A few possibilities. In the engine compartment where the mechanism is, there is a small coil spring that pulls the latch against the ratchet which may be missing or damaged, there may be a wire from the rats nest bunch in that area out of place pushing against and preventing the latch from engaging fully, or the latch may be damaged or sticking.

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I would think quite a bit less. The fact these went for such a sum makes me wonder why--and who were they bought by. I didn't watch any of auction but were the usual high dollar cars going for such large amounts. To me, it's been amazing the number of people at car shows (even Packard folks) that think anything postwar is second class and barely worthy of the Packard name. Anything not built on Grand ave, rates lower than that. Even in the crazy market of a few years ago with Cads and Chevys going for huge amounts, the highest I ever saw for a V8 Caribbean convertible was in the 60-70k range.

Here's instructions for disassembly for older version. Yours very similar except for way coiled tube looks and attaches. I don't remember exactly how so you'll have to figure out. Once you get that off you can pull strip out and examine without taking ant section off motor. It should almost fill tubing--if markedly shorter, then broken. Look carefully for any worn spots that are thinner or chipped as compared to rest of strip--frequently there is kinda a half moon spot missing where the pinch rollers wore it away. If it appears Ok, then we'll move to next step.

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Does motor keep running when it stops? If not, could be damaged or straining. If it keeps going, is there any damage evident to sections that could be causing a bind. If they are OK then there is the slim possibility of corrosion or a rough spot inside the tubes. Each section has a small brass finger arrangement at the bottom that keeps tight contact with the one it slides in. You might try a dab of lubricant and let it run down inside but I doubt it will help. I suspect that since it won't go up all the way or go down without help the nylon strip is damaged or broken at the point it stops--a common happening. Take it apart and check strip carefully for worn spots. If memory serves, it is an odd shape and I don't think there is an exact replacement. It is also crimped to top section. Let us know what you find and maybe we can come up with something.

I'm impressed! Was something on it made of solid gold?

We'll keep our fingers crossed. You'll find that almost all Packard reversible motors of that era are of the type that consists of 2 separate field windings equal, but wound in opposite directions. The wires from cable feed each winding independently, the other end of windings connect to one of brushes and other brush connects either to the frame of motor and to ground via the mounting screws or is brought out as a short separate wire to go on a mounting screw. Either way it connects to the car frame which is connected to battery. Window & seat, convertible pump (which is photo attached), antenna, Torsion level, etc. The only one offhand I can think of that is different is the electric shift.

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There are a couple of different types but both work by pulling or pushing a nylon strip attached to topmost section. One type is detailed with service instructions in the Aug 51, Vol 25 #8 SC available on the website. Essentially you separate the motor from drive mechanism so the worm gear is free and then manually pull the nylon strip thru pinch rollers. If yours has a long piece of curved tubing clamped to outside and connected to bottom of motor assy that is the one detailed. Other type is a shorter affair with a reel takeup and don't recall seeing details on that one to refer you to. You keep saying cables plural and you hook THEM up which bothers me since there should only be one wire out of the cable connected at a time and other battery lead going to antenna housing but at any rate good luck.

EDIT: just noticed your fender assy. The antenna you have is a slightly different version of the one mentioned above so the instructions should be able to help you.

Waiting for your pix. As you've found the hard way, there are some hidden screws on some moldings..Some are clips only and others are a combination of clips and threaded studs with nuts that you have to get at from inside car or other barely accessible places.

Little confused when you said you hooked leads up to battery and then reversed. The antenna body itself is one lead and goes to ground then there is an up wire and a down wire which one or other gets power from ign switch. If this is the way you had it hooked up and just clicks then you will have to open it up.

They are crimped. I was able to remove by VERY carefully starting at the front and prying the bottom out with a thin curved tool. I made mine out of 1/8 inch flat stock, sort of resembling a crow bar end, and ground to a thin edge. Once started, it went reasonably well and minimal damage which was able to be straightened. This was a Caribbean and don't remember exactly differences but think yours might be thinner. Unless you suspect a lot of rust under, it might be easier to leave on, polish and mask as necessary.