This Week on Hagerty Marketplace: Post-Merger Packard, Maximum Brown Continental, Charming Cabriolet

Welcome to This Week on Hagerty Marketplace, a recurring recap of the previous week’s most noteworthy cars and significant sales from the Hagerty Marketplace online auctions.

It was another busy week on Hagerty Marketplace, but this trio of rides—one of the last great Packards, a brown-over-brown Lincoln Continental Mark III, and a delightful example of Volkswagen’s droptop Cabriolet—piqued our curiosity. Let’s explore each offering a bit further.

1956 Packard Four Hundred Hardtop Coupe

Sold for $16,168

By 1954, the once-great Packard car company was forced to merge with Studebaker to survive. Following the merger, Packard sought to redefine itself with bold new models for 1955–56, penned by young designer Richard Teague. The new cars featured full-width grilles, expansive front glass, tri-color paint schemes, and more. The Four Hundred Hardtop Coupe was the company’s ritziest ride but ultimately failed to reverse the firm’s downward trend, selling just 3224 units in 1956.

The example seen here is one of the last aspirational Packards to leave an assembly line. It was the 849th Four Hundred model produced in 1956. Power comes from a 372 cubic-inch V-8 that made 290 horsepower. The two-tone Dover White and Scottish Heather paint still looks fantastic, especially for a car that reportedly was stored for 20 years and saw rare use. Once the new owner handles some necessary prep work, this should be a delightful cruiser for years to come.

1970 Lincoln Continental Mark III

Sold for $8,828

When Ford President Lee Iacocca commissioned Ford’s Advance Design Office to create a two-door personal car for the luxury space in 1965, he wanted to see something resembling the handcrafted Continental Mark II of the 1950s. The resulting luxury coupe, which debuted in 1968 with a long hood, short rear deck, lavish grille, and integrated spare tire was an immediate hit with buyers, immediately outselling the Cadillac Eldorado. By 1970 the Mark III received a handful of upgrades such as new wheel covers, concealed windshield wipers, genuine walnut veneers on the instrument panel, and more.

Seen here is an example of that light update. This brown-over-brown car seems purpose-built for our in-house Lincoln and brown car aficionado, Senior Editor Sajeev Mehta. (We checked and can confirm that he is not, in fact, the new owner of this car—much to his chagrin.) This Mark III shows just 29,097 miles on the clock, meaning there’s lots of life left for this 460 cubic-inch V-8. It, too, sat for around 20 years, so it will need a once-over before it’s ready to waft about once more. Still, from a dollar-per-square-inch, or dollar-per-horsepower standpoint, it’s hard to beat this cruiser for value.

1989 Volkswagen Best Seller Wolfsburg Limited Edition Cabriolet

Sold for $17,758

Filling shoes as big as those left by the Volkswagen Beetle is a tall task, but in 1980, the newly-debuted Volkswagen Rabbit Convertible attempted to do just that. It was an immediate hit, soldiering on for five lovely years before a name change that came from the Golf replacing the Rabbit here in the U.S. The convertible model was henceforth referred to as the Cabriolet.

Following a 1988 facelift, a few trims were offered, but the most sought-after was the Wolfsburg Limited Edition, which was based on the Best Seller trim. Wolfsburg-trimmed Cabbies received special Star Blue Metallic paint, a unique “Helios” blue velour interior, and a dark blue soft top, creating a one-year-only color combo that quickly became collectible.

Looking at this example, listed with 68,852 original miles, it’s not hard to see why these little charmers were so desirable. The 1.8-liter, 90-horsepower inline-four isn’t what we’d call a rocket, but this lithe car didn’t need much power to be enjoyable. Features include a heated glass rear window in the soft top, dual remote control side mirrors, a folding rear seat with trunk access, and more. Though the paint, which is believed to be original, shows a few nicks and signs of patina, we’d reckon there aren’t many more enjoyable ways to take in the summer sun.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.