Just to add to LINC400 comments, Packard and the Ford Motor Company had a fairly congenial relationship with each other. Ford's letter of congratulations on the event of Packard's 50th Anniversary is an example of that.

No, Lincoln was not in the hearse business. And neither Packard or Cadillac built hearses. Packard and Cadillac produced a commercial chassis that could be purchased for conversion to hearses, flower cars, ambulances, etc. Lincoln did not.

Many companies used the Cadillac chassis, Superior, Sayers & Scoville, Miller Meteor, Eureka, etc. In 1938 or so, Henney and Packard signed an agreement making each other exclusive. Henney would only use the Packard chassis, and Packard would only sell to Henney. This, plus the increase in Cadillacs popularity, resulted in there being far more Cadillac hearses than Packards. On rare occasions, someone could take a regular passenger car from another manufacturer and have it converted to a hearse. But this was much more expensive and less practical

It was not ironic, but on purpose, than Henry Ford was carried in a Packard hearse. Henry Ford was driven out of the original Henry Ford Company. After he was gone, the company was renamed Cadillac. Plus Cadillac was competition to the Lincoln division. So there was no way Henry was going to ride in a Cadillac hearse. The family looked for, but could not locate a Lincoln hearse. With good reason, with no chassis or manufacturer using Lincolns, hardly any were built. So a Packard was chosen instead. It was still competition for Lincoln, but Henry was never kicked out of Packard, and did not have an intense hatred of the company like he did for Cadillac.

The story I've read goes to say that the family looked for a Lincoln hearse but were unable to locate a funeral house in the area that had one. But of course there were Lincoln hearses, like Packards they were bodied by coach builders that specialized in that area though the Henney relationship with Packard was pretty much of an exclusive thing by that time.

If you go to the Professional Car Society web pages you might find some pictures of such Lincolns, I haven't checked but wouldn't be suprised if you found some.

You might also consider rattling around www.coachbuilt.com for information about Lincoln professional cars. There is a special dedicated section just of the coachbuilders for professional vehicles.

Packard's been out of business for many years, so it's a given that any new Packard will be that in name only.

Why do all these designs using the name try to evoke Packards from the past, then?

Why not do a 21st century Packard that uses some design elements (e.g. grill with "shoulders", red hexagons), but reflects what a Packard might have been had it survived until the present day as a company?

Again, all this is my humble opinion....

I've always found it ironic that the first Henry Ford went to his final resting place (in 1947) in a 1942 Packard hearse...

So now I'm curious...was Lincoln even in the hearse BUSINESS that year?

The short answer is yes. You will need the 55 V-8 manual shift transmission bell housing, flywheel, and clutch assembly. The clutch disc may need to be from a 288. There are more informed experts here who can advise you further.

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You inquired about the plating, asking if you should do chrome instead of silver. The choice would be between chrome and nickel (not silver), with nickel being the correct choice if you want to remain authentic. Nickel has quite a different lustre than chrome and at least in my opinion these earlier cars look far better with nickel trim than with chrome. Cost is about the same to have it redone as nickel is the layer that underlays chromium in bright chrome plating.

Keep us posted on your progress, love the car.

The early Packards are not my area of expertise but have you looked through the photos of '26 models on this website? I think you'll find that not one of the factory photos of the period show a '26 with whitewalls. And yet, over half of the restored Packards shown do have whitewalls. I like whitewalls myself on most late forties and definitely early fifties but I think your car was probably delivered with blackwalls. Your call.

For what it is worth. I would suggest keeping a 47 Super Clipper orginal as possible. Some of these are the only post war cars recongized by the Classic Car Club(they recently added a Chrysler Town and Country). I think the models are 2103 and 2106.

If it's of any help to you, my 1962 Wagner catalog lists the following for a 1955 senior:

FC8699 for rear
FC20251 for front