Happy birthday, BK! And thanks once again for all that you put into this website!

Is the coupe express for sale? I WANT ONE!

Yes, that's an intentional pun...

Do any of you have an issue of Collectible Automobile from September 1984 (it has the Request on the cover) that you would be willing to part with?

Failing that, would you be willing to photocopy and mail to me the article regarding the 1957-58 Packards that might have been? Someone from the Packard Automobile Classics group on Facebook posted excerpts from it and I want to read the entire thing.

Please PM me. Thanks!

My understanding is this:

1. Open cars are not as 'practical' as a closed car is to most people. Therefore, open cars are limited-production compared to closed cars.

2. BECAUSE an open car is rarer than a closed car, its value is higher.

3. Another major factor is that open cars rust out faster (and in more ways) than a closed car does. A convertible/roadster/phaeton that's left to sit outside will deteriorate more quickly than a closed car which has more protection from the elements.

All of the above factors contribute to a higher value for an open car.

Oh, Roger, didn't see your thread until I started mine. I went to the exhibit at Lawrence Tech today - it was very interesting!

This exhibit is at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI until the 2nd of May. I attended today, and it's very well done!

In 2016, this will be a documentary film as well. Here's a link:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/golden-age-american-car/#.VTvsfTGgvfs.facebook

Forgive me if this has been debated here before.

On one of the Facebook Packard groups, someone pointed out that there are styling similarities between the two.

And I know James Nance et al were considering Lincoln body shells for the '57 Packards.

But are any similarities coincidental? Or did Dick Teague's monumental '55-'56 updates make someone think at Lincoln? Or did Teague pick up hints in stylist 'shop talk' discussions?

Maybe no one knows now.

...but you don't have the wherewithal...I ran across this new-to-me link:

http://www.gibbonfiberglass.org/Packard-Bodies---parts.html

The column 'I Was There' in the January 2015 issue of Hemmings Classic Car has an interesting take on all of this.

The article is about Packard worker (and eventually field rep) Louis Trois, as recounted by his son, Joe.

Louis is quoted as saying, "They weren't capable of producing a real Packard, but we made them some damn fine Studebakers."