Re: stick shift Execs

Posted by Jack Vines On 2010/2/14 14:41:26

Well, this is new news to me. I honestly didn't know there was a straight 3-speed transmission offered behind the V8.

Building Packard V8s for many years, never has one come through with a standard 3-speed. Without attending the Packard meets, a Packard V8 with 3-speed with overdrive is a rare enough experience - I've seen three or four in fifty years.

My interest in Packard V8s came through the '56 Studebaker Golden Hawk and the manual transmissions were all overdrive equipped. It is difficult to imagine anyone in 1955-56 ordering or buying a standard shift Packard without overdrive. It is an educated guess Packard V8 delivered with a straight 3-speed was a very, very small number.

Any estimates of the total built with overdrives and how many without?

thnx, jack vines