1948 Packard Deluxe 8 Sedan (LHD)

Along with Pierce-Arrow and Peerless, Packard enjoyed a reputation as one of America’s finest car makers in the Brass Era and, unlike those two marques, survived the lean years of The Depression, building a series of straight eight and twelve-cylinder luxury cars regarded as being amongst the greatest classics of the Twenties and Thirties.  With the luxury car market in general decline by the mid-Thirties, Packard began a programme of diversification that saw the model range expand to include a number of cheaper, mid-range sixes, helping to boost sales in the years leading up to the Second World War.  However the urge to modernise saw the introduction of an all new, clean sheet design known as the Clipper in 1941, arguably the most significant new Packard in years.  With bold styling - initially by the talented Dutch Darrin, with input from Packard’s in-house design team - the Clipper was wider, longer and lower, thanks to its radical new double-drop frame, without sacrificing interior space.  An immediate sales success, production was on target to exceed 80,000 units in its first full year, but Pearl Harbor put paid to that.  With production resuming in October 1945, Packard introduced the 22nd Series chassis on September 8, 1947 for the 1948 model year and dropped all reference to the Clipper name, the cheaper model on which all post-war models were based.  Offered in three basic series, comprising the Six, the 135 hp 288-cid Standard/Deluxe Eight or the more upmarket Super Eight/Super Eight Deluxe and Custom Super Eight models, the latter featured a powerful 160 hp 365-cid engine with nine main bearings.  The 1948 Packard also received elegant new styling, the heavily curved and streamlined shape chosen by the New York Fashion Academy as their ‘Fashion Car of the Year’.  The L-head eight was mated to a three-speed manual gearbox with overdrive, while the chassis had four-wheel hydraulic brakes and coil sprung independent front suspension, with semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear.  The 22nd Series Packard was available in a range of wheelbase lengths (120, 127, 141 and 148-inches) and body styles, including the two-door Club Sedan, four-door Touring Sedan, Station Sedan (a wagon), Convertible Victoria or Limousine.  Beautifully finished both inside and out with lots of intriguing period details, these early post-war Packards represent excellent value for money and are ideal club cars.