Re: Body Dash Numbers

Posted by Owen_Dyneto On 2008/10/11 18:55:21

I hope I didn't imply they stored 16,000 bodies, of course improbable beyond belief. The discrepancy is just another bit of a mystery among so many others about Packard that we'll probably never know the real answers to. Your assumption that the numbers were stamped as the cowl was stamped before assembly into a body shell is almost a certainty I'd say.

I'm told there are some small fragments of Packards records remaining in private hands that correlate bits and pieces of VN with BPNs; I believe these were called Packard Vehicle Unit Production Records. Hopefully someday these will find their way to one of the Packard museums and some historian can evaluate them. I understand there are some folks within PAC who have been working on this data for some years. Depending on what eras the surviving data might cover, it could prove unpleasant to those who have bought cars like Twelve convertible coupes and victorias only to find our their cars were originally Eights and perhaps Super Eights, and even closed cars. God knows, there are plenty of those bogus cars around which have changed hands for bigtime $. Enough to make you wonder everytime you see a big dollar Packard classic with a repro patent plate.