Dear Fellow Packard Enthusiasts,

This is just a reminder--in a different place on the website--about our 2nd Annual Packards In Palmetto car show, Saturday, March 25. The attached flyer gives more information.
If pre-registrations for this year are any indication, this should be quite a successful show, perhaps doubling the 20 Packards we had on hand in our first year!

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Great story and totally believable. I can remember those heavy china plates and mugs in the luncheon car rattling like tin cans on a wedding car. As we made our way through an especially rough section of track past Macon I really expected them to hit the linoleum floor. The distinguished black stewards in their white jackets always prevented such a calamity. They could pour a cup of coffee without spilling a drop...sort of like doing the same in a 55-56 Packard with Torsion Level Ride!

Here is my latest watercolor, "The Nancy on the W & T" depicting the Central of Georgia's crack streamliner paying a call at Tennille, Georgia as it makes its way to Savannah, c. 1964.

The cars pictured actually existed in 1964; the 1964 Pacific Mist Starfire was owned by my Great Aunt and Uncle and the 1955 Jade over Tourmaline Clipper Constellation was driven by their closest friends in Tennille.

I remember that Clipper well, as it was used to fetch me from the city pool on countless summer days. I was always warned to put a towel down over the beautiful cloth inserts.

My Great Aunt--who was taken to exaggeration--used to tell hilarious stories about taking shopping trips with Miss Sara and becoming "seasick" on their trips to and from Macon. My Great Aunt Willie Maude had no clue what the Torsion-Level system was all about, but she said that the car could never make up its mind where it wanted to settle. She was either "thrown" towards the dashboard, or received a good neck "whiplash" from reclining too far on the passenger seat. It all made for great, hilarious drama and I would get her to retell it often, already being a Packard man even then.

Admittedly, these 1955 Customs did have their share of problems with the innovative ride and leveling system, but I doubt that such malfunctions caused the extremes that my relative seemed to claim.

The "Nancy"--as it was affectionately called--is shown on the old Wrightsville and Tennille tracks, which allowed me to capture a better glimpse of this beautiful train. I rode it many times, right up until the end when Amtrak dismissed it. Alas, my Great Aunt is gone, the Tennille passenger terminal was torn down, but who knows--that Clipper might just still be around!

Limited edition signed giclee prints of this painting are currently available on E-Bay.

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Packard owners, mark your calendars for the 2nd annual Packards in Palmetto car show as per the link below!

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And I will add my amen to that! I was so hoping Teague had done those initial sketches on the back of a church bulletin! Thanks for retelling the story about the bull's genitalia. It goes down as one of those really great Packard stories.

Yes,

And I have a 72 Avanti II with the "integrated air." It works after a fashion, and I do think it was rather nice that Studebaker--with little money--could come up with such a clever disguise of what has been described as another "hang under the dash unit."

In a stillborn article I have written about the much maligned 58 Packards, I lament the fact that something like that couldn't have been used in the Packard sedan and Starlight Coupe. If I ever own one, I may be tempted to do exactly that: fashioning a console from fore to aft and covering it with the dash pad material and carpeted kick plates. I think it would be an aesthetically pleasing solution to the integrated air problem (And in the South, if you plan to drive any, it is a MUST!)

Hey...you may be right. At least it is said that Teague gave us the "cathedral" tail light...or so legend has it. I wonder if he was just bored that Easter Sunday or inspired!?

Now, I am changing the subject: I have experienced two 1956 factory Packard a/c units and I was impressed with their effectiveness [for the time] and the beautiful integration that was done with the dashboard.

It is very sad to see what Studebaker-Packard did with this namesake in 57 and 58 with respect to air conditioning. From a styling and integration standpoint: five steps backward!

I am so glad that my query has garnered so many interesting responses, although I am not sure how we digressed to Packard's air conditioning system vs. rival Cadillac. However,I have gotten a great deal of education!

My response to Mr. Foster's observations on the styling of the Request, as sent to Hemmings is:

Well, it had to finally happen. It is the first time I can ever remember disagreeing with the erudite writings of Pat Foster. Despite this friendly difference of opinion, he remains a true credit to the magazine. Mr. Foster's treatise on "Packard Styling" [pg. 45 of the November, 2016 issue] is actually on-target with what Packard might have considered in the final restyling of the Detroit-built Packards from 1951-56. Too, Richard Teague was certainly one of the most ingenious automotive stylists ever and his restyling of John Reinhart's original 1951 Packard was right in step with the longer-and-wider look demanded in the showrooms. However--to me--his Packard Request was not. Talk about "tacked on." I dare anyone to say anything further about the dual headlight pods on the later offerings of Studebaker-Packard in 1958!

The addition of a classic Packard grille, tandem with pseudo Buick inboard parking light housings looks foreign and very much an afterthought on an otherwise beautifully styled senior hardtop. Remember, until 1955 Packard didn't offer a senior hardtop on the longer wheelbase. With Packard's innovative "plastic tooling" the company was finally able to turn out a real contender to Cadillac's less than lithe Coupe de Ville. The 1955-56 Packard grilles are a variation on the old Packard theme: the cusps are still there, as is the arc at center, yet they scream mid-1950's, and that was good for those who planned to "Ask the man who owns one." Had Packard really looked at what Mercedes was fashioning with their clay models, they would have discovered that an upright grille was the very basis of the cowl line's shape, the resulting hood, and the way the rest of the front end followed in concept. It was an approach much akin to the teachings of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was organic.

I think Teague himself would have agreed with me. The Request project was essentially a rush job, allowing scant time to do anything but place a classic grille on little else than an otherwise stock Packard front end. With more time, a truly unique-in-the-marketplace model might have resulted, and as Mr. Foster points out, it could have fostered Packard's attainment of a banner sales year.

Thanks so much, and please forward my response to Dave!
I should have realized that was his car in the photo...but you'll understand a bit more when you read my response. Getting old is not for sissies!

Too weird! As I figured from this "Mystery Esquire Man"...no response to date.