Re: 1955-56 Packard Corporate Limousine

Posted by Mahoning63 On 2013/3/28 8:28:17

Esquireman - I like your limo idea. Appears to have a fixed middle section and stock rear door like the Lincoln Leyman and Peterson limos of the mid/late sixties. Use of Patrician rear roof makes it more "senior" in appearance. In B. Kimes' book, mention is made that design of a torsion level system for post-1954 limos need not have been an issue. Regarding retrofit today, am not sure how torsion twist would be effected by a 22 inch longer bar... diameter might need to be increased to compensate for the easier "twistability".

In a recent post in the General section I pondered a 54-56 line up and discussed one possible build strategy whereby Packard would continue EGB final assembly and buy or lease Conner for body building, then set up an off-line area for the limo and other special vehicles. Am not sure if they lost money on the 53-54 limos, always assumed they made money since the only new tooled parts they were suppling Henney were frame, driveshaft, suspension pieces and assorted electrical and fluid lines, all low investment bits. Because Henney pricing was several hundred dollars above Cadillac, Packard had an opportunity to make more competitive by bringing operations in-house. Shipping costs to Illinois would have gone away and the standard production line could have been used to assemble and trim parts of the vehicles. Henney built its Packard limos from scratch on its own line, which couldn't have been very efficient.

Never knew that Henney dropped Packard in '55 because of torsion level. The Kimes book says Feldmann had all sorts of things going on in his corporate world conspiring against him and that Packard volumes had not been high enough to justify what had become an apparently money-losing portion of his business. He also mis-planned the '53 Henney Packard Junior ambulance that resulted in even more losses.

Recently kicked around another type of vehicle on the limo chassis inspired by the '52 Macauley Speedster with the odd extended rear deck. That vehicle was supposed to appeal to the gentleman sportsman who needed to carry a lot of gear on his hunting and camping trips. The limo version would have carried the whole family and used the standard sedan roof as well as the rear door's curved window frames and vent windows. The trunk would have been 22 inches longer than Patrician and 27 inches longer than Clipper depending on which roof was used. An open bed utility vehicle was also possible. I don't think either would have made sense but they were both fun to ponder.