Greg -

Some people actually find that the modest side trim of the '56 Deluxe makes for a cleaner appearance. It definitely makes the car more distinctive from the Super sedan, as compared to the '55 versions.

The Deluxe actually had the highest production level of any '56 Packard (or Clipper) - hence, very popular with buyers of the day. In clean, presentable condition, a Clipper Deluxe still stands head and shoulders above many other cars of 1956.

Be sure to enter details and a pic of your car in the Owner Registry section here. Also, check out the Model Info section on the 56th Series (maybe even the 55th Series) for the essential specs and some great info that lets you compare the various models.

Greg -

Lincoln, though built by Ford Motor Company, would be titled as a "Lincoln" make. A "make" doesn't necessarily correspond to company or division names.

The problem with the Clipper is that it started out in 1941 as a model of Packard, but the Clipper vehicles became the foundation for postwar Packard vehicles. The Clipper model name was dropped for 1948, but reinstated as model name in 1953, as the company was working to make the Junior Clipper line more distinctive from the Senior Packard line, erasing a mistake made many years earlier.

The ultimate goal was to establish Clipper as its own make, and, as Eric points out, that was finally realized in 1956. As noted in the Model Info pages in this site, no Packard script plate graced the exterior of the 56th Series Clipper cars, intitially, but it was later returned to production (on the corner of the trunk lid), with a retrofit offered to owners of those early production units.

I have a seen a 1955 letter sent by the Packard Division of Studebaker-Packard Corp., to all states (and copied to insurance companies and S-P dealers), covering basic registration information. It referred to the "Packard" line and the "Packard Clipper" line, separately, but I think all 1955 Clippers were still titled as Packards. Unfortunately, I have not seen a similar letter for 1956 that could be presented as prima facie evidence to make your case to your titling agency.

So, unless your state is amicable to registering the make as Clipper, you'll probably have to title it as a Packard.

If I find a 1956 edition of that letter, I will donate a copy to the site. Perhaps, then, you will be able to apply for a correction of title.

Sirrah!

You have obviously stolen your concept for these new Packards from the one and only example of the 1956 Patrician Twelve Prototype (attached) that was kept under wraps during the last days in the bunker at East Grand, but has secretly been in my possession for some time now.

I demand you surrender these cheap knock-offs to me at once - and then say that your sorry, with sugar on it, and pinkie swear that this will never happen again!

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robert -

Be sure to download, print, and review the PDF file of the "Auto Lite Push Button Motor Service Manual", which is available in the Packard Articles section of this site. It has a step-by-step diagnostic procedure to get you started. Lots of good info in that one publication - even more than the Packard shop manual.

Then, if you haven't joined The Packard V8 Club, do so, and check out the index I compiled to all the Service Bulletins on the V8 Packards, including the push button shift controls. You can also download Packard's Service Counselors and Service Technical Bulletins from the Packard Articles section here. A few, but not all, of the Studebaker Service Bulletins have also been uploaded as well.

There are several people here who are well-versed in this area and can help where the published info falls short, if you report back with your findings.

Sad news indeed, as it seems quite a bit of tooling like that survived for decades - if not in the hands of the suppliers, then passed from Studebaker to other companies.

The '55 hood letters could probably be laser-cut from a malleable, yet platable, base metal, curved between a set of rollers, and then pins brazed/wleded to them prior to plating.

The '55 hood bird, however, would have to be completely recast, then. Yet, it seem to me that the '55 bird doesn't pit as badly as the '56 version - at least on the underside of the wings. That probably has to do with moisture lingering on the underside of the wings, which have a more oblique angle for '56.

I may just have to look into casting parts in stainless or bronze someday. I remember art students in college, decades ago, with a process to make bronze statues using "armatures" formed from wax (paraffin).

Just one year old? Gee, with all this good info, plus forum, I would have though that it had been around much longer than that.

Amazing what can be done without one dime of membership dues! Amazing how popular the content is that came from a bunch of page turners and rogues - LOL!

I am sure that I will continue to be amazed, year after year, at the additional content that accumulates here - whether it be scans of historical info or new articles.

Thank you to Big Kev, for providing the foundation, and to all who build upon it to ultimately make this the single greatest resource for Packard owners.

