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May I present Unobtainium. 1953/54 Packard rear quarter panel A/C intake vents (aka Scoops). I never seen one in person in all my years of Packarding, but here not thanks to a certain Xmas Elf, they sitting on my dinning room table. Need to be cleaned up, and painted before they are installed on the Packard.

I think they were a bribe to get me working on the car again. I think it may have worked! :)

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Congratulations. That is a rare find and your Xmas elf is a nice friend to have.

Are you going to make them functional or just decoration. Functional takes a hole in the fender for about a 1 1/2 - 2" duct which connects to a flapper valve inside a short metal duct going into the return air intake plenum for your unit -- one on each side.

The valves are controlled by knobs on the package shelf which are located between the return air inlets at the center openings. Packard AC had two returns and the grills looked like rear speaker grills with flocked wire cloth covering the opening. Yours is probably different but the principle is the same. The operating mechanism is similar to the windshield wiper switch with the cable working the flapper.

Howard, the plan is for decoration only since I have a 55 Packard branded trunk mount unit that does not employ the fresh air intakes. I'm trying to see if I can workup a "base plate" for the vents that would allow them to be mounted to the car with HD trim mounting tape, avoiding the need to drill any holes in the car since they will be non-functional.

Decorative is definitely easier but I don't have as much faith in the tape as you do. I know its almost impossible to release thin streamlined items like trim and logos but I believe the scoops will create quite a disruption in the air flow and there will be a lot of force trying to lift them off as the air pushes against the underside.

Strong magnets could work.

Magnets for car shows, then they could be stored while driving. :)

Cool! I had always thought these were cast with a chrome grill but they appear to be stamped steel with a wire mesh grill. It would be great to somehow replicate a couple pairs before they are installed. I know I would want a couple pairs myself as I have two '54 Patricians.

On the controls, weren't they in a pod on top of the steering column? Oddly the parts book shows that a number of components were different between 1953 and 1954 but the scoops and their gaskets were the same.

On the controls, weren't they in a pod on top of the steering column?

Yes. But not really "on top" of the column but where the column shroud meets the dash panel.

Yes, there are photo albums for both 1953 and 1954 factory A/C on my Packard / Imperial Page and I would love to borrow and replicate (or at least blueprint) the conponents or complete system in order to make an authentic-looking reproduction.

Wouldn't these be a natural for 3D printing?