Re: found 1956 Packard Executive

Posted by BH On 2011/8/14 21:44:26

Gentleman -

This wouldn't be the first time we've run into discrepancies regarding what was and wasn't available as a regular production option.

Keep in mind that the RPO charts that I constructed some time ago were based SOLELY on Trade Letters that the factory sent to dealers regarding equipment and pricing. My intent was to (factually) summarize equipment availability over the course of the production run in a logical format - as a quick reference. While the Trade Letter information doesn't always jibe with what's in the parts book, we don't have examples of all of those letters available for my inspection.

Now, this isn't the first time that I've seen that "APPROVED CODES FOR 56TH SERIES" document of April 11, 1956. Dwight Heinmuller kindly provided me with copy of the pages regarding the equipment and codes back in 2008 - as noted in my post #18 in the old thread on "1956 Build Slip Codes".

At the time, we were more concerned with a variety of additional codes that had not been cited in the Trade Letters, but this document is short on details and raises some questions. Have we since found any production records showing the additional equipment codes?

I can revise the 1956 RPO chart to include this additional info, but things could get messy, with plenty of additional footnotes required. The transmission and overdrive equipment for Seniors isn't the only deviation. However, such a revision will take some time as I am presently mired in work on Service Index content for prewar years.

Meanwhile, be advised that I have found documentation on AIR as the equipment code for Air Conditioning for 55th series (optional on all models). Are there any other issues with 55th Series equipment/codes?