1948 Packard Eight

When Packard was established in 1899, it focused on building premium automobiles that were durable and robust. This tradition would continue until the very end, resulting in some of the finest American cars ever built.

In 1948, Packard introduced a restyled line that resonated well with post-World War II America. The designs appeared as though they had been shaped by air and water. They had an elongated nose, an abbreviated rear deck, flowing bodies, and a full-width, wraparound lower grille. The New York Fashion Academy chose the Packard as the Fashion Car of the Year.

The 1948 Packard was known as the 22nd series and since Packard did not follow a traditional model year change-over, the 22nd Series were merchandised as 1948 and 1949 models. Packard would not conform to the traditional model year system until 1951.

The base trim level on the Packard Eight series was the Standard Eight. Body styles included a 4-door sedan, a 4-door station sedan, and a 2-door club sedan. The Station Sedan was a new body style for 1948, and it was a hybrid between a sedan and a station wagon. The traditional woody station wagons of the era used bodies constructed largely of wood mounted to a steel frame. Packard's Station Sedans used steel bodies and doors with wood inlays, except for the rear tailgate door, which was constructed entirely of wood. The rear quarter was cut away from the sedan body and replaced with wood creating the wagon, and this was the only area where wood was used a street-bearing body section.

Packard had built wood-bodied station wagons prior to World War II, in both six-cylinder 115 and eight-cylinder One-Twenty variants. The Clipper style of 1941, however, was not compatible with timber construction. When Clipper production resumed following WWII, the wagons were no longer constructed. This changed after Packard introduced its wider and lower, all-new 22 Series, with the Station Sedan adaptation.

Packard took four-door, six-passenger sedans off the production line and sent them to body supplier, Briggs Manufacturing Company, who changed the roofline to incorporate a liftgate and tailgate. Briggs used ash and maple for the wood sections of the body. Steel supports were placed at the B-posts and D-posts. With a price of $3,425, they were the most expensive of the short-wheelbase Packards.

Standard Eights had no lower belt moldings at the mid-body level, but they did have a single rocker panel strip and upper belt moldings that ran from below the front ventipanes to the back of the vehicle. Power was from an L-head inline eight-cylinder engine displacing 288 cubic inches and offering 130 horsepower. The Standard Eight shared its 120-inch wheelbase with the Deluxe and Super Eight.

The Deluxe Line also used the 288 CID engine found in the Standard Eight. They received additional trim and some of the interior appointments used in the Super Eights.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2018