Re: Convertible Top on a '55 Caribbean

Posted by Marty or Marston On 2020/6/18 3:35:54

The wife & I were at the annual meeting of Packard International (Feb. 2019) and Bill & Kim Maya were there. He told the story about his experience with their '56 Caribbean at Pebble Beach. He had the car detailed and given the once over at Custom Auto Services (CAS) in Santa Ann prior to the show. Because he didn't want the car to get dirty he had a car hauler move it from Santa Ana to his home. He had the car trailered to Pebble Beach. Once it arrived several days in advance of the 17 mile drive, the car would not go into reverse and there it sat in the hauler's trailer as a multitude of mechanics tried to get it to back up. Robert Escalante at CSA had a part FedEx to him in Monterey. The part partially worked. From a fresh start it would go into reverse, but once you went forward, reverse would not work until the car was turned off. He missed being able to make the 17 Mile Drive, but did manage to get to the grounds for staging. However, on the short drive there, the brakes on the car quit working. Now he is in line waiting to be directed as to where the car is to be displayed knowing the brakes on the car don't work and reverse is very questionable. He is faced with driving down a inclining grassy hill knowing very well that if he misses the spot that he might not be able to stop there or backup to re-position may be impossible or worse yet hitting another car.

Bottom Line: The car, with help from a friend, was positioned correctly without over shooting the spot and both Bill & Kim had a great time.