Brian, come to think about it I have a 56 Caribbean hartop that I forgot about. I'll get over to the storage building next week and photograph the roof.

Brian, somewhere I have a small piece of original material that I took off a hardtop 35 years ago. I'll try and locate it in the swill at my place.

Brian, after 28 years of doing Perrysburg they are going to try for an indoor flea market like Frederick with the cars outdoors at a fair ground. The hotel would be secondary to the car show instead of making the hotel the attraction. 300 surveys were sent to people who have registered and paid the fees to make the show happen, the result is to try something new for next year and see what happens. We are not burning bridges with the hotel and could indeed move back after a trial at the new venue.

Brian, it is a 99 percent confirmed rumor.

John, the u tube link shows no video available. Joel.

The 1957 Packard hood bird has a different curvature on the bottom to fit the Studebaker hood. I am sure they just modified the original die to make the change.

PackardV8, I too live in a vintage home circa 1919. I get my copy of Old House Journal (The Hemmings of old house restoration) every month. My wife has been getting vintage outfits together for the annual fashion show at the Packard national meets. I have been working on my Packards since 1973 and my house in the Ford Homes historic district for 17 years. With the exception of electronics, I am not all that fond of the new items on the scene today. The new houses with cardboard walls and vinyl siding are a joke. We get a lot of antique cars come through the neighborhood in the summer as we are only 1 mile from Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford.

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I was at the national Packard meet in 2006 with my 1956 Packard. The 1956 models were the cars that were focused on. We had a grand entrance to the proving grounds of all 1956 models with horns blowing all the way in. Then the 1956 models were parked in special places in circles so they could be viewed and photographed easily. I am so glad I had my car there and brought my friend Roscoe Stelford and his wife Mary in our car to enjoy the day. I am going to try and attach a photo taken in 1973 at the proving grounds with a much younger Joel Ray and Roscoe Stelford. Walter Holmes is in the center of the photo. He was about the last real Packard mechanic in Detroit.He started working at Packard dealers in 1929 and worked well past the end at the remaining dealers that still serviced Packards. He has since passed on.

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Brian, you got everything exactly right except the 1957 Packabakers. The letters look the same but have a different curvature to fit the Studebaker hood. I suspect they were modified from the original dies to save money in 1957.

There is no mystery to the amber courtesy lamp lenses. I had some samples made in the injection die before we made the one run of courtesy light lenses. I still have a pair put away. I took a pair of these lenses to a national Packard convention years ago and put them into the proper Packard envelopes to see peoples reactions. All kinds of theories were put forth. I had to burst everyones bubble when I told them that I had them manufactured. I got a great smile on my face when the experts were crestfallen by being taken in so easily. The gold side trim was indeed made by Packard for a show car and I have had many pieces of it over 30 years. Fred Kanter has some of it as he bought it from me over the years.