Ahhh. This is a vertical format official neon dealership sign. PMCC actually issued a series of variations of this sign in both vertical and horizontal formats. The metal on some of these was painted, but often they were done in porcelain. Beautiful works of art in themselves.

There was a booklet from which a dealer could pick his choice of signs and then make an order. The booklet even included other Packard neons that also went inside the dealership. There were surprisingly a lot of variations.

The Packard Cormorant magazine from the Packard Club a couple of issues back showed shots of this same type sign. It was mounted on a dealership on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, California. The photo was taken during the Rose Parade when a Packard Pan American was driving past with two specially accessorized Packard convertibles.

Whether PMCC was legally "forced" or made to do so out of a dictum in somebody's rule book is rather academic. And unfortunately the "Standard Catalogue" series has slipped considerably from where it once stood on the accuracy-O-meter.

By the early 1950s, Americans were deep in the throes of expecting change in an automobile every 365 days. Period. We can wax all about this today in an academia sense, but this is the reality of the way it was down on the ground. This is why the next year's cars were held in such secrecy and why the dealers clouded up the dealership windows to prevent people seeing inside at new model introduction. Why many cars were shipped from the factory fully or partially covered... so you could not SEE the new styling! It means little or nothing today, but the annual styling change was important back then.

Designers weren't called "designers" back in those days. They were officially called "stylists." It you wanted to study automotive design, you were preparing for a career in what was known as "automotive styling"... and the even the chiefs of this field were known as heads of styling, not design. Ford and GM issued books that were officially titled "Styling" ...not design. And the very premise of style-especially in the American postwar era lexicon-meant what is IN and what is OUT of style. Last year's car was yesterday's newspaper and therefore, definitely OUT of style.

Packard, who perceived their automobiles in series was "forced" to go to year designation and a yearly change in "styling" since nobody wanted to look like last year's car. Anybody in touch with marketing in those days knew this was a hard fact to be ignored only at a company's own peril.

Americans were more concerned with keeping up with the latest style and identified their car years by style, not by series or serial numbers or any mundane ID marker. They wanted longer, lower, wider, latest style. Believe me, I vividly recall...everyone knew what a 1955 Packard LOOKED like. Same way they knew what a 1957 Chevy was. By the style.

As for those who bemoan the so-called "hi-pockets" high beltline of the Reinhart styled bodies-either then or now-I've got news for ya. All this stuff is a matter of style-and as such, it is cyclical. Just as "style" always, always is.

Don't believe me? Nearly a couple of decades back, Rolls Royce and Hummer came out with super-high beltlines and windows that looked like rifle slots. Did people recoil from this styling paradigm shift after decades and decades of cars with almost knee-height beltlines? Nah! Americans ate it up. No you say? Then look at the Chrysler 300 sedan series that followed the Rolls and Hummer and sold for many years. The 300 all had super high beltlines and sold a gang of 'em. These cars even got to the point where their name out on the street was "baby Roller." But by then it was a style statement. High beltlines had become cool again.

So... as style goes... style goes. Wait long enough and everything comes back. Go hard enough in one direction, then someone will get a lot of attention by designing something in just the opposite direction. With most cars today looking like grinning or frowning jellybeans or potatoes (and a few on the top end looking like variations of a stealth fighter jet), I predict cars with skirts and hidden headlights are not too far off in our future. The problem is only that the American public (due to turnover in the populace age) rarely realizes that what seems to be "new" is usually just a rehash of something that was once considered "old" and-dare I say it-out of style.

Regarding Dick Teague, Mitchell-Bentley and Creative Industries of Detroit... and speaking of books... you will see some surprises in a new book due out next year on Creative. It was a closely kept secret, but Dick Teague actually had a studio at Creative.

Also RE: John Reinhart...actually John had some very futuristic ideas that never saw metal...uh, largely because they were originally intended to be made in fiberglass. He intended these cars as Packards. And this was over a decade before the appearance of a Corvette. Some of Reinhart's future Packards appeared in an article in Esquire magazine in 1941. World War II prevented any of them from happening and after the war, the so-called "bathtub" styling was considered passe (for some reason there were and ARE those who make fun of such design theme on 1948-50 Packard, but then gush praises over the same thing in a Porsche. Go figure).

