How many Packard Custom Eights are left in New Zealand?
Unicorn 1 in 2,337,436 on the road Built 1948 American
Updated from the NZTA Motor Vehicle Register, counted as at 31 August 2026. Recounted every month.
The top of Packard's first post-war range. The 1948 restyle wrapped the old Clipper body in smooth, full-width sides, a look later nicknamed the bathtub. The Custom Eight had a longer wheelbase and the biggest engine, a 356 cubic inch straight eight with nine main bearings that was famous for its silence.
Still on the road, by model year
2 from 1948.
What Unicorn means
Spotto grades every car by how many are still registered in New Zealand. With 2 still registered, the Packard Custom Eight is Unicorn: the grade for cars with fewer than 5 left.
By how many are left it ranks 9th of the 11 Packard models and equal 2,524th of all 2,903 cars in Spotto's catalogue.
The six grades: Common, 8,000 or more · Uncommon, 1,200 to 7,999 · Scarce, 175 to 1,199 · Rare, 25 to 174 · Super rare, 5 to 24 · Unicorn, fewer than 5.
Seen one?
Spotto grades every car on New Zealand roads by how many are still registered, down to the generation and the badge. Log the ones you spot, build a collection, and see who else has found one.