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Re: Serial number for Howard Hughes Jean Peters 1955 Caribbean
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Webmaster
 
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You may want to contact the PAC Roster Keeper and see what records they have.
Also, member Leeedy here has extensive personal records of the Caribbeans. I belive the car is currently at the National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio. You could also try to contact then.
Posted on: 9/15 6:45
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-BigKev
1954 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan -> Registry | Project Blog 1937 Packard 115-C Convertible Coupe -> Registry | Project Blog |
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Re: Serial number for Howard Hughes Jean Peters 1955 Caribbean
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Forum Ambassador
 
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The vehicle number of Jean Peters Caribbean is 5588-1008
Posted on: 9/15 7:50
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Re: Serial number for Howard Hughes Jean Peters 1955 Caribbean
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Home away from home
 
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Quote:
Yes, it is extant, and the first and last 56 Caribbeans also. packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=11160&forum=4 1001 MJV 96 1001 MTV 90 1276 MTM 90 Also, the lowest mileage Packard I am aware of is the Predictor, with 42 miles on the odometer. The lowest mileage production one I know of is a 1952 Patrician with about 2300 miles. I suppose it's worth noting that it's possible one of the brass era cars that survives has less mileage, but there's no way of knowing since they were not equipped with odometers.
Posted on: 9/15 9:18
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1955 400 | Registry | Project Blog
1955 Clipper Deluxe | Registry | Project Blog 1955 Clipper Super Panama | Registry |
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Re: Serial number for Howard Hughes Jean Peters 1955 Caribbean
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Home away from home
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Quote:
...I suppose it's worth noting that it's possible one of the brass era cars that survives has less mileage, but there's no way of knowing since they were not equipped with odometers. HPH, are you sure? I don't want to sound like a know-it-all and I'm not familiar with the brass era, but remember a Ford T-model in Sofia (Bulgaria) with a speedometer/odometer combination from Stewart-Warner (the instrument manufacturer Stewart was founded in 1905 and merged with Warner in 1910). A cursory internet search revealed this photo that shows a speedometer with odometer from 1909 and if this report is to be believed, the image shown below shows a sophisticated odometer installed in a 1912 Packard. 
Posted on: 9/15 9:56
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The story of ZIS-110, ZIS-115, ZIL-111 & Chaika GAZ-13 on www.guscha.de
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Re: Serial number for Howard Hughes Jean Peters 1955 Caribbean
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Forum Ambassador
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Odometers were in use almost from the get-go, and in general use on early brass cars.
Posted on: 9/15 10:06
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Re: Serial number for Howard Hughes Jean Peters 1955 Caribbean
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Home away from home
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Dave (O_D), thanks for clarification.
Posted on: 9/15 10:09
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The story of ZIS-110, ZIS-115, ZIL-111 & Chaika GAZ-13 on www.guscha.de
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Re: Serial number for Howard Hughes Jean Peters 1955 Caribbean
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Home away from home
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Yes I know odometers were used early on. However I meant the very early models (1900-1902 ish?) I don't think they were standard equipment.
There was also a practice of resetting the odometer once per season to aid the use of a yearly maintenance schedule.
Posted on: 9/15 10:54
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1955 400 | Registry | Project Blog
1955 Clipper Deluxe | Registry | Project Blog 1955 Clipper Super Panama | Registry |
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Re: Serial number for Howard Hughes Jean Peters 1955 Caribbean
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Hello... The serial number of the Howard Hughes/Jean Peters 1955 Packard Caribbean is 5588-1008. There are other very, very low-mileage cars around today– not necessarily Packards. I know of a NOS car from the 1930s. I also had a 1955 Patrician in the 1970s that had 511 miles which were confirmed to me by the little old lady whose husband bought it new. That Patrician disappeared in SoCal in the 1990s, but I still have the paperwork for it. There is also a very low-miles 1956 Patrician around today on YouTube. So they're out there. When I first saw the Howard Hughes/Jean Peters 1955 Caribbean it only had a few hundred miles on it. This was in the 1970s. Jean Peters' nephew was running it through a car wash on Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood. At that point, the car had