The beautiful Continental Mark II indeed had some Reinhart DNA in it. But others were involved too. Of course, that car was conceived as an open car and thus the explanation of how and why the roof and header were designed as they were.

But had Jim Nance succeeded in pulling a rabbit out of a hat with Packard and continued on through the 1957-58 new Packard model years (with real Packards) you can rest assured that there were plans to make a new 12-cylinder luxury personal car. And this one would have made you forget all about the Mark II-as lovely as it was.

Ahhh... another celebrity-owned Packard. At least that's the rumor.

Of course no idea where all those colors came from. But one thing's for sure... that's not a factory top. Black Haartz canvas was not used-and even if it was, the wild and bizarre header bow welting with red piping is just over the top. And the rear bow stainless trim replaced wit a red wire-on? Can't imagine even Perry wanting it like this. But an interesting car. Let's hope it finds a good new home.

Quote:

===============

Somewhere there is (or was) indeed a 1955 Four Hundred 1001, Caribbean 1001, Clippers 1001, etc. And this is not unlikely at all. Some of these vehicles are indeed known and certainly there are records that did not go "up in smoke." This stuff may not be on the internet, but that does not mean it doesn't exist.

Stating "first 1955 production Patrician" is certainly a valid thing to say. Nothing wrong with that. But this does not mean it was the first 1955 production Packard.

RE: the Mark II Continental... those were not done "at the factory" but in fact were done on their own separate and limited assembly line at Mitchell-Bentley... same place where 1953 and 1954 Packard Caribbeans were converted. By the way, one of the supposedly early Mark IIs is presently up for sale.

And maintaining a database for Mark II is a relatively easy matter. But when you flip the switch over to doing this same thing for Packard and Clipper for 1955 and 1956, you are talking about a very large number of vehicles, models and equipment. Big difference. Apples and watermelons. There, of course are roster keepers for these vehicles and I do believe one roster for V8 Packards is (or at least used to be) available via the Packard Club.

[quote]
BryanMoran wrote:
Sorry to bring this topic back up but the seller has posted an ad on the AACA forum and in a browse I found it and was directed here.

In all of the comments here I do not see anything on a couple of questions or observations:

1. Why would Packard or how might it have come to be - that the 1st production 1955 vehicle was painted all white (Ivory) in an era when Patricians were typically conservatively painted and trimmed?

This makes me think, and I am no Packard expert, that this was meant for the show circuit or was a special order car.

I am surprised to see that few commenters were as surprised and intrigued by the color choice as I am. At 1st sight, I thought it might have been repainted all white (Ivory) at some point in it's life.

It just really struck me as fascinating that car #1 would be all Ivory with some contrast to the interior. I wonder if there are any other all white 55 Patricians and what percentage of paint codes represented all white.

While no one here might have the answer, this question is meant for those members with more extensive knowledge to speculate, which leads to question number 2.

2. Why is there not a better archival photo record of this car? If it is truly car number 1 of the last production car for Packard, and a car with so much riding on it (no pun intended) why is there no record of it and we are all amazed and surprised to see it here.

You know, there are those "Illustrated Photo Archive" books for most of the independent makes. I have purchased several and for Packard, I would think this would be a highly publicized car and we would see photos of it new.

3. Is this 0001 car the 1st production 1955 Packard or the 1st production 1955 Patrician? I have not seen that brought up in the commentary. How does a regular Joe like me that is not a bonified Packard historian know how Packard numbered cars? If the 1st 4 digits before 0001 designate that it is a 1955 Patrician, wouldn't the 1st 400 have their numbers in front of another 0001?

Or does it go sequentially so that car number 2 could have been a 400 or a Caribbean or whatever?

4. Is there an update regarding the owner history?

Thanks for considering my inquiries. Bryan Moran[/quote
========================================
A few points in response to the statements here.

