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I spent some time, during our brief spate of warm weather, cleaning at least two layers of paint off of my door jamb identification plate. From what I have been told, my 1956 Esquire was originally painted Mojave Tan. But I don't know if that included a different color top or lower panel. Since the Esquire was really a 400 hardtop in Caribbean-like disguise, supposedly ordered from the factory with the Carib dual scoop hood, side and antenna trim (no "Reynolds Wrap"), but retaining the appropriate 400 leather interior (none of the fancy Caribbean reversable seat cushions), I am now wondering if I have done a disservice by cleaning the paint off to get a bright and shiny ID tag. Were these tags painted over at the factory as a normal course, unlike earlier models with the unpainted tags? It should be noted that the numbers on my tag are 5687-4121, with the Paint Code space left blank (by design, or was it because it was a special Esquire order?), with a Trim code of 189. The number would indicate that the car was built towards the bitter end of the Detroit Packard run, probably in the last 3-5 weeks of production. It may have also been the left-over Esquire advertised by DuBois Studebaker-Packard of Arlington, VA that shows a year end sale of 1956 Esquires, one being a Mojave Tan hardtop, equipped like mine (list $6200, sale price $4200!) in the Comorant article in 2004.

So, bottom line is, should these tags be painted or not? My car is currently the MES paint scheme (Dover white, Danube blue and Roman copper) with the white vinyl top. All of this was done forty years or more ago by the previous owner.

The tag should not be painted. Just sloppy work done by someone who did not know better 40 years ago.

I don't remember the VN plate as being painted over on any of my 56s or my one 55 - except on those cars that had been sloppily repainted. I carefully cleaned those off, but found no evidence original paint beneath.

Past discussion, here, seems to indicate that the absence of a paint code on the VN plate for models of this period means the car had a non-standard paint scheme. However, Mojave Tan (Code R) WAS available on Patrician and Four Hundred in solid or in two-tone with Dover White (as the upper color). Unfortunately, the absence of a paint code doesn't tell us whether the special scheme involved a single color, two-tone, or even tri-tone.

The factory production for your car order MIGHT have some additional details. However, reports seem to indicate that those are not available for 5687 from the Studebaker museum's cache, but in the hands of a private collector.

Mind you, I'm only familiar with the Esquire as an end product, not its production. Is it possible that cars designated for such conversion might have been finished in primer, then painted by the dealar?

Meanwhile, as with any other model, you might try removing a door trim panel and looking for factory overspray (aka - undermasking).

The only other way the original color (if any) might be revealed is if you strip the car for refinishing - sanding/feathering your way through the strata.

DaveB845, have you considered speaking with George Hamlin? He researched the Esquires quite extensively, met with DuBois years back to get his personal recollections, and published several articles on the Esquires so I'd consider him among the most informed person on these cars. Here are a few pix of one of his Esquires. BTW, there were also 4-door Esquires and not all of them had Caribbean hoods, in fact they were perhaps more differences between them than similarities.

George's contact info is in the PAC Membership Directory. I have two of his published articles on the Esquires and could probably dig them out and mail them to you. PM me with your snailmail if interested.

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First of all, thanks for the responses and the affirmation that I had done nothing incorrect by making my ID plate paintless and bright.

I found a base coat of Mojave Tan on the plate, covered by the newer Dover White. No primer was noted.

I will seek additional information from Mr. Hamlin about the Esquire legacy. The previous owner's father worked for Mr. DuBois up until the Packard portion of the dealership closed, so there may be more stories about the Esquires to be had on my end. Apparently, from what I already know, both Mr. and Mrs. DuBois were characters, quite familiar with the automotive scene in the VA/DC/MD area where these cars were originally sold by several Packard dealers.

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That's a pretty good indication that the car had been repainted twice.

All of this was originally triggered by the picture, to the right, of the ID plate on that absolutely beautiful 56 Caribbean convertible. It, too, is painted over.

As I understand the factory assembly process the VN tags were affixed after the body was painted and trimmed, prior to that the VN was identified via a paint # on the cowl (see photos). Notice both numbers in the same panel location. So a tag that's painted over is almost certainly the result of a inattentive repaint.

The 1107 (5699-1107) survives and was the company car originally assigned to the Universal Agency, Hollywood CA.

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Well, I'm to blame for the recent (re)appearance of that pic in Recent Photos.

I didn't submit the series of photos of that 56 Carib (about nine in all); they've actually been in the site's Photo Archive for a few years. I simply found them mis-filed in the 1955 folder, earlier this week, and corrected that. However, that action also updates the time stamp for the subject image files, which changes the sort order WRT to Recent Photos.

I'm glad it got you thinking, but keep in mind that this is likely a restored car. Notice the binding on the trunk lining in one of the othe pics - not authentic. I suspect that this car was, indeed, repainted - that they simply painted over the VN plate, in haste.

OD,
The 4 door sedan, does it have stamped numbers on the firewall?

My 55 Caribbean had 88 on the passenger side .

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