Quote:
Mahoning63 wrote:
Chrysler had torsion front suspensions from 1957 into the 1980s so they might make a great candidate for a Packard, whose rear torsion system would need to be packaged and somehow made to work with the front.
Not exactly what I had in mind. I'm talking about a "rolling chassis" from a '55 or '56, re-bodied with a newer, lower body style. The body modifications you have been showing on Fords and other cars would instead be used to "Packardise" the body only. This is somewhat a "period correct" idea as the Packard was coach built in the old days, when the running gear was the identifying part of the car, like it really still should be. Bodies are bodies, but the running gear of the V8 torsion level Packards is really special.
This is a "what-if" with possibly more potential to become an actual car. Many knock-off "Packards" have been attempted, but always with both running gear and body simply glitzed up and called a Packard. Other attempts have been made to modify Packard bodies with an eye to what could've been done with styling in the late 50's.
Using an actual Packard chassis would have the proper bona fides and also show that this chassis would have been a competitive design well into the '60s, and, with modification, a standard of the industry until today-- like the lockup torque converter automatic, and most power steering designs, have been based on Packard originals-- and Packard made the lockup converter work 25 years before a major manufacturer finally built their own-- and the majors tried hard to replicate it before then.
A lighter, lower '60s or even '70s body with those periods' additional creature comforts would make a very interesting "coach" for the Packard's more advanced suspension.
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