Great looking Caribbean! I have found that almost every town has a local historical society. I usually start with the local library and ask for their help contacting the historical society. So far, there has always been someone on the library staff that is a member of the local historical society. I suspect you will be surprised with the amount of info you will be able to uncover about the owner of the car and details about your really unique automobile. You might also try contacting Carol Mauck at the Packards International Club office. I believe Carol and her husband owned a 53 Caribbean in southern California in the 1990's. If the former owner was a Packards International Club member Carol will know the car.

Happy Holidays,
Mike Grimes

Jack,
Thanks for your note. Hope you find your car! All the best,
Mike

I have my 53 Caribbean 2678-2566 reluctantly for sale. It is meridian blue and I have the history of the car back to its original owner. I have the car posted on this website in the "For Sale" forum. Let me know if you have an interest and I'll send photos.

All the best,
Mike Grimes

The local PAC club in the Houston, TX area is The Lone Star Packards. Their website is:
http://www.lonestarpackards.com/

There are a number of post war technical experts in the club and several who have access to used parts. If you are not a member, please join. It's the cheapest technical support and social enjoyment bargain that can be found.

Here's another article on this subject:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080807/COL27/808070354/1001/NEWS

Below is a link to the RM Auctions site providing the results of the auction of the Packard Building Entrace. Does anyone know who was the winner of this special prize?

http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=MB08&CarID=r1001&Currency=

Also a side entrance was auctioned:
http://www.rmauctions.com/AuctionResults.cfm?SaleCode=MB08&SortBy=LN&View=Normal&Category=Nostalgia&Currency=#

Is there a part number, model and year, or other means to identify the foot operated jack you have modified? Looks like a great idea.

Great insight. You're correct. They were using jack points on the axle, I'll try using the bumper jack point.

For the first time with this car, I had the tires rotated and balanced on my 1951 Patrician 400. The tires are L78's, 15 inch diameter. The technician removed the rear fender skirts and the lug screws from the wheels but the tire was too wide for the cavity between the hub and the the fender wall to remove the tire. Their solution was to remove the air from the tire and the tire easily dropped from the cavity. They reversed the process replacing the tire. Placing the wheel on the rear spindel with no air in the tire and then reinflating the tire after the wheel was mounted in position. I don't recall ever having this problem with my 55 or 56 Patrician. Did the technician not have the patience to tilt the tire at the correct angle to remove it or is there a special technique with the 51 Patrician 400 for tire removal/replacement?

Try this link to the Chrome Colossus book via Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0070134936/ref=dp_olp_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1209150566&sr=8-1