Re: 1955 Air Cleaner Decals

Posted by Leeedy On 2019/3/6 14:09:56
Quote:

packards1 wrote:
I had one of the 1956 Caribbeans with the robe rails on the seat back. We sold the car and the man who bought it had an accident towing it on the way home and the car was destroyed. I never thought to take a picture of it back then. It was all 1956 but had a late 55 Caribbean serial number. If I had only documented things back then. It also had a clear non tinted windshield I suspect for press photos.


Ahhh... What a treasure that had to be! And what a sad, sad loss. I believe there were two of these cars from what I know.... and I rode in one of them when new. They were hand assembled and kept in a building on East Forest Avenue in Detroit. While I also do not have a set of photos, I can tell you that the engineer's (fellow who was responsible for the changeover and who actually daily drove one) wife sent me old Polaroid photos years ago. I still have those photos today. One photo is badly faded and shows just the right-hand side and the other shows the Caribbean parked in their family garage next to their 1954 Patrician. Her husband used to drive the car home at night and kept it in the family garage when not on East Forest Ave. Everything about the re-dressed 1956 was 1956 right down to the hexagonal reflectors on the cathedral tail lights and the dash changed over. But there were 2 door jamb light switches per door. There were two outside engineering firms involved in the 1955 and 1956 Caribbean set-ups, engineering and prototyping. One of these was Creative Industries of Detroit.

Anyway, as I have said before, the first 1956 Caribbean would not have been 5699-1001 since that number was only the first production 1956 Caribbean (which by the way is undergoing full restoration as we speak). The first 1956 Caribbean had a 1955 serial number... or at least was a re-dressed 1955.

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