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

I am trying to determine whether a recently purchased 1954 Packard Caribbean is in original condition. The body and top are white, which does not seem correct because I believe that the body should be two-tone. The interior is mainly dark brown with some tan, but the door panels sort of have a maroon tint to them.

The cowl tag has a body # of 5478 2085.

The head has 455139 stamped on it.

The middle of the head has a C with an L through it.

The passenger firewall has C68678 on it.

The carburetor has 51532550 on it.

Can anyone help me determine what these numbers mean and what the proper interior/exterior colors are? Is there an area that I can try to look this up on this or another website?

Thank you for any help you can give.

Here are some pictures of the car.

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5478 identifies it as a 1954 Caribbean. 2085 indicates that it's the 85th (of 400) built.

The C68678 is an additional identifying number often called a thief-proof number. You'll find more on this topic of you search the forums.

The number and letters on the head are casting numbers and identifications.

You should check the engine# as the 54 series Packards had a unique one-year engine. You'll find the proper prefix letter and number series in the engine# info on this site. Number should be on driver side, towards the rear, on a raised boss just below the cylinder head.

Interior colors were all two-tone, antique white leather with a choice of red, blue, black or green leather.

What kind of condition is it in? Caribbeans of all years are quite desireable!

PS - saw the pictures; the paint is probably incorrect, two-tone paint was standard and I don't think there were any special orders, though it's possible. The VN plate on the driver's forward door jam should show the paint scheme and interior scheme which can be decoded by referencing the 54 parts manual which I believe is also archived on this site.

P-PS - I assume you're new to Caribbeans, perhaps to Packards. The 53-54 Caribbeans were actually based on standard factory convertible (VN beginning with 5479) shipped in prime and untrimmed to Iona Div of Mitchell-Bentley who completed the manufacture. An EXTREMELY ROUGH range of values could be from a low of about $15,000 for a car in very poor condition to a high of perhaps $140,000 for a nearly perfect and fully authentic restoration.

Thank you very much for the information. I will check inside the door for the number you mentioned.

I think that the engine number that you mentioned is M600573, which seems to be correct according to the chart posted on this site.

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G'day lstelling,
to PackardInfo and congratulations on your recent purchase. I invite you to include your '54 Caribbean in the Owner Registry together with a pic, any known history and how you acquired it.

On the '54 Models you will find the trim code on a sticker that is on the outside side of the glove box drawer. Open the glove box all the way, and the sticker should he on the side of the drawer closest to the passenger door.

Here you can see the one from my '54 Clipper.

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Thank you for the information. That is very helpful. I will be checking the information as soon as I can get back to the car in a couple of days.

I saw the auction results where this car sold from the Sylvester auction, I think you got a great deal! congrats on the purchase!

Where did you find the results?

Turbopackman,

The results on the Packards can be found here:

proxibid.com/csi/Catalog.asp?aid=20036&p=2

I didn't go to the auction. I think Istelling did very well with his purchase.