1958 Packard Rita Is a Lavender Pearl Chariot for the Love Goddess

Hayworth's career was a mammoth one, as she starred in no less than 61 movies spanning almost four decades. Born in 1918, she became famous thanks to flicks such as Only Angels Have Wings (1939), Gilda (1946), and Pal Joey (1957).

The name thus weighs a lot in the movie industry, and has even been included in the top 25 female actors in a survey by the American Film Institute. Over the years, she became known in the industry as the Love Goddess.

Rita Hayworth's name was also associated from time to time with impressive cars, despite the actress not necessarily being a collector of such things. Perhaps the most famous car she owned was a 1953 Cadillac Series 62 by Ghia she received as a gift, one of just two such examples to have ever been made.

There is however someone in this world who makes celebrity cars for a living. And by celebrity cars I mean vehicles dedicated to this or that famous person: Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley are just a few of the names honored this way.

The one who does this is named John D'Agostino, owner of California-based D'Agostino Kustoms. Together with another shop based in California, Oz Kustoms, D'Agostino put together a 1958 Packard as a tribute to Hayworth, and showed it to the world for the first time in 2016.

Fittingly nicknamed Rita, the car is based on a vehicle that has long left the automotive scene, but comes back from time to time to haunt the dreams of those wishing to own rare and precious cars from the past.

Mechanically speaking the Packard is about the same as it was when it originally rolled off the assembly lines, in that it hides under the hood its original 289ci engine – mechanically identical with how it was, but now detailed and chromed to impress the crowds.

Visually, however, the Packard is an entirely different affair. It all starts with the flashy color spread all over the body, a House of Kolor hue named Lavender Pearl, and continues with the very visible changes made to the metal.

The car's top was chopped by a rather large five inches to make it look lower. To add the feeling of more length, the car's suicide doors were extended by eight inches. On top of that, the hood is now longer than it used to be, the fenders and tailfins have been reshaped, and frenched taillights were added at the rear.

As a final touch of custom coolness, the windshield of the car was pushed back by about six inches.

The feeling one gets when looking at this highly modified vehicle is one of complete smoothness. And it's a feeling that is continued inside as well, thanks to a complete redesign of the cockpit.

Decked in the same lavender colors as the bodywork, only sporting Pearl White accents as well, the interior only has room for two people, who can rest their feet on carpeting made of New Zealand-sourced wool, and their hands on a pearl steering wheel.

In between the two seats, there is a custom center console that rises into the original dashboard, devoid of any unnecessary modern pieces of technology (read screens, sound systems, and so on).

The 1958 Packard Rita rests for the time being in the possession of John D'Agostino, but that will soon change. The 15-inch original wheels of the car, wrapped in Coker tires, will probably spin under new ownership from late January 2024, as it is listed for sale during the Barrett-Jackson auction taking place in Scottsdale.

There is no reserve of the custom Packard, and that means it will go to the highest bidder, no matter the sum offered. It also means it’s virtually impossible for anyone to make an estimate as to how much it will get, but given what it means for the industry, it's likely that the price will not be very low after all.

Just to give you an idea of where it might sit when the hammer falls, consider the fact a car from this breed, in the best of conditions, is estimated by valuation house Hagerty to be worth close to $50,000.

The Packard is a multiple award winner, having snatched the Sam Barris Memorial Award at the Sacramento Autorama, for instance, and was even on display overseas, in Sweden and Norway - something almost no other custom car made in America can brag about.

Why, even the Petersen Automotive Museum took note of the car's existence and featured it there. Coincidentally, Petersen also housed Hayworth's Cadillac.

We will come back to this story once we learn for how much the car went.

Update: sold for $170,500.