been left sitting in a garage in Beverly Hills since new... completely ignored and unloved. But a peaceful sleep of several years. When one had the kind of money Mr. Hughes had back then, one could afford to buy a very expensive car, drive it a few times, then park it and forget all about it. After all, there were airlines to buy, hotels and casinos in Las Vegas to buy and live in. And movie starlets galore to wine and dine. Back in BH, it didn't take the nephew much to get this Caribbean back out on the street. This was in the 1970s. He didn't appear to have the fears of an old car sitting that people do today. Battery, gasoline, air in the tires... and voila! Shortly afterward, this car appeared in a photo feature in Motor Trend magazine. I did freelance and contract work at the parent company. There I received first proof color prints of the center-spread courtesy of my friend, Bob Hall (the guy who later dreamed up Mazda Miata sports car). I still have my roll of color first proof prints to this day. Unfortunately the Motor Trend article had several errors in it, including a ridiculous statement that this Caribbean had "air bag suspension." This Caribbean had under 1,000 miles on it when I first drove it from my friend Stanley Zimmerman's house in Beverly Hills through Westwood Village to my place in Bel Air and back. This was in the late 1970s. Stan bought the car from the Hughes (Summa Corp.) people after they ran a tiny non-descript classified ad in the Sunday L.A. Times. The car was in an anonymous-looking building in Hollywood, not far from Romaine Street (if you know your Hughes history). I photographed and wrote a history of this Caribbean and it was published in the Spring, 1980 issue of The Packard Cormorant (Packard Club's fine glossy magazine). Back issues turn up on eBay and you can contact the club to see if any are still available for sale. This history contains most of the factual details about this car that anyone would want to know. RE: the 1955 Caribbean hood prop never-ending debate: As I have stated before, the Hughes Caribbean did not have one. It didn't need one. I personally opened that hood many, many times. Packard deleted this device because they determined it was no longer necessary. Packard determined that the 1955 hood and hood springs were more than capable of supporting the hood. People in TODAY'S world online have gone over and over and over this subject. And people continue to make claims the the 1955 Caribbean hood was somehow filled and constructed with LEAD. But this just isn't true. The factory claimed that these hoods and their stamped scoop seams were NOT filled with lead, but with a material Packard called "Packard New Metal." Packard New Metal was a bondo-like substance with metal particles in it, but it was NOT lead. Packard was quite proud of this invention and began offering it to body shops and dealers. Packard suggested that Packard New Metal be used in repairs where possible instead of lead. It was the predecessor to Bondo. Today, there is a factory kit of Packard New Metal in a showcase (in the original boxes) at America's Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio. While 1953 and 1954 Caribbeans accomplished their hood scoop by slitting the hood, lifting the center and then filling the gap with lead, nothing like this happened for 1955 and 1956 Caribbeans. The extra support rod was needed for 1953-54. But the factory deleted it for 1955-56 which both had much lighter hoods and no gap filled with lead. Some people will argue this into the ground today, but 1955 Caribbean scoops were pressed metal caps with filled seams. 1956 Caribbean hood scoops were one-piece stampings (not counting the fake chrome louvers) with the hood skin. WHY do SOME V-8s have the hood support and others don't? Because owners, dealers or distributors could supply them on request. Some folks were still going by the 1953-54 hood equation and imagined they would be beheaded by the weight of a raised hood. So? They wanted a strut and Packard made them available. Just like some folks INSISTED upon having TUBES in their new-fangled "tubeless tires"– which some considered "dangerous." Same thing. Today, there are those who argue that their V-8 Caribbean hood "needs a support rod" or that it falls easily. Well. After nearly 70 years of opening and closing a hood on those old, tired springs? Hey. I have had regular Four Hundred, Patrician and other hoods (like Cadillac– try lifting a 1959 or 1966 hood) fall unexpectedly. But not because of extraordinary weight. Just tired springs. Again, hood support rods were never intended as standard factory equipment on V-8 Caribbeans. There were a handful of support rods supplied on 1955 Caribbeans upon request from either customer, dealer or distributor. Yes, Caribbean 5588-1001 still exists. It belonged to the late, great Nathaniel Dawes. Nat was the author of the book, "The Packard 1942 - 1962." The car still exists. PHOTOS BELOW... ...Here I am driving the 1955 Howard Hughes/Jean Peters in Beverly Hills in the 1970s... ...Next image is an original first-proof color print registration image that became the center spread for Motor Trend magazine (look closely and you will see the page is stamped "1st Proof")... ...Next image is a photograph I took in BH in the 1970s to show the color inner lining on factory V-8 Caribbean convertible tops. ... Next is an original "Packard New Metal" kit... the same stuff used in 1955 Packard Caribbean hoods...    
Posted on: 9/16 12:21
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