I'd agree with Jim L with the possible addition of the V8 to the not-so-bulletproof parts... the engines in 55/56 were far from bulletproof.

Fabulous ad, and Chrysler had fabulous cars for decades; I know, I've owned them, from '57 to '81, starting with a 300C convertible. There will never be another Packard, but I wish Chrysler all the best in recapturing that unique brilliance that was lost sometime during the dismal 70s. Let this be the start of a new era for Detroit.

Sorry, I've been away and didn't see these until today - great pics, Gerd - as always! ...ya, a car nut I am, hardly ever met a car that I didn't like, or at least find pretty darn interesting! No doubt Chaikas weren't put together as well as US cars... hey, it helps to have practice making 10+ million cars every year! CCCP mechanicals were probably kept simple and rugged to deal with the primitive road conditions outside of the few big cities? And selling them to foreigners a challenge, maybe due to a lack of dealer and part networks, and to styling, though of my favorite era the mid 50s, that was always years behind! But they sure did a good job with what they had to work with, imo.

Agree with pretty much eveyone on radial superiority over current bias tires. I use modern radials on my old cars and am very satisfied.

On the subject of the cheapest radials, I've found that most of the cheapies are now Chinese made, which may account for the decreased performance. I have no problem with Korean tires such as Kumho or Japanese Bridgestones or some of the other asian brands. I'm leary of the Chinese ones though. I'v always found the Goodyear-US-made Kelly to be a good, yet economical, radial brand, but it will have a narrower ww, if that matters.

It's getting harder to find modern radaials in vintage sizes,
P225 or 235/75/15 or /70/15 are becoming scarce. Again, narrow ww's, but I'm not about to shell out 900 bucks for wide white collector cars tires when four modern 225s will run more like ~400 installed and are just as well made. And as Owen pointed out, narrow ww's were available and, though uncommon, were indeed found on Packards in '56, there are even original pics that show such.

Are Jr and Sr brake drums and assoc parts a straight swap?
Were the larger brakes a HD option for Clippers, for trailering etc?

SOme Auto Zone, and maybe Advance Auto, will lend out pullers free, with a deposit to ensure return.

PS the idea of finned drums is excellent as well, I remember the Buicks of the 50s were conceded to have the best domestic brakes when they switched to the aluminum finned drums.

On the MT Wash auto road speed limits, I can assure you that with my fear of heights I was going well under the limit... as to what that limit was, long since forgot - it;s been almost 50 years! No way I'd drive up/down that road today!

I'm sure for typical old car driving, drums are fine. Just don't try to drive down big mountains or make repeated stops from high speeds or drive in a thunderstorm. O_D, didn't mean to put words in your mouth, but the way I read it I'd say you implied that if the wheels could be locked up by drums, discs had no real advantge, or else why mention it. Tires, though important, are not the sole determinant of braking/deceleration, however bias tires are inferior in that regard as well. I prefer any old cars I drive to have optimal stopping ability, which is why the BTV on my 56 Olds 98 will be replaced by a modern GM pb unit with discs behind wheels with best radials that will fit. If others are satisfied with original braking and tire equipment for reasons of authenticity, fine, that is their choice. But no way it can be supported on functional grounds, by any empirical standard.

Discs are superior in fade resistance, cooling, stopping in wet condtions, ability to develop higher G force deceleration rates, easy pad replacement... all of which is pretty obvious to any competent mechanical engineer and virtually all automotive manfacturers worldwide, apparently. To portray drums as their equal simply because they can lock up the wheels is patently absurd, physics says otherwise. If one wants to retain them for authenticity, fine, but to defend them on scientific merits is a losing propostion.

Driving a near new '63 Ford wagon down the Mt Wasington auto road in '64 and losing 80% of braking power 1/3 of the way from the bottom of the hill convinced me of the advantages of discs, at least for those who are not desert dwellers or perpetual flatlanders, forever.

Functionality trumps showability, imo, not to mention I value my life. Other than show originality, there is no rational reason to retain BTV. A disc brake and modern vac unit makes perfect sense because improving stopping power of these lead sleds is a worthy objective. In most other respects, properly working original equipment is entirely satisfactory.