American car.”

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