Re: 1956 Caribbean hardtop options on a Four Hundred

Posted by Dave Brownell On 2015/1/27 16:06:38

This is fascinating. Your car may be on its way to being an Esquire like mine! You can check out some of the Cormorant stories by our George Hamlin on the Esquire variants, but briefly, president Jim Nance encouraged Packard "Distributers" (Packard's spelling, not mine) to order/build Caribbean look-alikes when Caribbean stocks were insufficient to meet local customer demand.

Harry DuBois was the Distributer for the Capitol region of Virginia and Maryland, and he ordered (perhaps two dozen, maybe less) Four Hundred hardtops and a few Patrician sedans that were outfitted to resemble Caribbeans on the outside. Most had the 1956 twin scoop hood and side and tail paint and trim. As far as I know, all had interiors befitting something less than a real Caribbean. I have never heard of an Esquire with the 310 horsepower dual carb engine, but as others have pointed out, Packard would bend over backwards if a customer wanted to pay for something extra that they made. That might have been extra true in the last months of 1956 production.

Hamlin's Cormorant article on Esquires shows a picture of one without the dual scoop hood and with the Four Hundred hood ornament, so that may also apply to some. My car's previous owner's father knew Mr. DuBois personally and worked for him, making the point that a few Patrician sedans were decked out with Caribbean trim. One of the Esquire sedans in Virginia was owned by a woman physician who remained a loyal service customer of his for years after Packard ceased Detroit production.

Please reconsider any thoughts of swapping that dual scoop hood. It may have been delivered, if not built, that way. By the way, my Esquire's door jamb vehicle number plate is blank where the paint and trim codes usually are. That might also mean something, or not.