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I don't know if anyone else noticed, but in the 1955 owner's manual, the font for the starter bezel is clearly not the same compared to the others. In addition, neither font is the same as what was actually used on the cars.

What's really odd is that the actual bezels have the same quirk where the starter bezel does not share the same font as the rest. (Most noticeably, the kerning is different.)

You kind of wonder why this happened. 🤔

Quote:
HPH,
, I learned a new word today.......kerning!

Kerning is a phrase in typesetting that refers the character spacing. It was something I remember first hearing in the late ‘70s when I was the editor of The Pious Pelican, PAC’s NorCal region newsletter. No computers then but I bought an electronic typewriter that could do it, along with adjusting the spacing between words, in order to justify the right side of the text.

In addition to different vendors who most likely were responsible for making the actual production bezels, the 55 book was probably hurriedly done by using photos from the blue prototype Patrician which was also used in some of the first ads and showroom books. There are articles mentioning the fact that car had a different trim treatment than the production models and customers had asked about the differences. I believe other discrepancies that made it into published print and photos were also mentioned in the Allison interview where he discussed the testing and documenting of the Torsion Level system using that same car. Inside the 55 sort of newsprint brochure entitled Two Great Lines of Cars there are several illustrations of the prototype car without any of the "Reynolds Wrap" on the door and fender of production models seen. Apparently that had to be airbrushed on the photos used for the cover and some of the more prominent photos in the brochure. I think that same brochure has one of the early Clipper model side trims that turned out to be almost a copy of the treatment another make was already using. Styling quickly changed a strip of chrome to a different shape.

As far as bezel spacing, STARTER, SPEAKER, ANTENNA, and AIR COND are the longest labels and had to fit the same bezel real estate as LIGHTS, LITER, WIPER, and finally TOP. I think they did a rather decent job with the fonts in making the different lengths all look as similar and neat as they did.

It would be interesting to know which of the items on the prototype car that made it into published photos were initial styling concepts made in house by the tool and die department, which might have been samples from vendors hoping to get a contract, and if any might have been actual final production items.

Thanks for the info, I figured some of that. I did not know that about the brochure, I'll have to look at it again.

The factory drawings I'm sure would show the intent, but I have no desire to get a copy of those.

Perhaps the starter bezels were made by the same company that made the starter switches, or one of their contractors. All the other ones were clearly made by the same company, whoever was doing that captive nut design (even though the wiper and liter bezels don't have it).

Typically brochures have a lot of airbrushing from earlier models or concepts. On my 1965 Imperial for example, the brochure shows huge LeBaron scripts on the c-pillar when in actuality they were tiny.

I found a good amount of differences in that brochure actually, that I did not notice before. Kind of a fun game.

Let me know if you see any more...

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/1955_2GreatLinesBrochure.pdf