Yes, it's been proven (not just an urban legend) that Packard would deviate from the standard fare to make a sale for a customer that had enough clout (or was sufficiently persistent).
I strongly suspect that such accommodations would have been documented in a special file that was cross-referenced to the production order. Though it doesn't appear that the request files survived the pillaging of 1956, production records for most of the 56th Series models do survive in the hands of the Studebaker Museum. IIRC, Roscoe has the records for the Caribbean and Four Hundred models.
About a year ago, Randy Berger acquired a '56 Patrician with special interior trim and two-tone exterior paint using Tangier Red, which was otherwise only available on the Clipper (and Executive) line. Jump into the middle of the
56 Patrician bought off ebay thread for the full details, and you'll see what I mean.
Meanwhile, if any owner with a '56 Senior model with factory-installed standard and/or overdrive has purchased a copy of the production order, please share a scan, here, for our review.
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