A lot of people have forgotten that factory-authorized accessories and accessories offered by dealers were two different animals. There were several Packard dealers that offered GM/Delco's Autronic Eye- even though it was not in the salesman's book of official accessories.

Earle C. Anthony offered these units in 1955-56 and possibly earlier as their own accessory. I bought a 56 Patrician many years ago from an old lady in Hollywood and it was equipped with Autronic Eye. She hated it because she could not understand how it worked and got stopped by the LAPD for flashing her headlights at them (the unit was not adjusted properly)! They also sold a vacuum ashtray accessory as well. So did other dealers. I had both a '55 and a '56 Four Hundred so equipped with the ashtray.

One of my 1956 Caribbeans came with a GM/Delco Autronic Eye laying in a box in the trunk. It had never been installed but was painted to match the vehicle interior.

Also there was the Packard Esquire (as written up years ago in the Packard Club's Cormorant magazine). These rare cars also featured Autronic Eye.

And GM sold the Autronic Eye unit- as an accessory in general as well as official dealer and factory-installed options. You could buy a whole Autronic Eye kit through a Delco Electric dealer.

Eventually, these units came with a special 3-position floor-mounted headlight headlight dimmer switch which eliminated the need for two switches.

So. There is every possibility that your car had this item installed when new.

I understand that Packard had planned to have this feature anyway for 1957. Lincoln, Imperial, Continental as well as several GM cars would have it. Ford and Chrysler licensed their units from GM anyway into the 1960s.

The article in the Spring, 1984 issue of The Packard Cormorant was indeed copyrighted, so yes, it is a violation of same to copy it and post it. While it is nice to see references to the Panther Story and The Panther Log, it is nicer when folks ask permission to print or reproduce parts of the article.

By the way, The Panther Log was originally a collaborative effort between Leon Dixon and George Hamlin, however I have since updated the log to the present.

In recent years, some people have touted the silver-gray car as it exists today as THE Mitchell-Bentley car, but in fact, the car that was originally owned by Mitchell-Bentley is the yellow/bronze car with the removable hardtop,side windows and 55 rear tail lights.

Thanks anyway for the plug.

There is little confusion in the thread. The Tchaika or "Chaika" (as it has usually been known and spelled in the USA) and the ZIL are similar, but different cars. Just like the 1955-56 Packard and Clipper. I think of the Chaika as the counterpart to the Clipper. Both even have two syllables.

Often I have seen ZILs referred to as Chaikas and vice-versa. In one set of photos in the thread there is an obvious ZIL, but it is labeled as a Tchaika. ZIL is the senior car and looks more like a 1956 Packard from the front. There were different versions of the ZIL (sedans, limos, convertibles) and a special ZIL 111G that was made in a convertible for Nikita Kruschev.

The ZIL (actually ZIL 111) was NOT based on 1956 Packard factory dies, but was obviously copied the senior Packard right down to the cathedral style tail lights in the rear. Some pieces were copied from 1957 Ford (like the side trim), some from 1956 Ford, some from Cadillac, some from Pontiac, some from Chrysler, etc.

The Chaika (like the 1955-56 Clipper) had toned-down grille, different side trim, tail lights and rear quarters.

There is a Chaika in the LeMay museum collection in Tacoma Washington. However, it is described as the "car for communist party high rollers." In fact, if you were a big wheel in Russia, you were in a ZIL... smaller wheels rode in Chaikas!