1957 Packard Clipper Wagon

[Randy_G]

Another beautiful wagon is about to roll across the auction block on Barrett-Jackson. 1957 Packard Clipper Wagon. Lot #798

[Randy_G]

Sold!! $43,000.00 it was a beautiful car.

[StudeRich]

Is that the Lilac and White one that was from a Museum?

[rockne10]

[StudeDave57]

I don't believe I have ever seen that car.
I don't think I have ever seen one in those colors either.





StudeDave '57

[BobPalma]

Thanks for the pics, Brad; I had missed the sale.

Coppertone and Arctic White; just gorgeous. BP

[Roscomacaw]

Worth EVERY penny too!

Edit to add..... Having chased, owned and driven these sorts of Studes (Packard-Bakers) thru the last four decades - what an eye-opener to see how their values have changed since '73. I think about the cream puff '58 hardtop I gave $300 for - the '58 Packard wagon I gave $600 for and started driving - the '56 President I adopted from a Barn in Alabama and then took on a 2K-mile trip (paid a couple hundred for it) - the 55 President I gave 3 or 4 hundred for and used as a daily driver....
I would've loved to have kept them all, but I usually had to sell what I was driving to finance the next one I lusted after. I sometimes reminisce about the various Studes I've had come and go - wondering if there's a chance any of them have survived to function decades after we had our encounter. The '58 Packard wagon - Matthew's shared photos of what it looks like today. Truly sad - but when I passed it on in '81, it's value was still next to nil. The other three I mentioned - one went to a fellow SDC member, the other two went to folks that probably found adding a quart of oil to be a technical challenge. I doubt they survived into the 80s.
Speedsters and Golden Hawks and the like, had a slightly better chance of squeaking thru the years of relative indifference to their being. Studebaker's "bread 'n butter" offerings (sedans and such) fared worse than the glamorous models, and now seem almost magical when we get to see one as nice as this wagon. Even to those pretty much ignorant to Studebaker's products outside of Fozzie-Bear's bullet-nose are starting to discover what's been around all along.

Another example of this late blooming is the delayed hatching and fledging of an otherwise ugly duckling. 15 years ago, WHO would've risked trying to throw Studebakers name into a gearhead gathering discussing musclecars??? Lost to the tire smoke of time, the potential of some bargain basement Larks fitted with some aging and gussied-up boat anchors was only realized when a fairey tale of a Stude pilot and his cousin collaborated to make some big block devotees suffer concrete burn to their chins. Whatever the future does to infernal combustion autos - Studebaker's name is SOLIDLY on the ledger where it may never have been if it weren't good timing and dedicated enthusiasts. Whether styling-wise or in regards to performance, there's no mistake about it..... had not all the "stars" fallen into alignment at just the right times, this Packard-baker (and the Provincial that preceeded it this week) wouldn't have drawn the sorts of bids they did. Likewise, Plain Brown Wrapper and Stewed Tomato would be nothing more than what one would expect from those descriptors!

[Dougie]

Watched it go across last night. Supercharged too.

[StudeDave57]

Edit to add.....

Yes- what he said!!!

Supercharged too.

All '57 Packards are supposed to be.





StudeDave '57

[BobPalma]

Worth EVERY penny too!

Edit to add..... Having chased, owned and driven these sorts of Studes (Packard-Bakers) thru the last four decades - what an eye-opener to see how their values have changed since '73. I think about the cream puff '58 hardtop I gave $300 for - the '58 Packard wagon I gave $600 for and started driving - the '56 President I adopted from a Barn in Alabama and then took on a 2K-mile trip (paid a couple hundred for it) - the 55 President I gave 3 or 4 hundred for and used as a daily driver....
I would've loved to have kept them all, but I usually had to sell what I was driving to finance the next one I lusted after. I sometimes reminisce about the various Studes I've had come and go - wondering if there's a chance any of them have survived to function decades after we had our encounter. The '58 Packard wagon - Matthew's shared photos of what it looks like today. Truly sad - but when I passed it on in '81, it's value was still next to nil. The other three I mentioned - one went to a fellow SDC member, the other two went to folks that probably found adding a quart of oil to be a technical challenge. I doubt they survived into the 80s.
Speedsters and Golden Hawks and the like, had a slightly better chance of squeaking thru the years of relative indifference to their being. Studebaker's "bread 'n butter" offerings (sedans and such) fared worse than the glamorous models, and now seem almost magical when we get to see one as nice as this wagon. Even to those pretty much ignorant to Studebaker's products outside of Fozzie-Bear's bullet-nose are starting to discover what's been around all along.

Another example of this late blooming is the delayed hatching and fledging of an otherwise ugly duckling. 15 years ago, WHO would've risked trying to throw Studebakers name into a gearhead gathering discussing musclecars??? Lost to the tire smoke of time, the potential of some bargain basement Larks fitted with some aging and gussied-up boat anchors was only realized when a fairey tale of a Stude pilot and his cousin collaborated to make some big block devotees suffer concrete burn to their chins. Whatever the future does to infernal combustion autos - Studebaker's name is SOLIDLY on the ledger where it may never have been if it weren't good timing and dedicated enthusiasts. Whether styling-wise or in regards to performance, there's no mistake about it..... had not all the "stars" fallen into alignment at just the right times, this Packard-baker (and the Provincial that preceeded it this week) wouldn't have drawn the sorts of bids they did. Likewise, Plain Brown Wrapper and Stewed Tomato would be nothing more than what one would expect from those descriptors!

Good words, Bob, and spot-on as to the time frame.

You said 15 years as to entering the muscle car discussion, and it was indeed exactly 15 years ago come September (September 1998, to be exact) that The Plain Brown Wrapper made its inaugural appearance at The Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race.

And the rest, as you say, is [finally rewritten accurately] history.

Kudos on your phrase, "years of relative indifference." An accurate appraisal of one period of time for virtually all Studebakers.

Come to think of it, how about considering those very few Studebakers that generally did not go through, "years of relative indifference?" I would say 1964 Hawks and Daytona convertibles suffered little of that because relatively few of them were produced and they were immediately recognized, for the most part, as the last that would ever be. Thus, a higher percentage of those that were produced were not "used up" in normal channels.

Even Golden Hawks and Speedsters suffered a few "years of relative indifference" because newer, similar, high-performance offererings were coming out of South Bend when Speedsters and Golden Hawks were being consigned to their second and third owners. BP

[StudeRich]

Thanks for the pics, Brad; I had missed the sale.

Coppertone and Arctic White; just gorgeous. BP

You know Bob Coppertone and Redwood are very hard to tell apart depending on the lighting, I lean toward Redwood on this one.
The Ditzler and Dupont Color Charts I have show it for late '56 and '57 Studebaker, but not Packard. So I am not sure if it was offered on Packard.

[showbizkid]

The interior on this car floors me. How gorgeous is that fabric! It truly is like having your living room couch in your car! You were definitely traveling in luxury if you had one of these in '57.

[JBOYLE]

The price is about what a nice "big 3" wagon would bring.
But the Packard is far rarer (and probably a bit smaller).

But a similar-vintage Stude wagon brought "only" $29,000...show the price bump for a name. Then again, I don't know how the two compared in quality.

[raoul5788]

Is that the Lilac and White one that was from a Museum?

No, that was a different one.

[raoul5788]

You know Bob Coppertone and Redwood are very hard to tell apart depending on the lighting, I lean toward Redwood on this one.
The Ditzler and Dupont Color Charts I have show it for late '56 and '57 Studebaker, but not Packard. So I am not sure if it was offered on Packard.

According to the BJ website, it's Tiara Gold metallic.