Re: Wayne's 56 400

Posted by Dave Brownell On 2014/8/1 8:36:21

Well, if your 400 is an Esquire, then you have a very rare car. George Hamlin has written several Cormorant articles about Esquires and the guy who made them happen: Harry DuBois, the Packard Distributor for the Washington DC region. At the suggestion of Jim Nance, Harry set out to "Caribbeanize" mostly 1956 400 hardtops (although a few Patrician sedans were also made) because they could find willing buyers beyond the limited supply of Caribbeans. Apparently somewhat less than 20-24 cars were made as Esquires. These were not the usual dealer customs but were purpose-built at the factory with dual cowl hoods, side and tail trim that looked like the Caribbeans, minus the interiors and 310 hp engine. From what I know, all of the Esquires came from Harry's region that included Washington, DC, Baltimore and Northern Virginia. My hardtop is a very late production car (4121) car that apparently was an orphan left-over at DuBois Motors, still unsold after Christmas 1956. The body identification number has a blank space in the Trim spot, so that might explain the Esquire factory assembly.

I only know of a few Esquires still remaining and to think that one may be in Os is amazing. Please feel free to PM me if you want to compare cars or notes. We both may be in very exclusive company.