Re: Original 56 prices for everything

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2010/8/13 10:19:53

For that matter, it would be fun to see stats on what percentage had which options and what percentage had which colors.

Pat, production slips for the 1956 (and perhaps the 1955) Caribbean convertibles have been analyzed and published with this information, see "The Packard Cormorant", Autumn 1987, #48. I'm not aware that the same treatment has been given to the other 55 and 56 models though the raw data exists for the most part if someone were willing to undertake the effort as was done for the Caribbeans.

Of course there were MSRPs (manufacturer's suggested list prices), dealer nets, etc. for the cars and all the options but the final pricing to the customer was established by the dealer, just as today. MSRP for the 56 Caribbean convertible was $5995. I believe all the data on factory MSRP and dealer net still exists. Some option prices I jotted down years back, MSRPs I believe though I forget the source at the moment, for the 56 cars were:

Wire Spoke Wheels: $325
Air conditioning: $567
Twin Traction: $44
Push button: $52

As far as colors go for the 56 Caribbeans (paraphrasing the above-cited publication): 207 were 3-tone, 31 were single color, 25 were 2-tone, 6 were shipped in prime, and the balance unknown. The most popular single color was Corsican Black (13) followed by Dover White (11). The most popular 3-tone was white/blue copper (95) followed by white/orange/black (43) and white/scottish heather/gray (38). The most popular 2-tone was black/white/black (15) followed by white/orange/white (2). There were 28 special-order interiors assigned.

For 56 Caribbean convertible options, only 6 had chrome wire spoke wheels and only 15 had A/C, far less than we find today on restored examples! Only 1 came with factory-installed seat belts, and 2 had rear-seat speakers (an installation I've very much like to see.)

That's the 5699 in a nutshell, most of the raw data for this originated with an occasional correspondent to these pages, "56executive" who has or had the build slips and has commented on them on other threads on this topic. In a few instances his data differs from that published. Mike Grimes has also done an thorough analysis of the V8 Caribbean models though to my knowledge it has not been published. It would be a nice contribution to the hobby if someone would come forth and do the same type of analysis on the other models.