RE: item #1... It is not known that this is the very first 1955 Packard built. Only that is is the first production numbered 1955 Patrician built. Also being the first Patrician for the 1955 model year does not mean it was the very first V-8 vehicle built, which quite possibly could have been a Clipper. According to Ward's publication Jim Nance was complaining about the first cars off the line being stripped models and basicially that translates "Clipper."

RE: item #3... The 1955 Packards were not the final year of Packard production. The last real Packards were the 1956 model year. And then those were followed by two more years of "Packardbakers" for 1957 and 1958.

Furthermore, the new Binks painting system with air wall at the Conner Plant still did not have all of the bugs worked out of it at the very beginning of operation and thus a lot of cars first done were single tones. And even those cars were not getting the proper amount of lacquer actually being applied to the bodies as intended.

Also, tell you a little secret: light, solid colors-especially white-hide flaws a lot easier than dark colors. In fact, black is the toughest color to paint if everything isn't top notch. It is always the color that shows flaws and quality control issues the most!

Finally, people should know that the first few serial numbers of production are (depending on the company) often what in the car industry we call "pilot production" and often are not even sold to the general public. While this is not a hard and fast rule (as in the case of Mustang and others) vehicles with serial number 001 (or similar) may not be final specification. Also such vehicles may often end up being press cars. If they do indeed end up later in the hands of the public, it is usually via an employee sale (again, this is not a hard and fast rule with every car company).

In the case of Packard, I can tell you that, for instance, some 1955 Caribbeans ended up re-dressed as 1956 models. These were pilot production vehicles.

Early serial numbers are always a tricky business because one has to know the company's internal policies, how the manufacturer was handing early production and pilot cars, press cars, etc. In Packard's case-especially for 1955-there was a lot going on when production at Conner Avenue commenced.

Side glass has little relationship to whether someone ordered a tinted windshield-which is something people used to do. But anyone steeped in the car biz from a factory and engineering perspective would tell you that clear glass keeps the vehicle interior far hotter (greenhouse effect is the term).

Tinted glass looks better, but it also traps less of the sun's rays and therefore is actually cooler. Which is why in today's cars you are more likely to find tinted glass-especially with factory air conditioning installed.

As for 1953, a Packard salesman's data book should tell you order options. But even these are not hard and fast rules. I no longer have one handy, but there should be one in someone's hands if not on this site.

Just remember that Caribbeans were very special automobiles. And yes, they did have shaded, tinted windshields-at least by 1954. I have photos of these cars on the assembly line and they show shaded, tinted windshields coming down the line. I'm talking actual production cars here.

Cars intended for auto shows were normally equipped with clear glass-or at least clear windshields...solely for ease of viewing inside from outside in a show environment. But even some of these vehicles ended up with their windshields replaced with tinted glass later.

Nice. This was taken at Amelia Island this year... and yes, posted before. It is on the Packard Club web site.

Also these are not all concept cars. Some are replicas.

Hello... There really is no need to use volatile, toxic acids or chemicals on glass.

First... Today's digital scanners or even a good photocopier-or even a very good camera at precise distance can easily replicate the artwork for a logo.

Second... There are numerous ways to make a template. There are even peel-off stencil kits and numerous ways to create logos on glass or other media.

Third... Acid etching is not the only way to etch glass. For a small logo it is very, very easy to simply mask and judiciously use a bead (or sand or other media) blast over the masked spot. No dangerous chemicals or potions or acids.

Have used this method since the 1970s very successfully in art applications.

The hardest part is more likely finding the exact correct logo needed for a given application.

Quote:


Great pics. Thanks.

RE: the Nash-Healey cars in these pics... those are both 2nd-series phase II Nash-Healeys. The first series phase I had a different grille and very different windshield. I have some early 8 x 10s from the designer.

By the way, the 2nd series Nash-Healeys used a reverse gear lights set on the rear that looked very much like those on 1953 Packard Caribbeans!

RE: car shows today... Yesss, Owen, like everything else, it seems that many car shows have begun to degenerate down into looking more like mere parking lots for contemporary vehicles rather than outstanding vintage stuff. Sad.