my recently purchased '53 caribbean came with two rear tire covers, one body color and one chrome. pictures on the net are kind of a toss-up as to preference; what was factory? also there was some sort of strap across the back of each front seat. any ideas of availability and would other 2drs perhaps have the same thing, making finding same perhaps easier than looking for a caribbean exclusive? i'm not new to old cars but this is my 1st packard and it is a whole new world. thank you folks for any help!

thanks for the offer but i do have a set. i talked with dayton and decided i'd probably have them done over the winter. not cheap at $675.00 per wheel, but not that much more than repros that aren't available anyway.

looking to purchase a restored GREEN only panama, (as above) or will trade my '53 caribbean in the deal. george @ 802-492-3440 AFTER 7pm. thank you.

just looked into availability of the 15x6 repros. coker tire could not give me an available date at all, but probably wouldn't be until "next year sometime". $497.00 each plus shipping. the guy at coker told me they were made by vintique AND that vintique was a sister company. on the vintique web-site the wheel was listed at $346.00. tried to call them and got bad music for 15 minutes and gave up. placed an order for 4 wheels and 4 caps to see if there was any notification of availability, short answer, no answer. any ideas of where to go to have my originals redone? thanks

was able to figure out and repair the spare tire to trunk lid latch by replacing the (i think) work hardened 68 year old spring with a little lighter tensioned one, allowing the sliding latch to move just enough more than it was, to maintain a secure lock. still looking for a pair of good upper bumper bars.

thanks to all for advice. just added car to registry (2678). the latch that secures the spare tire to the trunk lid is, i believe, worn out. i can't imagine finding a replacement, but if anyone can lead me to one or to someone who might repair this one it sure would be appreciated. will spend the next few days bringing back the paint and cleaning the chrome, all of which is near perfect except for the aforementioned front upper bumper bars. runs like a top; not as snappy as the full race flatty in my deuce roadster, but it's a lot more car. (read that much more comfortable). having fun and learning!

just purchased a '53, the smaller front top bumper bars are very pitted, rest of chrome is good. i'm not packard literate. are these available anywhere, repro or otherwise? thank you. (i'm sure many more questions to follow). i'm 80 and this is my very 1st packard and i'm quite excited about it!