Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Brings back memories. Fairlawn NJ (a few towns away) used Mets in right-hand drive for traffic meter and parking enforcement back in those days. I'd guess they were about perfectly suited to that chore.

That's for police departments in towns where everyone knows who you are--they can just phone your neighbor and ask if so and so is home & then come over. Amazing how many teenagers can fit in one though and still have it get to the end of block. Also didn't know they had radar units small enough back then.

Owen,

I was familiar with the lack of ambulances, hearses, and other long wheelbase "professional" cars in the 55th and 56th series. I didn't know how else to refer to police and other government purchased vehicles.

The conventional suspension was standard on all early '55 Clippers, and optional on only the Custom/Constellation. Later in the model year it was offered on the Super/Panama. T/L was only a $150 option for an almost completely different driving experience, so it almost seemed to be "standard" in '55 because it was so frequently ordered by the dealers.

The spring suspension was even apparently available in '56 (according to the options listed on this thread), so Packard definitely had conventionally sprung chassis available that they could have stretched.

I don't know why they didn't--Lack of outside resources for bodies would be my guess, as well as cost. Unless it there was good potential for profits, Packard had a lot of other things to worry about.

But that still leaves the question of the "high speed equipment" unanswered. Perhaps somewhere there is a detailed breakdown of what this package contained, and whether it was part of what is often called a "police package" that has sometimes been available to the general public. Chrysler corp used to do that.

Here are the references for '56 provided by Brian:

HR......High Speed Car Equipment 5680 only
RC......Racing Car Equipment 5660 only

Interestingly, the "Racing" package was available on the top-line Clippers only and the "High Speed" package only on the Seniors. Once again, this indicates to me that "High Speed" would be a police pursuit type of vehicle provided on the Patrician, and similar equipment on the Clipper, but you wouldn't want to call a potential police car a "race car." Perhaps Packard thought re-entering the stock car circuit would beef up their image. I do recall an article in "Circle Track" where Smokey Yunick wrote about a NASCAR event in which a V8 Packard was entered, but broke a valve spring in a warmup lap.

OK, glad we're clear on "professional" cars. The mere existence of the "HR" and "RC" codes of course doesn't in and of itself mean they were ever implemented or used. As you suggest, perhaps they had an "idea" for some options which didn't come to pass. Of course what we'd like to see to clarify this is an original, unmolested vehicle with some unexpected goodies on it and with it's build slip which shows one of those codes. Now that would be a find; without such a find it's just wishful (hopeful?) thinking. But I suspect Packard was far to busy just hoping for there to be a tomorrow to entertain thoughts of performance kits, they had more trouble than they could handle just building the regular models.

The last government sale that is well-documented for the U.S. government was a 1951 Patrician by Derham for White House service. It saw very little use. The only one to a foreign government I'm aware of was a 1956 Patrician sold to the government of Iceland. Perhaps Mr. Helgason can comment further but either due to lack of qualified Packard service in Iceland, or perhaps quality problems, I understand the car was unreliable and either returned to Packard or sold to some private owner.

Owen,

Thanks for the info on the government sales. Maybe your source of information on these could also indicate sales to state and local governments, as in highway patrol and squad car sales. And I bet that '51 Patrician by Derham was the last Packard at the White House. Wonder what happened to it, and if Harry Truman was behind procuring it?

It seems though that even in the last days, Packard was interested in running in at least a few sanctioned races, although not as a factory sponsored team.

A complete post from past discussion on AACA on this topic:


Quote:

Still looking for that Smokey Yunick article. It included an anecdote when good ol' boy fans donated tires off their own cars to their favorite team when they ran short. Great article, and specifically mentions Packard. Could have been a Grand National or NASCAR event.

Remember this was in the days that to qualify as a "stock" car, the equipment had to be sold to a certain number of the public in order to be used in sanctioned stock car races. "Homologation" was the term. So there would have to have been a few cars out there equipped this way. Whether they exist today or not would be another question. Few people buy speed equipment without the intent to run a car hard, at least in the stoplight grand prix.

And if Packard wan't thinking about performance kits, why are they listed on Build Slip Codes?

Owen -

WRT those build codes like "HR" and "HC", you echo my sentiments exactly.

In fact, I decided that, unless they turned up in some other Trade Letter, I would not include those additional codes in the RPO charts that I composed. Still, I felt that those options were worth citing in this thread in the event that one of them actually turns up on a bona fide build code slip or other production record.

Yes, just because they were included as options doesn't mean they sold any such Packards, and I suppose the records are lost, so there would have to be an existing sample. That's why I suggest following AL's "hot rod Packard" to see if he comes up with a build sheet, and what's on it. How many leads are you likely to get? No one on the roster has commented on their cars.

Though it looks like "high speed equipment" shows up in both '55 and '56, and racing car equipment was added in '56.

Why would they kid around with these options, if they didn't seriously expect to sell some, and how likely is it that all dealers neglected to order any cars this way or offer the options to customers who were special ordering?

Quote:

Something tells me it would be worthwhile keeping them on the options list, if for no other reason than that they were undoubtedly offered, and do represent some history, whether they were sold or not. Other options may never have been sold, but there is no way of knowing for sure which ones. How long do you wait to see if the corroborating evidence for the performance options shows up in a Trade Letter or on the build sheet of a surviving car?

This seems like valuable information that, once unearthed, should at least stay documented.

I suspect that this info is already on the site, but, here goes again.

The Studebaker Museum in South Bend has copies of the production orders for most of the 1956 (and only 1956) Packards. Included in the production order is a list of the accessories included on the car, its first dealer and shipping location, the key numbers and sometimes a handwritten note mentioning the date the car was completed.

The info is available for senior cars, I'm not sure about Executives or Clippers. Andrew Beckman is the archivest at the museum.

If you would like a copy of your car's production order, call the museum's gift shop and give them your production number. They advertise 4 to 6 weeks to respond, however, I have received them back within two weeks.

The cost is $40.00 per production order plus postage.

The info is available for senior cars, I'm not sure about Executives or Clippers.

At least until recently they have not been available for the Caribbean convertibles as those sheets are (were?) in private hands.

Though it looks like "high speed equipment" shows up in both '55 and '56, and racing car equipment was added in '56.

I'm really not trying to throw cold water on this, but if the options existed, I would think there would some evidence of unique parts, whatever they might be, in the parts manual. Has anyone found any "racing" or "high performance" components listed?