Re: 1953/4 Caribbean 4-door hardtop sedan exploration
Posted by Mahoning63 On 2020/3/28 18:06:54
Great points all.
I share ptv's misgiving about leakage. The rear door window's curve at top would have made a spring-loaded cover like the front all but impossible, which probably would have led to a fixed channel solution like hardtop coupe, which would have meant the rear window would have needed to open slightly every time the door was opened. I think we can all agree that fixed window frames would have been the best solution. They could have still been made to look hardtop-like, see Nash Golden Airflyte.
Steve has always advocated for a longer rear overhang and deck on Senior Packards and select Juniors. The Caribbean accomplished this for the fenders but not the decklid and it is here where Nance needed to take action especially after watching Cadillac give Coupe de Ville the 60 Special's long deck for 1952. As it was a Caribbean customer had to reach 9 inches further to grab things in the trunk and even this required that they stand to one side of the rear mount.
So with all of this in mind here's an update to what would correctly be called Sport Sedan. It has fixed chrome window frames, a chrome-covered B-pillar per bkazmer that I was able to skinny up a bit because its no longer a hardtop, elimination of rear mount and lengthening of deck. My pixel count says Caribbean's rear fenders were lengthened somewhere in neighborhood of 4 inches over Patrician. With its rear fenders now tucked back in the overall length would have been around 220.5 inches, which is a bit light vs 60 Special but commendable nonetheless and the continental spare could have still be offered as an option.
I think Nance needed to make some hard decisions for '54. He needed to rein in Packard even as he expanded into the luxury market, so this was definitely not the time to continue turning Clipper into its own brand. That said, with no sore thumb fenders Clipper would have needed something to freshen it. Seems to me the easiest solution would have been to use Patrician's rear fender stamping, trimmed back 5 inches. With bulls-nuts taillights, Clipper's status would have marginally increased and the car would have looked a little different from previous year. All fine but the 2-door club sedan would have needed dropped because there was no bulls-nuts coupe fender available. Nor would there have been a Panama. Austerity and cost containment at the low end would have needed to be the order of the day.
Cavalier and Patrician also needed to take a haircut, in fact one could argue they needed scalped. Definitely no new backlight, instead use of Clipper's. With the 122 Clipper sedan and 127 P/C sedans now looking almost identical except for a 5 inch wheelbase difference, seems they could have all been grouped under one name. Clipper, Cavalier, Patrician, Panama... somebody roll the dice. As a bonus the 149 wb car would already have these design cues. The entire series could have used '54 Cavalier's side trim that year and '54 Patrician's side trim for '55, the big news being the V8. 1956 would have seen an all-new car paid for in part by a hoped for more financially healthy 1954.
5/1 EDIT: lowered the Pan Am-style hood to standard height. Production Caribbean series (5-10K sales per year) could not have afforded the hand labor needed to modify each hood).
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I share ptv's misgiving about leakage. The rear door window's curve at top would have made a spring-loaded cover like the front all but impossible, which probably would have led to a fixed channel solution like hardtop coupe, which would have meant the rear window would have needed to open slightly every time the door was opened. I think we can all agree that fixed window frames would have been the best solution. They could have still been made to look hardtop-like, see Nash Golden Airflyte.
Steve has always advocated for a longer rear overhang and deck on Senior Packards and select Juniors. The Caribbean accomplished this for the fenders but not the decklid and it is here where Nance needed to take action especially after watching Cadillac give Coupe de Ville the 60 Special's long deck for 1952. As it was a Caribbean customer had to reach 9 inches further to grab things in the trunk and even this required that they stand to one side of the rear mount.
So with all of this in mind here's an update to what would correctly be called Sport Sedan. It has fixed chrome window frames, a chrome-covered B-pillar per bkazmer that I was able to skinny up a bit because its no longer a hardtop, elimination of rear mount and lengthening of deck. My pixel count says Caribbean's rear fenders were lengthened somewhere in neighborhood of 4 inches over Patrician. With its rear fenders now tucked back in the overall length would have been around 220.5 inches, which is a bit light vs 60 Special but commendable nonetheless and the continental spare could have still be offered as an option.
I think Nance needed to make some hard decisions for '54. He needed to rein in Packard even as he expanded into the luxury market, so this was definitely not the time to continue turning Clipper into its own brand. That said, with no sore thumb fenders Clipper would have needed something to freshen it. Seems to me the easiest solution would have been to use Patrician's rear fender stamping, trimmed back 5 inches. With bulls-nuts taillights, Clipper's status would have marginally increased and the car would have looked a little different from previous year. All fine but the 2-door club sedan would have needed dropped because there was no bulls-nuts coupe fender available. Nor would there have been a Panama. Austerity and cost containment at the low end would have needed to be the order of the day.
Cavalier and Patrician also needed to take a haircut, in fact one could argue they needed scalped. Definitely no new backlight, instead use of Clipper's. With the 122 Clipper sedan and 127 P/C sedans now looking almost identical except for a 5 inch wheelbase difference, seems they could have all been grouped under one name. Clipper, Cavalier, Patrician, Panama... somebody roll the dice. As a bonus the 149 wb car would already have these design cues. The entire series could have used '54 Cavalier's side trim that year and '54 Patrician's side trim for '55, the big news being the V8. 1956 would have seen an all-new car paid for in part by a hoped for more financially healthy 1954.
5/1 EDIT: lowered the Pan Am-style hood to standard height. Production Caribbean series (5-10K sales per year) could not have afforded the hand labor needed to modify each hood).
Attach file:
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