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Re: Leather Interior Option for 1956 400
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Forum Ambassador
 
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There were some all leather options for the 400. You might have a look thru the 56 color and upholstery book and see if it will shed some light on what was available.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/article/view.article.php?166
Posted on: 2019/2/16 20:31
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Howard
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Re: Leather Interior Option for 1956 400
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Forum Ambassador
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Have a look at this Project Blog of Randy Bergers - 56 Patrician bought off ebay
Posted on: 2019/2/16 21:16
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Mal
/o[]o\ ====  Bowral, Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia "Out of chaos comes order" - Nietzsche. 1938 Eight Touring Sedan - SOLD 1941 One-Twenty Club Coupe - SOLD 1948 Super Eight Limo, chassis RHD - SOLD 1950 Eight Touring Sedan - SOLD What's this?  Put your Packard in the Packard Vehicle Registry! Here's how! Any questions - PM or email me at ozstatman@gmail.com |
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Re: Leather Interior Option for 1956 400
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Home away from home
 
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In the first few pages of the parts book there is a list of all the interiors available by model number. A few more pages back is the verbal description of each one. I am many thousands of miles from my book right now but can guarantee there was an all leather standard option for that car. They look the same as the leather with cloth option except the cloth on the seats and the doors is replaced by leather of the same color as the cloth.
But before you rush off to drop $6000 on your car, why NOT try recoloring the leather? Check Hemmings for firms that specialize in such things. I am not sure Leatherique is still around but you could have the projectct done in a Saturday afternoon unless your leather is crumbling and the stitching pulling away.
Posted on: 2019/2/17 3:55
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Re: Leather Interior Option for 1956 400
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Hello... There absolutely, positively was the option of a full leather interior for 1956 Four Hundred and Patrician. And yes, samples are indeed in the 1956 Packard Color & Upholstery book-if you are lucky enough to have one or access to one. In the 1970s I had a Scottish Heather/Dover White 1956 Four Hundred so equipped. It had factory wire wheels (originals-decades before repops came to market) and factory air. The interior fragrance was heavenly. At the 1977 PAC National there was a dark metallic blue 1956 Patrician (low-miles original) that was displayed with full leather interior (and I think factory air)-all in mint condition. This car was well known for many years in the Chicago area, but seems it fell on hard times in more recent years. Coincidentally, one exactly like it turned up a few years back in a New Jersey wrecking yard. Hope it wasn't the same car. No idea what happened to it either. I believe the original leather was supplied to Packard from Lackawanna Leather Company (don't think they are still around, but I still have business cards in my files). It was surface-colored leather (not vat-dyed as some people try to use today). There ARE a few shops who really can do leather renewal and I used one to re-do my English button-tufted custom-made leather sofa. They did an excellent job and were cheaper than an $8,000 re-upholstery job (best quote I got). But they were still not cheap. This is the territory, if you want genuine leather.
Posted on: 2019/2/17 8:07
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Re: Leather Interior Option for 1956 400
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Yes, I am familiar with this 1956 Patrician. At one time it was owned by a former employee of Creative Industries of Detroit! There were several oddly-optioned 1955 and 1956 Packards at Creative Industries and at another company I once worked with in the Detroit area known as "Modern Engineering"... LOTS of them!
Posted on: 2019/2/17 8:18
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Re: Leather Interior Option for 1956 400
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Home away from home
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If I recall correctly 5582-1001 (1st production 55 Patrician discussed here a few years ago) had an all leather interior in white. It may have been a change from the original.
Posted on: 2019/2/17 13:21
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We move toward
And make happen What occupies our mind... (W. Scherer) |
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Re: Leather Interior Option for 1956 400
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Forum Ambassador
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Here is a copy (Stude museum) of the original Build sheet for my 56 Patrician. The only thing the dealer (who bought it for himself) didn't like were the seat belts. I'm not sure if this is the car that Leeedy talked about because the dealer bought it for himself. I talked with his son and he said his parents loved the car. Note the odd rear-end ratio.
AND WIRE WHEELS! Attach file:  (217.20 KB)
Posted on: 2019/2/17 22:59
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Re: Leather Interior Option for 1956 400
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Yes, as I said this car (or one identical to it) was owned at one point along the way by a former employee of Creative Industries of Detroit. He didn't order it new, he just owned it at one point. I suspect that if you talk to whomever sold this car to you he may even confirm this fact. However, there were indeed a lot of 1955 and 1956 Packards at Creative and at the other company I mentioned in Detroit that had strange paint jobs and unusual interiors. And these were not necessarily ordered from the factory as such. I should also mention as I have said many times before that Mitchell-Bentley stitched up special-order and production Packard interiors during the 1950s and if you look closely on the order, you indeed will see a notation of Mitchell-Bentley regarding the interior.
Posted on: 2019/2/18 12:55
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Re: Leather Interior Option for 1956 400
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Forum Ambassador
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The special request (REQ) interior aside for the moment, the one thing about this car that intrigued me when Randy and I first discussed it was the original purchaser's selection of the 2.87 rear axle. If one wanted something a little taller than the the typically standard 3.54, the 3.31 or 3.07 would have seemed far better choices, especially for a state like North Carolina with its share of mountainous terrain. Gosh, it must have been a real slug at the traffic light.
Long time ago I had an NOS Packard 2.87 Twin Traction carrier with ring and pinion, I tried for a decade or two to sell it, no interest. Then I tried for another 5 or 10 years to give it away, again no interest. Finally very reluctantly sold it for scrap value.
Posted on: 2019/2/18 14:42
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