The '56 FI Executive belongs to Roscoe and Mary Stelford in Illinois. Attached (I hope) are additional photos that appeared in the December 2009 Sidemount, Packards of Chicagoland monthly newsletter.

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I was a junior in high school and just cut from the varsity football team. I eased the pain by chasing girls and looking for street rod projects (bought a 1940 Chevy with a buddy). Little did I know how much pain each of those would cost me.

My daily driver at the time was a 1968 Rambler American. Packards were still 3-4 years away but I was fascinated by old (1920's -40's) cars.

Looks like this is going on my Christmas list.

They say when you choose a wife, first look at her mom (at least my dad told me that). In the case of cars it's look at her dad and their relationship. Did he have her as his helper when he was working on the car, buliding a deck, wiring the basement? If so, she is more likely to appreciate and take interest in our projects. I got lucky. My wife grew up helping her dad do the routine maintenance on his cars back in the 60's and early 70's. When we were dating she went with me to junk yards and swap meets looking for parts. She even kicked in $100 to help me buy my first Packard.

So now it's pass it forward. My daughters have helped me work on my two Packards as well as our modern cars. We also go to club events, cruise nights and car shows as a family. If they pick a car guy as a husband, he shouldn't get too much grief.

Hey, there are worse vices. I bet Tiger wife wouldn't have taken a 5 iron to him if were tinkering with an old car

My unrestored '53 Caribbean has a black firewall. My friend Gary Thomas' restored '54 is also black. He was awarded the James Nance award at the 1996 PAC National. I believe each car left the plant as an unpainted standard convertible and was shipped to Mitchell-Bently for custom bodywork and finishing.

Kev,

One of the Briggs stamping plants was at 11631 Mack Ave, Detroit, MI 48214. This is now the site of Chrysler's Mack Ave Stamping plant. I am not sure Packard bodies were produced there. Maybe at the Conner Ave plant (which Nance eventually purchased).

Tom,

Have you tried OEM Glass in Chenoa, IL ? They make reproductions for several makes going back to 1927. They also claim to use the correct marks. A friend of mine used them for his award winning 1954 Caribbean and was very pleased. I plan on using them for my '37 120 when the time comes. Here is their link:

http://www.oemglass.net/index.html

Make sure the leads are connected correctly at the coil. Reversed polarity would definitely cause a problem like this. Ask me how I know that

I had the same problem this summer. NAPA no longer had the Echlin IC-9. Try the standard UC-14. I got mine from Pep Boys but it was about 40 bucks. Here is the thread.

https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=3110&forum=2

You may enjoy this commercial from the vault.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdHp5mM56ts&feature=player_embedded#t=28