Re: My "New to me" 51 Packard Patrician 400

Posted by HH56 On 2021/3/24 12:20:11

In addition to the rear wiper there is also another relatively scarce option -- the rear window defroster. You can see the electric motor for that option just behind the wiper motor.

I agree with O_D that you will find your "new" 51 a very nice and dependable car. If there are any problems in the car, once those are sorted, with minimal maintenance you should have many miles of pleasant driving. I drove a 51 just like the green one O_D posted photos of (minus the rare options) my last two years in high school. Unfortunately at the time, to me being a teenager who knew it all at 16 it was just a 10 year old car. I was less than enthralled to be driving a Packard when most of the other kids with cars had the cool Chevys or Fords. Despite what I did to the car and did not do in the way of regular oil changes or when done, even quality oil changes, plus all the other neglected maintenance the car rarely left me walking.

Yes, the poorly maintained 6v ignition system did not like to start the equally poorly maintained engine very well on cold mornings or after it sat for a few days. That was the major left walking issue with the car but after father had to take my brother and I to school a few times he decided to take care of the cold engine issue with a crankcase heater rod that replaced the dipstick in the oil dipstick hole and an 8v battery. Helped but not a total cure and the effort would probably have been equally effective if we changed spark plugs and performed other maintenance on the engine and ignition system. That was not the way he did things.

In hindsight, I realize how destructive I was to an otherwise good car and that is a sad thing to remember. I often wonder if other cars of the era would have been as reliable if they suffered the same abuse. After I graduated and moved away the car sat for a few more years and then was sold to one of his friends to join a stable of junkers. It was probably scrapped.