I had no expectation of immediate action, but I appreciate the time you took to consider my suggestions. It's not easy to convey what's seen by only the mind's eye, but you done good.
The grille looks much better - just gotta work in the traditional ox-yoke line across the top. The Lincoln headlamp treatment fits in, but is a bit ahead of its time for '66. Instead of concealed headlamps or exposed quads, they might have considered reverting to a pair of large round sealbeams - like GM would do with the Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, etc. and Chrysler, with the Cordoba.
To retain Exner's orginal, laid-back, upper valance panel and concealed headlamps treatment with this forward-thinking grille, the car would have needed some sort of nosecone or radiator shell and side panels (all in body color) behind the grille. There's no shortage of front-end room to work with, there. However, those funky chrome-plated rectangular parts would likely be needed to fill the void to fenders. I also agree that Exner's valance treatment would have made a good home for something like the standalone headlamps from the 61-63 Imperial, but one large round unit on each side - in keeping with the neo-classic style.
As for a foundation car. The Pontiac Grand Prix, from 69-72 and 73-77 provided a good platform for the Stutz Blackhawk (see
http://www.madle.org/ebh.htm). Some people hate those cars, but I found them interesting, compared to the generally bland styling that would come out of Detroit in the decades that followed.
However, though 13 model years later, I'm thinking that the 79-85 Eldorado, Riviera, or Toronado would provide a natural starting point for building the Exner Packard. Still, except for the "greenhouse", a lot of sheet metal fabrication would be required to duplicate Exner's lines.
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