Louis Réard drove this Packard around Europe with several swimsuit models in tow—now it could auction for $500,000
The Packard is a 1937 Super Eight, but the seafarin’-style coachwork you see it on here was done up by the renowned Henri Chapron in 1948. That was just two years after Réard had come up with the modern bikini, and the idea he had for the Packard was to drive it around Europe with a swimsuit model or two spilling out of the back of it, wearing the new, controversial beach attire.
Réard (who worked in automotive engineering until 1940, before he’d got into fashion) apparently dictated many of the styling cues himself, from the bow-shaped nose to the porthole windows to the luxurious rear deck. The draw of the bizarrely designed Packard – combined with the scandalously clad women riding on said rear deck – was a fantastic success for his bikinis, as it toured first France, along the same route taken by the Tour de France, and then the rest of Europe.
With photos of the “land yacht” splashed across newspapers and magazines all over the country, and shortly after commemorative small-scale models, it’s not much of a stretch to say Réard’s Packard was France’s most well-known auto of the ’40s and ’50s.
The Packard has been preserved in its original condition, and as noted above, could sell for somewhere around CDN$500,000 per the auction house’s pre-sale estimates. We hope that unlike Vincent, its next owner shows it off a little more—though whether they do so with a couple of bikini-wearing models on the rear deck is up to them.
Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on Instagram ,Facebook and X to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice.