Beautiful find! While more of a family oriented ride, I find the styling to be absolutely stunning! I consider the '55-'56 Packards a high water mark in automotive styling. Lucky fucker! Tim D.
Actually, dropping standards is what eventually killed Packard. Hear me out on this one. Before the Depression, Packard was THE mass produced luxury car to own. Remember the slogan, "Ask the man who owns one."? However, during the Depression Packard began to lower the standards of manufacturing in order to keep pricing within reach of the ever dwindling luxury car buying market. Cadillac didn't follow that path and kept their production standards and level of opulence that their loyal customer base had become accustomed to. After the Depression and WWII were over, Cadillac had taken over as the perceived leader in luxury cars and they now had the sales to back it up. The post war boom just fed the fire of Cadillac's growing legion of buyers. Packard had a hard time regaining the prestige they had before the Depression and well, it went downhill from there. Packard still made a very good car but the public perception had shifted and that was the death knell for a fine brand. Class dismissed.
Man, I'll second that WOW! I've got to admit that as I started to read this story at first I half expected to hear that some guy died in it or someting.
low plate number? I have SP 0153 mint condition hanging on my wall. they came with my 53 cpe de ville.. I switched to 1953 oregon plates
Right on! Add another four door HAMBer to the roster. Unless of course you are going to weld the back doors up or something goofy like that.
I won a shop manual, and a parts book of ebay for cheaper than a repro manual would cost. In the trunk was a box of Packard literature, and at the bottom of that was a 900 page 1955 hard back Chilton repair book. Thankfully it has regular tube shocks on it instead of the lever action variety. theHighlander, I wasn't trying to sound sanctimonious about the rarity, if I came off that way. I can't remember the last time I saw a 50's Packard on the road. I just thought that was a fairly low production number of vehicles...even if this is the moredoor version of the luxury car. I'll consider joining the Packard club, but I have my reservations. I'm afraid it'll be a 'wine and cheese' type of club populated by those who view their cars as monetary status symbols and don't work on them. It's hard to get tech help from someone who sends their car to the shop. This car has power steering, power brakes, power windows, power antenna, wonder bar radio, and an under seat heater. I don't have any of those on my daily commuter! When I was cleaning the interior, I found what appears to be a kill switch under the dash. It's a toggle about 1/4" high that wired into the ignition bundle. I asked grandpa several times if there was anything unusual that I should know about. He told me there wasn't, and said it ran great until the day the battery died. It got me wondering if they didn't know about the switch, and bumped it with a knee, and then it mysteriously 'died'. fiat128, go track down a set of 1959 '113' big valve heads, send them to Russ Meeks shop, get them modified for better cooling, then you'll have your answer!
for starters, I am pretty jealous and wish I didnt open this post. 2nd, have you looked into the detroit iron manuals on cd? I really dont like having manuals on cd because its a pain but the cd for my 52 lincoln has 5 or 6 different manuals on it for about $50.
Thats great find. I grew up in Oregon and love to go back to my parents house for vacation and take road trips around the area to see what my dad and I might find. There is alot of barn fresh out there.
Scott - Fidget Congrats on the find. My 56 is running pretty good now and will be a daily driver soon. I too found mine by accident and suddenly became a Packard owner. The small toggle switch under the dash is for the torsion ride suspension. First Item of business: Get a copy of the owners manual and the parts manual. Indispensable!!!! You can get them from some of the Packard dealers, Merritt, Kanter or go visit packardinfo dot com. You're right about the Packard owner's clubs. Very much into tours and such in their prefect restorations, BUT they are still very knowledgable. Most have owned multiple Packards and have had do their own work, b/c none of the shops even recognize the name Packard. There is also groups of Packard believers that have looked into upgrading, disc brakes (on my list), engine improvements, tranny swaps,etc. Its a different brand of car and people will recognize that when you do drive it. But like anything, its yours so do with it what you want. If you're concerned about rarity. Sell it and buy an easier car to work on like a 50's ford or Chevy. I know I've had a hard time finding parts. Just to help out - Oil filter for the 352 is a cartridge style, I use the WIX 51006. Monroe shocks (truck version) can be an added improvement. Make your own plug wires but the autolite parts for the ignition are available from any GOOD engine shop (Good, meaning they've been around for a long time and still have the 70's books that list Packard) PM if you need some help locating info. Jon
Thanks for straightening me out on the toggle switch, man do I feel dumber than usual! I got the manuals, and I'll check out that site!
check the obvious. the car should be 6 volt. owners may have used 12 volt to charge/jump and blew the electrical.
LUV IT!!! Majestic beauty, these babys are cruisers, you should have a blast with it. Hope you just clean it up and drive it. Congrats-Sololobo
Cool man...I recently scored a 57 packard wagon (4 weeks ago) but now have to sell it as my daughter had some medical bills due to a rattlesnake bite...Packards are cool and had some awesome two and tri-tone paint schemes...drop em a little and you are good to go...have fun
That was my first thought, but this is a twelve volt. It looks like one of the firewall mounted resistors blew.
A old guy named Sandy Chirco at Chirco automotive in Tucson, Arizona sells Packard parts. He has been collecting them forever. Good luck with your fine find.
Wow!? Cool find...I found a 1955 Packard 400 in Orlando a while back...It currently sits in a garage waiting some more attention. I put a Chrysler 727 behind the Packard 352...The torsion level deal is crazy...Good luck..contact me if you need any pointers...I may be able to help with some info. Tim MBL
A Chrysler 727 will adapt? How hard was that? I've heard, and read, that the Ultramatic transmissions are a pain in the butt. Hey Chaz, right back at you buddy!
The 1955 Packards are 12V positive ground, and you're correct on the Packard Club being a "wine and cheese" type of club. Several of us Packard V8 owners started The Packard V8 Club just for this reason. Keep an eye on your oil pressure, as the oil pumps are notoriously junk. We've solved the problem by adapting an Oldsmobile oil pump to the Packard V8, but you'll lose your vacuum wipers. No problem, a wiper motor from a Tri-5 Chevy car is a direct fit. See: http://www.1956packardpanther.com/PV8C_OHVOPA.html As for the Ultramatic, my 1956 Patrician sat for 41 years before I got it, and the trans works fine after a fluid change. Just use Type F and you'll be ok.
I owned this 1955 Patrician back in the early 1970's and got it from the original owning family. Randy in Portland, OR
I can't think of a better reason to bring back a 6 year old thread, especially the part about knowing the original owners. If I was the OP, I'd sure appreciate it.
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