Re: Great Uncle Larry's 1955 Caribbean 5588 MDF 92
Posted by Leeedy On 2021/4/21 17:08:05
Quote:
ZeroCool wrote:
This boot cover is what I thought I had when I came across the folded up 'cover' that was with the car. I was surprised to find out it spans the whole passenger compartment and the 'boot' too.
Quote:Can you take a close up pictures of the top and bottom of this cover?
Here are a few pictures of the inside/outside of a portion of the side, and one of the back corners. (The snaps indicate inside vs outside) The inside/outside images are paired up with the same snaps
If might be the same as the outer top material, will check closer later.
-zeroCool
Anyway, what you have here is not a boot... and not a "cover." It is tonneau. And this is the difference between a "tonneau" and a "boot." Either way, this is an aftermarket component accessory. It is not a factory component. And the extra snaps, snap studs and bag are not factory components... and not official Packard dealer accessory items either. The item showing in the photos is an aftermarket accessory tonneau.
People in 2021 either never knew or have forgotten that it was once common for convertible owners to go to professional trim shops and have custom-made tonneau covers created for their car. This was not tremendously unusual at all. And for whatever reason, some convertible owners did not like to raise their top... some just insisted on keeping the top down all of the time, everywhere. All of which leads to the next point.
Several Caribbeans and other Packard convertibles have turned up over the years with tonneaus and extra fasteners to hold them on. Of course this does mean that these tonneaus are some rare Packard component. Quite the contrary.
Also, of the six Pan American concept cars, somebody who owned #2 had a tonneau made for it. Of course in #2's case there was no top installed when it was built (see the history in The Packard Cormorant magazine).
Tonneaus were always more common as a sports car accessory and I personally suggested to offer one during the development of Mazda Miata. And in fact, one indeed was sold as both a dealer and factory accessory. We had these tonneaus made by Robbins Auto Top Company– which in those days was located in Santa Monica, California. Robbins also made a couple of Caribbean tops for me in the 1970s.
As for the Caribbean top here, the reason why this Caribbean top is bleached-out grayish/off white look on the inside facing is obvious to a pro trimmer. It is because somebody kept it lowered a LOT and apparently did not use the factory boot. What you are looking at in the photos is severe damage from a combination of both night dew, other moisture and ultraviolet rays of prolonged sun exposure. This is what happens.
If you read the article in the March edition of the Packard Club Cormorant News Bulletin, you can get more info on how and why this appearance change from the original baby blue interior facing has taken place.This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=232742
