Re: A ride in the Predictor

Posted by Leeedy On 2016/11/24 18:44:22
Quote:

DaveB845 wrote:
At least he doesn't appear to be putting out another Italian electrical fire. That looks like a can of Custom car polish or wax, so he's probably spiffing something up. And note the lower profile air cleaner on top of the standard four barrel oil bath unit. That hood prop looks necessary given the metal it had to support.

I know that many familiar Clipper parts existed under the body work, but presume that the only way the Predictor got underway was through the cooperation of a 352 engine and a iron-cased Ultramatic with no pushbuttons. I wonder if it ever gets out these days from its Studebaker Museum home for some fresh air and wider public adulation?


The Predictor absolutely, positively has its own special set of pushbuttons for the transmission, mounted in a special pod and slightly different from 1956 production pushbuttons. Yes, they worked-all of which is a good reason not to have folks (especially those unfamiliar with Packard V-8s) jumping into the car and driving it after all these years. Also, there were emergency by-pass fixes in the Predictor installed (after the fires) by Creative Industries of Detroit and anyone unfamiliar with these ought not be operating things in the car or removing the special tags that accompanied the by-pass repairs. You can see some of these in the upcoming Creative Industries book.

Had there been time and budget, Predictor would have had a rear-mounted transaxle and independent suspension...a la John Z. De Lorean who was working at Packard at the time. There were even some press releases that mentioned this transaxle although it never got to see reality. This arrangement would have to wait until the early 1960s when it finally appeared on Pontiac Tempest (guess where John Z. worked at the time?)...

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