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1957-1941 Shell Service Charts

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Kirksite dies big enough to make a hood were being used before the first Packard Caribbean was made. Why they chose to do all the hand work I don't know but it is fun to speculate.

This is pure guess work but it could be that

1) They had the ability to hand modify the hoods, possibly they were done by Henney which did a lot of hand work and lead work on hearses and ambulances?

2) They thought of the Caribbean as a specialty product and did not think it would sell as many units as it did.

3) They did not expect to keep producing the model for more than a year.

By 1955 they saw they had a model that was popular enough to justify the tooling.

I gather that the Caribbean was something of a throwback to the custom bodies of the 30s. The initial plan was to have a body that was sectioned for a lower silhouette but the cost was prohibitive.

In any case the initial thinking involved a more or less hand made car. It may have been a while before they thought of tooling the parts instead of making them by hand.

Is there any record or reasonable speculation of when the FIRST 56 Carib (conv. or HT) was built????

Quote:The brand of paint is
Pro-spray (Single Stage)
Code #852
Red Mahogany

This is the chart I pick my color from.
"PPG 73111 Red Mahogany"

Thanks all for the encouraging words. Now hopefully I will have it running by this time next year.

Are the following statements correct?????
When 56 Carib production started ALL other 56 model production ceased.
56 Carib production was the last 56 production models.

That is not correct, according to the very limited amount of build-date information I have. Caribbean production apparently had several "campaigns" interspersed during regular production. I believe the last 1956 Packard built was a Patrician and that is apparently quite well-documented.

Are the following statements correct?????

When 56 Carib production started ALL other 56 model production ceased.

56 Carib production was the last 56 production models.

Somewhat begs the question then: Why did Packard wait until 56 to use the Kirksite????? Were'nt the 53 thru 55 hoods hand made?????

My guess is that Kirksite developement and use had not YET expanded or evolved to any MAJOR convenience level for production STAMPING operations. Maybe for a butter mould or something but not a 200 ton press for stamping fenders or hoods.

There are many technologies that do not reach practicle levels of use for many years???

So, does the final verdict mean that Packard used Kirksite for the 56 hoods???

GreenDragon I still would like that pointer and would be happy to pay for shipping. M

Thanks for the picture I seen the screw holes. I could see me taking off the dash, it is kina like the guy who needs a screwdriver so he turns his hammer into one, and then he needs a hammer to attach the handle.

Yes, he drove it into the SwapMeet. It's even louder that you can hear in the video. Plus you feel it as much as hear it. Almost like continuous thunder.