My date of interest is June, 22nd, 1956, as this is the date that the Earle C. Anthony dealership in LA engraved. Does this give an idea when my Executive (5677A-1990) rolled off the line?

I stumbled over this picture of a beautiful open Packard in Wikimedia Commons, and I wonder what model and year this car is. Following my informations, 1910 (year as indicated on radiator) Packards (Eighteen series NB and Thirty series UC or UCS) should have "crowned" front fenders and a bail handle radiator cap. And how can I distinguish Eighteens and Thirties from outside?

The picture is dated June 27th, 2007 and description reads: "Old Packard automobile-- it says "1910" on the grill, which looks about right-- spotted driving in Providence, Rhode Island."

If I have understood the VIN code that Packard used at that time correctly then this car was built very late with the highest VIN given to 5677(A)-2031, A meaning a re-ordered car. Is it possible that they changed color on the production line?

My car has VIN 5677A-1990 - and no color code at all stamped in (trim code is correct).

I remember a spirited discussion with an elderly gentleman who tried to explain me for half an hour that my Packard was made by Chrysler. No way to convince him otherwise, not even with the owner's manual...

Quadripartite divisioning happened not only to Germany and Berlin, it also happened to Vienna.

T/L was standard on Deluxe Clippers, too. Conventional suspension was a no-cost option.

This is an interesting link. It seams that Studebaker used no less than three different headlamp layouts (plus the Hawk) for 1958:

low-line Scotsmans feature a design that looks very "57", then, there is a 2-door Champion (5th picture) with single headlamps in the "bulged" housing (probably the legal variant for states that didn't allow quads), and the usual dual headlamps on a stock Champion Sedan (6th picture).

NB: As far as I know the '56 Golden Hawk was quite heavy up front, so even more power possibly would have been dangerous. The 289, of course, was lighter.

I am jot exactly a tecnician but was described of the Pierce braking system sounds much like what RR and Bentley used for many years. The system was also licenced by Hispano-Suiza. It also was inappropriate when driving slowly.

IIrc, RR started using this device with the Phantom I. Last were Silver Cloud III / Bentley S3.

NB: Jaguar belonged to Ford for quite a time, forming the
PAG (Premier Automotive Group) together with Aston Martin and, at least at the beginning, Lincoln.

As far as I know there was only one Predictor built and that car in fact is exhibited at the Studebaker National Museum. I had the opportunity to see that car when it was shown at a special exhibition at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland in the late 80ies. Among other one-offs there also was Pininfarinas '61 Cadillac Jacqueline Coupe.

IIRC, the Predictor was based on a '56 Clipper Chassis. Wouldn't that make it, correctly, the Clipper Predictor?

Clipper became a make in 1956 (Clipper Division, Studebaker-Packard Corp.)

The story of the '56 Packard trunk script is told somewhere in Nathanael Dawes' book on postwar Packards. It goes like this: When launched, Clippers came without it but dealers soon found out that it was easier to sell small Packards rather than quite unknown Clippers. So, when dealer complaints arose, Packard made this trunk script a running change. And more than that, they even created a kit for retrofitting the thing on earlier '56 Clippers at no expense. As it diluted the strategy of strictly separating Packard and Clipper, marketing war quite unhappy, but it wasn't even contacted before. Possibly, Nance was not pleased to learn about.

In hindsight, it doesn't matter, anyway. Clipper as a make lasted for one year only, and for 1957, there were only Packard Clippers: The Town Sedan and the Country Sedan station wagon, both based on the Studebaker President Classic.

Some years ago, I also owned a '56 Clipper Deluxe. It was a Dover White / Maltese Gray parts car with T-U (no push-button), ps, pb, radio with electric antenna, small hubcaps, fender skirts, heater and Torsion Level Ride. It was an original export model with a high VIN. And it had the script on the trunk, too.

Torsion Level Ride came standard on all Packards and Clippers. On Clipper Deluxes only, conventional suspension was a no-cost option.

Dawes also tells something about the Deluxe's small hub caps that came as standard equipment. If he is correct, it was simply forgotten to retool the cap for the '56 Clipper, so it had to go to the dealers with the '55 cap. And that is the reason why the Deluxe is the only Clipper of that year that proudly presents the script "Packard Clipper" on these caps