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

Did Packard offer a police package in 1951? And did anyone ever hear of a police force ordering top of the line? This car is a Patrician and has a stick shift from the factory. It also has dual spotlights, but no other police equipment that I can see.

Does anyone know what this could be? I'm puzzled. I've been in the hobby for 45 years and have only seen two stick-shift Patricians in all that time.

Glad for any education I can get!

Steve in Indiana

How did you conclude it was standard shift from the factory?

Ultramatic was standard equipment on the Patrician; unlikely but I suppose it could have been a special factory order but more likely is that it was a later conversion, even perhaps by the selling Packard dealer. Packard Police Package.....never heard of it. They did offer heavy duty components for cars built for the taxi trade but that's about the extent of such offerings to my knowledge.

Point taken. I'm not absolutely sure it was factory. I'm going by appearance only. The steering column shows no provision for the Ultramatic indicator. The steering column also has the Patrician chrome cover, which could have been changed. The pedals appear to be standard Packard clutch-and-brake.

All of this conceivably could have been dealer-installed.

Hi Steve.43

You must be referring to this '51 Patrician currently offered on eBay:

ebay.com/itm/1951-Packard-Patrician-400- ... /202848235457?hash=item2f3ab26fc1:gMAAOSwSq1d7Bw7

I wondered that as well. It looks as if it could be a special order, appears to have overdrive too.

Steve

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Is the car documented being ordered as a police car or could it have been done after the fact. Lots of cities still order a regular car with maybe one or two special items and then send it to their city shops to have it further outfitted for intended purposes but I doubt they would have done a transmission swap.

There have been a few photos of Packards driven by high ranking fire department personnel posted on the site over the year and a township could have done something similar for a police department higher up. Another option is it could have been a personal car that was bought by an individual and outfitted for the purpose. The sheriff in the town I grew up in did that and used it for his official vehicle.

Another possibility is like several 21st series Clippers that have been converted to appear as prewar military vehicles, there are also quite a few cars that have been converted to appear as police vehicles. I remember one fellow was doing this to a 56 a few years back.

Seller states that he was told it was an Indianapolis Airport police car. It's close enough to my location that I could go look, I guess. I find it intriguing, but don't really desperately need another Packard. Ask my wife. lol

The spotlights are aftermarket dummies.

Ah. Thanks, Ross.

I wondered why I saw no interior controls for them. That changes the complexion somewhat in my opinion. Police car? Hmmm...

Also, this Patrician is a 1951 model and the pictured window sticker says, "Indianapolis Municipal Airport." But the airport name was changed in 1944 to "H. Weir Cook Airport." The window sticker would have been seven years obsolete in 1951 when the car was new.

In 68 years and 89,000 miles a car can go through a lot of owners and each has a lot of opportunities to make changes.

So maybe it never was an airport car, and maybe it never was a police car. Another case of caveat emptor I guess.

Yes, I think there is an overdrive relay on the firewall and a black knob under the dash to throw it in and out. It would be an interesting car to own and a fun tour car to take on the road. I may go look if it doesn't sell.

Thanks, guys, for all your input.