I got to thinking about the autronic eye thing too. I threw the picture of it on here to see if anyone would comment on it. The bezel matches the other bezels on the dash so I thought it was factory. I hadn't seen another packard with one. I'll try to post some real clear pics of dash bezel and the eye unit.

More pics:

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Well, it has begun! I stripped the front sheetmetal off the the car so I can swap motors and clean/detail the engine compartment. It has been a big learning experience. I had no idea that the front fenders & inner fenders come off in one big chunk. That first fender took 2 hours, after learning about this little aspect, I was able to get the other off in 45 minutes. I think I swept up about a 2 gallon bucket of dirt and grit after all this. Here are some pics of my weekend fun.

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Welcome to the group Jerry Lee!

You have come to the best place for Packard info on the net (I have found) and the folks on here couldn't be nicer. I have learned so much from this site that I can't help but tell every other packard owner I know about it.

As a potential packard owner, you will br part of a grand membership of proud owners. Hope to see some pics posted of your potential buy.

It's funny BH how you said having a packard in the driveway or on the property helps. I couldn't agree more. I have had alot of different projects over the years. For along time I had alot of 58-66 Thunderbirds in the garage. But I have never had as many converstaions, stories, or attention than after I acquired my '55 400.

I remember an old fellow, about 75-80 years old walking his dog up & down my street. He had been doing this for years. We would say hello now and than. Than I had my Packard dropped off along side the garage after buying it. The next time he walked by, he stopped dead in his tracks, walked right up to me and said "I haven't seen a packard in year!" He rambled off all the options to me, the torsion suspension, (He knew more about the car than I did). I asked him how he knew so much about it, and he told me that he had worked for Studebaker for 30 years and had worked there during the Merger. He remembered the Studebaker dealers were in awe of the new '55 & '56 packards. Alot of the Studebaker dealers in the Oregon,Washington & Idaho area started selling both brands at their dealers. He had some good stories. I hadn't seen him for awhile, one of my other neighbors told me that he had died. I wished I had asked him more.

I had my garage door open this morning, with the the back of the packard pointed out the doors. A car stopped and an old friend from High School got out. I hadn't seen him since graduation! After awhile we got onto talking about my packard. I explained to him about swapping the motor with another one that I had acquired. He tells me of a guy he knows who builds hot rods, customs and such having an old packard motor in his shop. I can't resist, so we hop into my truck and head about 3 miles out of town to his shop. He is there and confirms that he has "this old motor" that has Packard on the valve covers. He uncovers it and it's a 352 w/twin ultramatic still attached! I try to hide my excitement, but fail. He said that a buddy of his chopped up the car and used the tail light sections of the 1/4 panels & headlight sections on a custom job, and got rid of the rest. The guy saved the motor because "it ran & drove so damned good he didn't have the heart to get rid of it". I scrapped away at the engine stamping by the distributor and see the first 4 digits are "5587" which is out of another 1955 400. He said I could have it for $100 dollars if I thought it was fair. I've never whipped out my wallet so fast in my life. I'll pick it up tomorrow! What is so funny about this is I live in a small town of about 800 people. What are the odds of finding another 1955 engine within a 3 mile radius of me? Not good, as it took me close to a year & a 700 mile multi-state road trip for the other one I found. I truly have found gold....in my own backyard.

Take a look at this packard on ebay. Very strange front end treatment. I don't know what to think!


ebay item # 120255397790

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Mr Pushbutton

You are a miracle worker, and a true craftsman. Seeing what you can do, I still have hope for all '56 Packards being on the road for many more years.

I hope you have a young apprentice to pass this knowledge onto to keep them alive.

Just the thought of seeing them loading armloads of paperwork into the incinerators makes me kind of ill.
56 years of paperwork up in smoke. What a shame. Thank God for Mr. Teague and his "theft" for prosperity. I know that any manufacturing company would never think that 50 years from now, people will be collecting a now obsolete product and that historic preservation is probably one of the last things on their minds. It would sure be nice to have some of that paperwork.

Thanks for the info Mr. Pushbutton!

Sometimes as I stare at my Packard before turning off the garage light after a long afternoon of fiddling with it, I wonder where my Packard was originally sold. What dealership did it originally get shipped to from Michigan? Is there a way to find out? What happened to all the paperwork when Packard was phased out from Studebaker? I assume a library or Museum has them, or maybe a University. Is there any way to find out? Just curious.