Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Hello,
I am thinking about purchasing a 56 Patrician and would like to know about the overall quality of 56 Packards and what to look for as far as potential weak spots , etc. I have heard that the 55's and 56's had some quality issues, is this true. Are they reliable if treated and maintained well. Thank you

I am the proud owner of 4 1956 Packards. Two Caribbeans, one 400 and one Patrician. In my opinion, the Patrician gives me the least problems of them all. That doesn't mean that the others are problem children, it seems as though the Patrician is the most trouble free.

Patricians are all I am collecting. Weak spots to look for is the hidden cancer. Check rear body mounts under rear bumper for rust out. Crawl under the car and look at the floor boards and the seat support bracket that runs front to back. Common to see the outer rocker on the underneath starting to go. All of these are simple fixes. check the little "s" curve from under the car from the rear wheel well to the rocker at the back door.

I learned the hard way on my first 56. Car looked solid on the outside once I got it home, floor, rockers, body mounts, rear quarters all gone and I had to replace. Second Patrician I was a bit smarter as I didnt want to do another complete off frame. I started a 55 I just bought last week, she started right up after sitting 25 years and everything on her still works.

Check out my links below to the 55 and 56 and you can see what I had to work with. I love the pat's Solid car.

IMO, by 56 almost all the early problems that earned the 55-6 bad reputation had been worked out. Styling is always in the eye of the owner but I believe the overall refinements to the 56 make it one of the most desirable post war Packards. You would need to check the same things you would if buying an earlier car with maybe a couple of additions.

Build problems with the body and facilities at Conner had been overcome but if a fender or door was really misaligned one might ask why..

Engine oiling on the V8, while not totally under control when production started, had been addressed. Later improvements by Stude and the work done by our own posters on fitting a modern oil pump (if desired) have made that situation minimal.

The TL system had been revised and components relocated to take care of the electrical corrosion issues.

The trans had been refined considerably so basic operation and reliability was improved. IMO, it still wasn't up to the power of the V8 so does need to be driven with finesse. One downside to the 56 was the addition of the pushbutton shift. It did bring back a few issues so that has to be considered. As a whole, it is a reliable unit that doesn't cause too many problems but can be an issue if not understood by anyone working on it.

IMO HH56 sums it up quite nicely. Properly sorted out and maintained a 56 Packard should be as reliable as any other well-sorted car of the era. The Twin Ultramatic, though capable of reasonably long life, was not as tolerant of mis-adjustment, neglect or abuse as other designs; fortunately all service parts are available, as are competent rebuilders. As to the optional "pushbutton" shift, thanks to services like those from Mr. Pushbutton, it can be serviced to perform more reliably than the original design.

In my humble opinion, in addition to the mechanical differences from the earlier years that might be classed as improvements, it's the cosmetic changes that made a 1956 car a better one. From the front, where the more deeply hooded headlights overshadow the gold mesh grille to the unique re-shaped trunk lid, the car just looks more substantial and less cluttered.

In addition to the aluminum cast Ultramatic housing, there's the unique way the 1956 wheels attach to the brake drums (not interchangeable with the 55s because they use nuts/studs instead of the earlier bolts). But the downside is that the 55s were the last Packards with a home-built Packard rear axle and differential. There were teething issues with the 1956 Dana Spicer axles that eventually got corrected and probably none of the problems exist to this day. But the silver lining, at least to some, was that this change enabled Twin-Traction limited slip differentials to be sold, only in 1956.

All in all, I agree with the critics who call the 1956s some of the best of the post-WW II Packards. Every time I pass by mine in the garage I think I like it a bit better. Buying a carefully examined good one will only hurry up that process. I'd do mine again, in a heart beat.

Not knowing what you plan to do with the car affects my opinion. The cars were less reliable than their rivals - Cadillac and Imperial. However, before you buy, you should have decided if you like the novel ride quality and the looks of the car over the competition because repairs require specialized knowledge not available outside Packard circles.

Granted the bugs have been worked out over the years to make long term ownership feasible, but if your plan is to put another 100,000 miles on the car and take it to strange and far off places I would opt for something more conventional.

The only thing I don't like about the cars is I've always hated those exaggerated bumper things. The car looks better with them in the trunk.

I have a 56 Executive and would not hesitate to drive it ANYWHERE including afull length tour of the U.S. My only reservation mite be the transmission but thus far no problems other than leaking fluid which seems to be a chronic problem but not a problem that disables the car.

In my faavour is the fact that this car was a very low mileage (34K miles) and alwaays garage keept. Now haas 56Kmiles and about an extra 5k i drove with speedo discontected..

Here are the 55 and 56 shortcommings:
1. Bendix treadle Vac.
2. V8 oil pump.
3. The AUTOMATIC feature of the Torsion level.

My car has the BTV replaced with a modern ford unit. Oil pump replaced with Olds conversion. Torsion level controlled by a MANUAL switch on the dash.

The 55 and 56 Packards are just as reliable and trustworthy and ROADWORTHY as ANY modern day 2014 automobile or any car of it's day. But there are a few things that haave to be dealt with. If it were 1956 all over agin then i would have just went to the dealer and bought an OEM NEW pump. Ditto for the BTV.

But guess what??? THis ain't 1956 anymore. But the cars of that era are still good to go!!.