Howard -

Personally, I have seen far more aftermarket mirrors than OE. While may look period-correct, I have also seen plenty of other styles from much later years, but those with a rectangular-shaped head look a bit out of character to me. In either case, I see more of these cars with side view mirrors mounted on the door body.

The placement of a radio antenna may have some impact on the decision. Although the factory template allows for a mirror to be mounted on the front fender in that case, the end result looks a bit crowded (to me).

The aftermarket mirrors that are presently mounted on the fenders of my Caribbean Hardtop have a screw and joint that allows the head to be rolled left-to-right, but I'm not about to mess with that after so many years - especially since I'm gonna replace 'em anyway.

The head of the factory-issue mirror can also be rolled a bit, and having them mounted further forward on the fender increases the field of view.

BTW, my dad once told me that he did not use the factory template when locating the mirrors on the fender, but eye-balled them for best view (whatever that means).

However, he recently added that the reason he went with fender mounting was for the view through the windshield - specifically, that the wipers kept that perspective clear of rain/snow (unlike the view through either front door window). Of course, that might not be much of a consideration for fair-weather only use.

For 1956, did Packard and Clipper still use the belt-molding type mirrors that ‘51-‘54 had? My 1956 Clipper which I hope to have running soon will need mirrors as it has none now and I don’t want to use fender-mounted mirrors.

No, the mirrors did not mount on the belt molding.

Don -

The 55-56 version could be mounted on the front fender(s) or front door(s). Refer to the factory template that Owen_Dyneto kindly provided earlier in this thread.

See my previous post #4 in this thread where the mirror (though this is the bad one I got form American Arrow) is mounted to the body of the front door - located per the factory template.

On cars with twin rear antennae, I just happen to prefer a pair of mirrors on the front fenders.

A few weeks ago, I took my dad out for dinner on his 92nd birthday - to the Quaker Steak & Lube in Warren, OH.

Normally, we would go to the original location in Sharon, PA for their hot wings and cold beer, but I wanted him to visit an old friend - the 1956 Caribbean convertible that's on a lift in the dining area at the Warren locations.

You see, while the one and only owner of the car was from Warren, he actually drove across the state line, to Bell Motor Sales in Sharon, PA, to buy this car back in the summer of 1956 - where my dad worked as a mechanic. Dad remembers doing the pre-delivery inspection on that car.

As I munched on my order of wings and took a swig of a beer, I looked up and smiled when I saw an OE side view mirror - mounted on the left front fender. When we were finished eating, my dad got up and took a walk around the car, and noticed that there wasn't a mirror on the other side of the car. Go figure.

My dad has never been one to say much about occasions like this, but as we drove off, he said, "I bet there aren't too many guys out there who can say they had dinner with a car that they worked on 63 years ago.

I just received a pair of the “made in China” fender mirrors that are on eBay and they look relatively authentic from a distance but they are very cheaply made and look it up close. For me that’s not a problem as my car doesn’t even run yet but they are certainly not suitable for a show car and are barely good enough for a daily driver!