Re: Find of the decade? D'Oh!

Posted by Jimmy Scichilone On 2013/10/3 15:23:50

I have had three '56 Hudsons with the Packard V8 in them....all with Ultramatic. I believe that a standard transmission could be special ordered for Packard supplied V8 Hudsons.... but have never seen one so far in any of the AMC's with the Packard V8. The 55/56 AMC Hudson Service Manual does show a standard transmission, but it is the AMC/Nash transmission, either with or without overdrive...as ordered from the factory. I don't believe any 55 or 56 Hudsons were made coupling the Hudson wet clutch transmission to the Packard V8. I currently own a '56 Nash Ambassador with the Packard V8 and the block stamping lists it as a 352ci, which is correct for '56 V8 Nashs supplied with the Packard V8. It has the aluminum cased Ultramatic, which again is correct for '56 models.... I also own a completely original '55 Patrician....and it is amazing how many actual differences there were between the Packard installed V8 and the V8 supplied to AMC..... Also: Nash and Hudson used a torque tube instead of an open driveshaft...and there are very unique differences in the Ultramatic shift qualities because of that....