I also see that it has the powered window lifts -- weren't those pre-war ones controlled by vacuum and not by hydraulics?

What we know today as WardsAuto magazine has been around about as long as there's been an auto industry to report on. They do a monthly look-back at the archives to see what was news in the same month over the decades, and it's always fun to see Packard mentioned! Here are a couple of gems from the May issue -- enjoy!

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WardsAuto Flashback - May 2016

70 Years Ago (May 1946): Packard Sees Turbines

The president of Packard Motors says he foresees gas turbine engines powering cars within 10 to 15 years. However, analysts are skeptical of that timeframe given the difficulties that need to be overcome to make the engine suitable for automotive use. Turbines currently used in aircraft and power generation applications are too bulky and inefficient for use in cars, necessitating a new approach. High rotational speeds, high temperatures and the need for extremely close tolerances are among the problems that must be overcome.

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60 Years Ago (April 1956): More Electric Wipers

A Ward's survey shows factory installations of electric windshield wipers and windshield washers in first-quarter 1956 reached 24.8% and 46.4%, respectively, of industry output. Electric wipers are standard across the board at Chrysler, where all Chrysler-brand and De Soto models come with variable speed units, Dodge and Plymouth have standard single-speed wipers with variable-speed units an option. Neither Ford nor American Motors offer electric wipers. The advantage of electric wipers is they operate at uniform speeds regardless of the throttle position, whereas vacuum wipers tend to slowdown and/or stop the more the throttle is opened and available manifold vacuum is reduced. At the same time, the survey shows General Motors and Packard installed washers on just over 50% of January-March output compared with 45% at Ford, 33% at Chrysler and 22% at AMC. The windshield washer rates include both manual and electrically operated units.

My car has experienced the same issue, and somewhere over the years I acquired a set of bows off of a scrapped convertible to provide the needed replacement.

My guess is that unless a few folks on here with Executive hardtops already have researched their cars and establish some data points for you, then the best answer you will find will be in South Bend. It's possible The Packard Club's V8 roster keeper could have some data points; if you check the PAC website, you might be able to find out who's tracking them nowadays.

With a total production of 1,031 and serial numbers starting at 1001, your car would have been the 352nd Exec HT built. I'd take a wild guess of late March or early April for your car, as Packard was trying (desperately) to come up with something that would create cash flow during the spring selling season while they still had some semblance of a dealer body to move the metal. I believe Executives would have been high on the prioritization list, right behind any sold orders.

If your build order sheet is not on file in South Bend, maybe they could seek out a few hardtops either side of your serial number to try and narrow down the date range. I would recommend making a phone call inquiry first, as the website contact form that I submitted did not work for me.

If you have large door gaps and a lot of rust in the vehicle, I would check out the rearmost body mounts, on the trunk floor either side of the trunk lid latch plate, They are most likely rusted out and the entire rear of the car is sagging. Definitely repairable, but of course it'd be better if you didn't need to fix it.

To me that looks like one of these replicas:

http://www.gibbonfiberglass.org/Packard-Bodies---parts.html

1956 Executive HT in Florida, seller says it's one of the last cars off the line in 1956, built on the last day of production at Conner.

https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/cto/5536580739.html

Entertaining reading! Only thing that I might like to see added is the breakdown of defense business and civilian engine sales (aircraft engines, marine engines, truck engines, etc). That would make the postwar per car profit look even scarier.

I'm pretty sure that Los Angeles ad is misspelled -- judging from the condition, it should actually be a Packard Perdition.

Wow, that's garish to a fault. Is Barnum & Bailey missing one of their circus wagons?