Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

I use the Cadillac, Jaguar & Mercedes Forums a lot, now it's your turn. One of my British car friends found this about 7-8 years ago, and I, of course, grabbed it. It came with the entire front loaded in the back and Ca Historical plates from 1984. I'm finally finding time to attack it. The car was on some property my friend bought and the only clue to its history is a nicely lettered but faded sign on the side, "Professional Detail Complete Car Care". It's been sitting outside with everything past the fire wall exposed for years before I bought it and about 8 years after. By some miracle, the engine is free and runs nicely on starting fluid. Whatever it hit was higher then the bumper. The frame and bumper escaped injury but every thing above was shortened about 2 feet. The hood, fenders and grill in the back were un-repairable as was the generator and water pump. The radiator was missing. I salvaged the bits I could and scraped the rest. The Henny badges were both missing from the fenders, but the un-faded paint showed where they were. I've collected all the major pieces needed through friends and junk yards and now I'm deciding where to start. I've started on the brakes which, surprise, blew a front wheel cylinder some time back.

I'm trying to identify what I have. The grill and fenders are 53, based on the corner pieces. I don't have the grill center so I don't know if it was a Senior or a Clipper. The windshield has the curved corners which I thought was 52 Clipper and most of the pictures of Juniors I saw have the square corners. The dash is 53.
The Henny data plate shows the following;
Engine #; L-200049
Serial #; 2633-2008
Body #; 20124
Factory Order #; 59163
Mound # blank
Leveldraulic # blank

Now, with everything exposed, is a great time to clean and paint. I just haven't figured out where to stop. Step one; get the engine running on its own and the brakes to stop, so I can move it around.

My son's company builds TV and movie sets. If he can use it for advertising and write off the expenses, I may go further then just operational.

Either way, it will be fun. Tom.

Engine #; L-200049
Serial #; 2633-2008
Body #; 20124
Factory Order #; 59163
Mound # blank
Leveldraulic # blank

According to my info, looks like

Serial 2633-2008= 26th Series (1953),The 2633 serial number indicates a Henney Combo Chassis, The Engine Serial number indicates an 288 cubic in Inline 8 with 5 Main Bearings, Solid lifters, made in 1953,which would be a Junior engine, 7th Production model built for 1953 {2008-2001=7} but that may not hold true if Henney-built Packards used a different numbering sequence.

G'day Tom,
to PackardInfo.

Only thing I can add to what Rich has detailed is that 288 engine numbers started at L200000 in 1953. Therefore a very low number and most likely original to your Henney.

Another detail you may be able to supply is the Thief Proof Number, that's the number embossed into the firewall. One of our members, Owen_Dyneto, collects these along with VN's and engine numbers and has studied and correlated these, and published articles on them, but is always looking for more.

As well, I invite you to include your '53 Henney in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo!

7th Production model built for 1953 {2008-2001=7}

Actually it would be the 8th of that specific model built, the 1st was 2001, the 2nd was 2002 and so on, so the 8th would be 2008 (2008-2000=8). For some really good history, production numbers and options, photos, etc. on the Henney Juniors you might try to get your hands on the 3rd Quarter 2012 issue (#145) of "The Professional Car" published by The Professional Car Society, it had a very fine article authored by Thomas McPherson on the Henney Juniors. It has more information than I've ever seen in one place on these vehicles. Production total for the 2633 was 378 units; total production of the Henney Junior was 500, 2 prototypes in 1952 and an additional 120 built in 1954. According to the article, because of mis-costing Henney lost a bundle of $ on each one, about $300 on each sold to the military and about $600 on each one sold to commercial customers.

PS - A running change on the 53 Henney Juniors is that up thru at least the 9th car they retained the 1952 windshield with the rounded upper corners to the glass before changing over to the 1953 windshield with the squared off corners.

I am traveling at the moment. But for 20l years or so I owned #13 1953 Henney Jr and it had 19521 rounded. Windshield also. Will post pics and vehicle numbers after i get back to Alabama.

Hi Mal;
"Another detail you may be able to supply is the Thief Proof Number, that's the number embossed into the firewall". You're right, I checked the VIN against the driver's door tag, but forgot about the firewall #, it is B55376. Thanks for reminding me. Should I contact Owen directly or will he find it here? I know what the Leveldraulic is, but what the heck is a Mound #? This thing does look kind of rounded and bumpy.
(I'm playing with format in an Email, if the final result looks strange, blame the programmer)

Forgot the next question, what the heck is a "theft proof number"?
Thanks; Tom

Tom,

Pretty sure O_D will find it here and when he does he'll acknowledge you for supplying it. As to what the TPN is, this thread on the PAC Site in Post #6 gives an explanation. Mound#? I'm afraid someone else will have to respond as to what that means.

Theft proof number is a number stamped on the firewall which identifies the body, would look something like the attached which is from an older year.

Attach file:

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Many thanks for the number set and the thief-proof number. I don't have a lot of data on Henney's so it's especially nice to have these. It's a somewhat interesting thief-proof number as it's in a cluster that includes a some Pan Americans and Balboas. The number is in the 1952 series which indicates to me that the chassis and cowl were built in 1952 but the vehicle finally finished and titled in 1953. As it's a very early 1953 Henney by VN perhaps this isn't too unexpected but I don't yet have data on other early 53 Henneys to see if it's a pattern or just a curiousity.