Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post: Where's the Custom Packards? Continue reading the Original Blog Post
I was just a Navy (Seebee) brat, and on the wide expanse of base at Port Hueneme, behind all the material that was shipping to and from Vietman, was the parking lot full of cars for the shipped out sailors. Many sat sadly with four flat tires, hinting that the next duty station was not back there, or they that would not be coming home. As a kid with a bike I would stand at the fence line and note the tr-5's, the muscle cars from the car lots next to the base, yes son just $50.00 down and pay me on payday.
I dont know where they are now. In 1953 they were on the SHOWROOM floor. I have taken this image from the Hemmings motor news website, if this contravenes any copyright please remove.
Let's not forget the Packard Predictor, a concept car from Packard that looks like it could have been a custom dreamed up by one of the big custom builders of the 50's.
No, built in Finland. https://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11.../packard-custom-cars/lasse-menp-1956-packard/
Thanks for your post Jive-Bomber. Always cool to hear stories about the 55/56 Clippers. I was surprised in a good way when I opened up the HAMB to see my car staring back at me. I said "finally!!!"
One day I might actually have a kustom Packard to share LOL!!! My '53 has been a very slow going project for the last ten years now. Holy cow, it's been 10 years??? Dang.... It's been in hibernation for last 4 years or so. The only real "kustom" progress on it has been the frenched '51 Ford headlight rings, but I have also installed a complete new wiring harness and set it up for a SBC and Pglide. Like egads said, they are already pretty kustom looking in stock form. My very favorite feature of the early-mid 50s models is the door handles being "hidden" in the beltline molding so they look shaved at first glance.
Built this one for Less Miller of Philly, PA, back in the early 90's. Started out as a very nice mild custom 4 door. Then he got the idea to go further! Did a Pro Street conversion on the chassis, with a high dollar SBC. Brought it to me to do the following: 2 door "coupe"conversion ( he didn't want to extend the doors), chopped, with Dodge rear window. Yellow 'Sunrise' fade paint, like Dore's Caddy, with Magenta Candy flames. Also did a lot of other small things to it. Must add: all HIS choices on style. I would have done things a bit differently.
The very first Packard I remember seeing was in the spring of 1975, a 1955 Clipper Constellation. It had been painted a single shade of metallic blue, and belonged to a Ohio University student. A nice clean car.
Thanks Sancho. I heard that some Packard guys who worked in the design side went over to Ford. I always thought the 55/56 Packards looked like Mercury's. Good eye
the problem was a stodgy reputation, build quality and the fact that they stuck with the straight 8 way too long.
The story is that Packard had a deal to buy the sheetmetal dies from Ford for the 1956 Lincoln and was planning on tooling up another full-size Packard model based on it for the 1957 model year when their plans went to shit with Studebaker and Packards ended up being warmed-over rebadged Studes at the end. Put a '56 Lincoln next to a '56 Packard and you can kinda see where they were going to go with that plan. I'd like to see a '56 Lincoln body get built with a pair of '56 Clipper tail lights and a 55-56 dual bullet front bumper and maybe the Clipper dash, just to see what might have been. Packard's dies got sent to Russia to build the ZIL 111, not hard at all to see the similarities.
Packard built a ton of airplane motors (and airplane motors adapted to marine use), but they never used the Auto Straight 8 in airplanes. Too damn heavy. Lot's of V12's of their own design built for and after WWI, and of course Packard was contracted to build the Rolls-Royce Merlin after the German bombs started hitting The Island. Packard Liberty V12: Packard V-1650 (Merlin)
Thank you Sir for that cool bit of information. Wow those v12's look strong and nothing to play with.
The straight 8 may have been a smooth running engine like so many Packards but I am not so sure it had would have been at home on a racetrack or an airplane. Here is a picture of a 1916 Liberty engine number 1 in the long line of Liberty 12s. This engine was built specifically to go racing in 1916 as the AAA limitation at Indy for instance was 300 cubic inches. This engine was 299 cubic inches and was the only 12 cylinder to ever finish the Indy 500 (6th place in 1919) and it led the first half of the race-had to make a long pit stop to free a frozen wheel bearing). It was heavy but could push the 299 racer (as it was called) to 120mph in the straights at the board tracks in the teens. Here it is on the outside of the front row at Indy in 1919(#4 with De Palma driving)
The Jalopy Journal
