This is one rare car, literally #1! It’s a 1956 Packard Caribbean Convertible #1001 and it’s in Syosset, New York and can be found on eBay with a current bid price of just over $10,000, but the reserve isn’t met. This could be a very collectible, desirable car, even more so than a regular ’56 Packard Caribbean Convertible would be. This car is, or was, Naples Orange; even the color sounds exotic and tropical.

The seller says that this is the first Packard Caribbean Convertible made in the last year that Packards were built in Detroit, and there’s a photo to prove it. The seller has a note on the auction listing: “(relisted with more info)”, but unfortunately they only show two exterior photos and there isn’t one engine photo! For such a rare car, one that they say fully “restored this car fetches over $300k”, I simply can not believe the small number of photos and the quality (mostly, the small size) of the photos. Sellers: if you have a car that you’re trying to sell, one that will be viewed online rather than in person, please provide good photos. And especially if it’s a rare car, like this one, a car that you probably expect will fetch six figures, please, for the love of Mike, go to a store and buy a digital camera and then pay whatever fees eBay charges to at least have the photos enlarge to a bigger size so potential buyers can see what they’re getting. But, there I go again, sorry. I’m sure that there’s a good reason why there aren’t any decent photos of this car.

Talk about a great interior! Or, it will be when it’s restored. This entire car will need a total nut and bolt, frame-off restoration. No worries what so ever if you’re looking at $300,000 when you’re done. I wouldn’t blink to spend $100,000 on this car and another $100,000 on a full restoration if the $300,000 figure was even remotely possible, we all would. Unfortunately, Hagerty lists a drop-dead perfect, #1 Concours, absolutely-flawless jewel box of a ’56 Caribbean Convertible at $53,900. Of course, that number is meaningless at an auction or with special cars such as this one is. I always wonder why someone would sell something like this instead of spending that $100,000 in restoration costs themselves and then pull in the huge profits if they say that it’ll sell for $300k?

Packard sure put out a great-looking car with the Caribbean. 1956 was the only year that Packard offered a hardtop version of the Caribbean and they made 263 of those so they’re even more rare, and it would seem more valuable. But, as we know, the price goes up when the top goes down, in general. These cars were powerful and luxurious, coming with factory AC and full power, including power door locks, a first for Packard. They came with a potent 374 V8 with 310 hp and two four-barrels; cool! This looks like a good car and certainly it’s a rare one. Whether it’s a $300,000 car remains to be seen, and it’ll have to have a six-figure restoration to test that theory. Anyone want to go in on this one with me?! What do you think about this car: is it a $300,000 car once it’s restored? What’s it worth now in this condition?