Re: BigKev's 1954 Packard Clipper Deluxe Sedan

Posted by Packard Don On 2016/2/15 17:02:07

For what it's worth, I drove several Ultramatic Packards as every-day cars for years but to compete with modern traffic, I had to manually shift to low range from a stop. Otherwise it was very sluggish although at speed it was fine with so much power you would be pressed into the seat if you hit the pedal hard at highway speeds. I read somewhere that starting in low range isn't recommended but without doing so, even my 212hp 359cid Patrician couldn't keep up! No point in an automatic if you still have to shift for regular driving and the Gearstart seems a way to overcome it, short of installing one of the other make conversions. Of course, to get the most from it you may also need the appropriate ratio rear end.