That's interesting news, Joel.

That set of the hood letters came from the former Newman & Altman parts "showroom" many years ago, so my recollection may be fuzzy. IIRC, they had only one set of letters on display and referenced 1955-1957-1958, but they did ask me what year I was putting them on. The letters I got did fit the curve of the hood on my former 1955 Patrician, and the buyer of the car later came back for them.

Yet, I see that the 1957 hood is more square, with a flatter front, but what about the 1958s? I don't have a 1957 Studebaker-Packard parts book to check the numbers.

Also, was there any modification to the 1955 Packard hood bird casting, which appears to have been recycled for use on the 1957 Clippers?

I had also heard that there was an extra hole machined into the rim of the 1956 Clipper taillight housing for use on 1957 or 1958 Packardbakers, but I haven't seen that on any taillight bodies that I've found at Stude meets. Any thoughts?

The formation of Regions and having Regional meets is only a natural progression.

Spending a week of Packarding at a National meet is a great way to enjoy the cars (and I like that PV8C has a hands-on focus on the cars, with no tea and scones), but - for a variety of valid reasons - not everyone can make the long trip or be away for an extended period.

Yet, there's no need to make another expensive social event out of these Regional meets. Seems like it would easiest to piggy-back PV8C Regional meets on top of existing Packard events - like the annual meets at Perrysburg and Warren, OH - even if only to shake hands, compare notes, and chew the fat with fellow members. Beyond that, some of the best get-togethers don't have any fee but involve a pot-luck approach, where everybody brings some thing to the table (literally).

I don't see any need to expand the PV8C to include postwar cars, when we already have a growing online community for those owners right here. Start additional online clubs, if needed, but keep them separate from PV8C.

Meanwhile, members of PackardInfo and even the Packard DF should feel more than welcome to stop by at PV8C events. We've made a lot of good friend along the way since the days of the old ClassicCar Packard chatroom (and a few enemies).

Beyond good people getting together, however, members of the PV8C need to promote public awareness of the club, the cars, and the support available for them. While more people seem to be interested in V8 Packards than ever, there are still plenty of detractors out there who complain of poor quality, difficulty of service, and the price and availability of parts.

So, give the cars more exposure than just an appearance in someone's backyard. Put in a group appearance at other general car shows or even a local cruise-in, but have something printed up to hand out to interested spectators (to inform them of PV8C and PackardInfo.com). Believe me, the rest of the viewing public will enjoy seeing something more than the run of the mill Big Three product.

I have seen this phenomenon time and again with the Cosworth Vega. Although my unrestored '75 Cosworth has been mothballed these past few years, the last time it was entered in a show, it bested an immaculate 1974 Firebird for 1st Place in Class - under participant judging. Then, while only handful of CV owners made it to Lordstown, OH for an all-GM show to commemorate the Plant's 40th Anniversary last summer, the Cosworths in attendance got a lot of attention.

BigKev -

I don't believe you'll ever find a bona fide photo from 1952 of the silver Packard fastback coupe that bears the "pininfarina" script.

Reason is that car was never built by Packard.

However, Carl Schneider, of Eureka, CA, found and purchased a set of Pininfarina renderings for this car at the R?tromobile show in Paris, France (Europe's answer to Pebble Beach?) back in the early 1990s. He later commisioned a fabricator to buid this fastback coupe (dubbed the "Parisian"), plus two other concepts that Packard never went built.

I understand that a limited run of just 20 models of the Pininfarina/Parisian in 1:43 scale die-cast was also produced back in 2005.

That must be Macauley's Brown Bomber. I have a lot of mixed feelings about that car, at leats inits final form, but not as much as the what he had done Pan American #1, after it was sold to him.

Thankfully, other unmolested examples of the PanAm survive, and I have been fortunate enough to see two of them.

I much prefer Macauley's '52 Speedster to the Bomber, except for the Torqueflite conversion that somebody later did to it. While I undertand the want of an automatic upshift, you'd think that, for such a historic one-of-a-kind vehicle, they would have opted for an upgrade to a Gear Start Ultramatic to keep it in the spirit of Packard.

Also, Carl Schnieder's Packard Pacifica seems to have been based on one of Macauley's other visions.