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Over the years there have been numerous notable authors of Packard books....Beverly Rae Kimes, Robert Neal, Robert Turnquist just to name a few.
Certainly they must have had copious notes to generate such notable works.
What has happened to all those drafts, references, etc?
Are they still in family file cabinets gathering dust, or were they donated/willed to some museum and now available to others for research?

Here's what prompts my question.
Turnquist's book states on page 34 that Packard introduced the convertible coupe model for the 526 on January 1, 1928.
Kimes states on page 275 in her History that the convertible coupe model was introduced in January 1928 for the 443, but the convertible coupe was available on the 526 wheelbase since the previous July.

Here we have the two most notable authors, whose word is taken as FACT... differing on a topic.
Where is the underlying documentation?

I hope some reader can shed some light on the topic.

Bob, can't help with your question but note that Beverly Rae Kimes did not author the information you attribute to her, she was the EDITOR of the work but the author of the section which includes page 275 was L. Morgan Yost.

You are RIGHT!
Many thanks for the clarification.

Robert Neal's notes were donated to the Packard Proving grounds. At this time they are not available for research.

A 526 is a 1928 model, as with cars today, they are generally availiable for delivery in the prior year depending on production switch over. Some special models have been known to only be available in their model actual model year.

As I recall, Turnquist's materials went to Citizens Motorcar in Dayton OH.

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Sorry, but we don't have Robert's notes at the PPG.

We do have Nance's papers, Hollingsworth notes and Marsden Ware's (marine engine designer) library and personal effects.

Actually, neither one of those books is technically correct.

I'll leave it that and let the old car politics decide what the history is.

Roger, My apologies if my information was incorrect. I had heard that the material was on a pallet and awaiting sorting.

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No apology is necessary. We do have a lot of items waiting to be reviewed, scanned and then archived. Several months ago we built a climate controlled "vault" room to house all of the documents that have been donated to us. We anticipate the collection to grow over time.

We have allowed on a special, selective basis researchers and Packard historians to view some parts of the collection. But the general public will not have assess until the complete collection is scanned and digitized.