Re: 1956 Caribbean hardtop options on a Four Hundred

Posted by Leeedy On 2016/3/25 15:52:27

I have seen a lot of nice 1955-1956 Packard engine compartments, but I have to say this is one of the nicest I have seen in a long time. As we used to say back in Detroit when I was growing up, "...clean as the board of health!"

I don't know if the paint is original, but that Scottish Heather on the firewall sure is accurate and gleaming beautifully...which is the way original nitro-cellulose lacquer looked when new. Nice.

Anyway, the colors and finishes are accurate... the ground strap is in the right position under the battery holder bracket, the oil-bath air cleaner decals are accurate and in the right positions. Wow. The only thing I see here missing is the anti-short extruded rubber shield over the regulator connections (almost all V-8 Packards I see today are missing this part).

This is one gorgeous 1956 Four Hundred! I had two duplicate sister cars in these colors, one with factory air and wire wheels (long before repops were available). I last saw it in the 1970s in Reseda, California.

As for Caribbean hoods and dual quads, I can assure you that I knew of at least 2 or 3 1956 Four Hundreds running around Southern California in the 1970s. One of them lived in Long Beach. Another lived in very wealthy town of San Marino. My two cars came from San Marino via Pasadena.

Back in the 1970s I was told by a former owner that his car "came that way" and was ordered via Earle C. Anthony dealership. Furthermore, I was also told by a former ECA parts & service man that ECA kept both Caribbean carb set-ups with batwings and factory air kits on-hand at the two main SoCal ECA dealerships. I suspect they also swapped a few hoods.

Of course, there were other Four Hundreds running around with Caribbean hoods on them... and I knew who put the hoods there! One of them is sitting out in the desert today and I'm sure there will one day be stories about it. A lot of years have gone by and folks have short memories.

Anyway, I will also say that many-possibly most or all- postwar Packards delivered CKD/KD to Mexico were distributed via ECA. I know this because the ECA Controller-who I knew and interviewed-told me that they (meaning ECA distributor personnel) had inspected and loaded KD cars on trains to go to Mexico. And you know, EC certainly loved to jazz-up Packards and encouraged buyers to order the unusual! Something to think about in the equation.

On a final note, I remember at least two dark metallic blue 1956 Patricians that had full leather interiors (yes FULL leather) and factory air. One of these turned up many years ago in the 1970s at a PAC National in Illinois. The other was from New Jersey (sadly, I last saw it in a junkyard). While I know the fate of the second car at least as far as the boneyard, I have no idea what happened to the other car-which as I recall belonged to a Chicago stockbroker.

Anyway... info offered for what it's worth....

Oh... and yes there is a partial shot of Ed Macauley's specially painted/specially colored Caribbean-ized Four Hundred in the upcoming Creative Industries book!