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I seriously doubt Packard was using nitrocellulose in the fifties. My guess is they used synthetic enamel like everyone else.
The only car I know that was painted with lacquer in the early fifties was custom ordered Chrysler Crown Imperial limousines, and they were finished at the old Derham custom body works not at the Chrysler factory.
Furthermore I don't see why an English paint company can't get the formula when the Canadian or American branch of the same company can.
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I believe the factory exterior paint used on Packards through 1956 was nitrocellulose/pyroxylin lacquer. Acrylic lacquer only arrived in the mid-1950s, but I don't recall seeing anything in print that Packard made that switch. Paint suppliers may have provided acrylic lacquer formulas for Packard colors for repair, though.
Not sure what the South Bend used for 1957-58 Packards, off the top of my head.
IIRC, acrylic enamel didn't come about until the 1960s. Plenty of automakers switched to that, but not all. GM continued with acrylic lacquer into the 1980s. IIRC, Packard may have use earlier forms of enamel paint for some hard interior trim pieces.
While enamel requires fewer coats to hide the primer and can be more durable through baking or the use of a hardening additive, it doesn't come close to the depth of gloss that is possible with lacquer.
Meanwhile, getting formulas for the old original paints is one thing; finding a supplier that has the old, obsolete base colors and tinting compounds is a whole 'nuther matter. When I checked 20+ years ago, none of the autbody supply stores in my area could mix colors for any of my 55-56 Packard in anything - not even acrylic lacquer.
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