Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

According to the Nance Papers, Packard surveyed people about the Request at the 1955 Chicago Auto Show and the results were mixed at best, leading the Product Committee to reject it for future production, concluding that no circa-1940 grill could be made to look modern.

The version that Schmidt's team settled on for the Predictor and '57 Program was deemed modern.

Hey...you may be right. At least it is said that Teague gave us the "cathedral" tail light...or so legend has it. I wonder if he was just bored that Easter Sunday or inspired!?

Now, I am changing the subject: I have experienced two 1956 factory Packard a/c units and I was impressed with their effectiveness [for the time] and the beautiful integration that was done with the dashboard.

It is very sad to see what Studebaker-Packard did with this namesake in 57 and 58 with respect to air conditioning. From a styling and integration standpoint: five steps backward!

<i>"Hey...you may be right. At least it is said that Teague gave us the "cathedral" tail light...or so legend has it. I wonder if he was just bored that Easter Sunday or inspired!?"</i>

Inspired might be the word. On Good Friday of 1954, Nance was in the styling studio looking at the clay of the '55 Patrician. The '54 taillights were to be carried over. Nance, who was known for his colorful turns-of-phrase, looked at Teague and said, "Teague, those bulls nuts taillights have got to go! You are a smart guy, come up with something and show it to me on Monday!"

With that, Teague spent Easter Sunday sketching out what became the "Cathedral taillights." Nance was delighted, gave Teague a $250 a month raise (substantial in 1954!) and a trip to Paris as a reward.

Some versions of the story have Teague being inspired by the lancet stained glass windows in the church that Easter Sunday, but I have a letter from Mrs. Teague stating that she went to church that Sunday while Richard stayed home with his sketch pad working out the idea. Perhaps he was thinking he should be in church, but he certainly came up with one of the most memorable taillight designs of the decade.

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I don't believe Studebaker ever had any integrated in the dash AC even for their own models. I believe they had the Novi made trunk unit for the 57 Clipper and maybe used it in 58. They had a few different under dash units for Studes and also the trunk unit but after 58 believe their factory air was all done with an inexpensive hang on under dash system.

<i>"I don't believe Studebaker ever had any integrated in the dash AC even for their own models."</i>

The only integrated unit they ever used was in the Avanti. Only R1 Avantis could be fitted with the A/C. If you got the supercharged R2, you could not get the A/C. In the Avanti, there were two swivel nozzles in the console below the dash (in front of the shift lever). There were no nozzles at the ends of the dashboard.

Ahh, the Avanti AC. I remember it well so might as well hijack this thread again. I guess you could call the Avanti AC integrated since styling wise it did have the matching panel in the console containing the louvers and switches. Technically it was another underdash hang on. The unit had the typical plastic housing which held the blower and evaporator. It bolted in the empty space behind the upper console directly under the dash. The tapered console louver panel replaced the typical front of a regular under dash unit and screwed to the evaporator and the console. All in all, a very nice job of hang on integration.

During one of the many trades with Doug I wound up with a 63 1/2 with a supercharger. As you said, since the factory didn't offer AC with supercharger thought that was the end of it. At the time I got the car there was a newsletter put out by the Avanti Owners Association and I found an issue with the manuals that were with the car and Doug had passed along. It had an offer to order back issues so I ordered a bunch of them. Lo and behold, in one issue there was an article another owner had written on adding AC to a supercharged car. That was all it took. Newman- Altman was still in the Stude parts business so ordered the Avanti AC items. They didn't have the original console panel so they sent the same panel they were putting in the Avanti II at the time. It was almost the same as the original Stude unit except it had rectangular vertical louvers instead of the original round ones.

The mod required relocating the battery to a box in the trunk and making a bracket to mount the compressor low on the drivers side under the PS pump and partially in the old battery space. Back then there were no Sandens so used a York compressor in that small space. It actually fit and AC worked well most of the time. It had a long belt so it whipped and managed to throw occasionally at fast speed. I added a back idler but never did get that totally corrected before the car changed hands. I lost track of the car and sometimes wonder if the guy that bought the car ever fixed it.

Yes,

And I have a 72 Avanti II with the "integrated air." It works after a fashion, and I do think it was rather nice that Studebaker--with little money--could come up with such a clever disguise of what has been described as another "hang under the dash unit."

In a stillborn article I have written about the much maligned 58 Packards, I lament the fact that something like that couldn't have been used in the Packard sedan and Starlight Coupe. If I ever own one, I may be tempted to do exactly that: fashioning a console from fore to aft and covering it with the dash pad material and carpeted kick plates. I think it would be an aesthetically pleasing solution to the integrated air problem (And in the South, if you plan to drive any, it is a MUST!)

And I will add my amen to that! I was so hoping Teague had done those initial sketches on the back of a church bulletin! Thanks for retelling the story about the bull's genitalia. It goes down as one of those really great Packard stories.

Yes, the Avanti A/C really is a "hang on" unit, but they did a very nice job with it. It looks as if it is of a piece with the car and not an afterthought.

The details of the Avanti are very well-thought out, all the more so considering it was put together in such short time - and with no money!

Well learned quite a bit about the Request.....

John