Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

The 1956 400 posted below is seen in the "Packard Pictures" section of Packardinfo. To my eyes, it is the most beautiful '56 I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever seen a solid black 400... the color really brings out the cars styling. It looks luxury-car rich but also young and sporty.

Of course 2 and 3 tone cars were the rage in '56... but bodies were usually solid color in the luxury car segment and I think the Packard looks best this way.

There is only this pic and one other posted but I'd really love to see more of this car.

Could more pics be posted? Or is it posted on any other web site by any chance?

( hope I haven't offended other 56 owners by calling this the most beautiful, but man does it look good... )




<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v33/ronaldo/?action=view¤t=1660.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v33/ronaldo/1660.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

My personal feeling is that almost any car from the 50 thru 70 with a lot of chrome and black paint looked great but the key is to keep the black clean and streak free which requires a look of effort on the owners part as this was before clear coat paint.
Having own about ten all black cars I speak from personal experience. When I had a black car and I was younger knew Saturday morning would be spent washing and waxing lots of work but worth the effort.

I agree this one looks great on the trailer but there was one shown at the last meet I attended which was really disappointing up close. Not because of any flaws but the single color black seemed to accentuate the massive body below the small windows. I just didn't think the trim alone made it appear longer and lower like the two tones and brighter colors do when you were at the same height as car.

Yes, I wondered about that too: if it's really the lower camera height that makes this car look so good. In fact that's one reason why I'd like to see more photos.

gerardo, I took that photograph at the 32nd Texas Packard Meet in Salado, Texas last March. I looked to see if I have any more photos of the car, but this is the only one. It is an especially attractive car, and it immediately caught my eye when it came to the meet. I'll take more photos of it if it returns to the Meet this year. I also think the single color paint schemes work especially well on the Senior '55 and '56 Packards as compared to the multi-color schemes that were so popular.

One of the things I like about these Packards is the massive body. Man, they make a '57 Chevy look like a mid-sized car.

When it comes to paint schemes, I generally liked the two- and three- tones schemes that the factory offered, but I cam to appreciate monochromatic paint schemes.

My first Patrician (purch'd 1987) was originally painted white over black two-tone, but someone before me had repainted it in a monochromatic dark blue metallic - like the one featured in a color plate in the Kimes book. Coming home, just across the PA border, I began losing high range in the Ultramatic, and I crept the car along the shoulder, in low range, to the next exit. I pulled off part-way down the off ramp and walked down to the gas station to get a couple quarts of ATF. On my way back, I looked up at the car, against the bright blue sky, and she looked magnificent. Normally, I like to restore a car back to the way it left the factory, but I'm really tempted to paint this one all-black.

Personally, I think the Patricians - both '55 and '56 - look better in a dark monochromatic paint scheme. Foro one thing, it make the sedan pillars and rails around the side glass less noticeable. The '55 Four Hundreds, where the ribbed stainless ends at the courtesy lights, really neds a two-tone, but I'm split on the '56 Four Hundred. Two-tones are an interesting alternative on the '55-'56 Caribbeans. A monochromatic paint job seems like a real waste with all that special side trim, but I was disappointed to find a '56 convertible at Fall Hershey one year that had been produced in all-white, but repainted white/heather/gray.

Isn't it interesting how everyone's perception is different.

Some like the dark solid colored V8's while I am at best, OK with them but when it comes to the 47-50 styling, solid and dark is the best way to go in my mind but others would disagree to the max. Maybe that's why Henry Ford's "give them anything they want as long as it's black" didn't win out.

Almost as bad as 10 bureaucrats or politicians looking at the same data and coming to 10 completely different conclusions.

I'm thinking 2wo tone green and grey. make it look like a dollar bill going down the street.

I think that solid collors look better on the 4 doors, especially black. that is a nice car though.

Yes that is a gorgeous car. What makes the solid black work is that it is broken up by the chrome band down the side. Cheaper models without the chrome look high and slab sided, a legacy of the "high pockets" 1951 body.

It is true that most luxury cars look good in solid colors. One of my favorites is a very dark metallic green. Even though I don't like green as a rule. One time I saw a 1964 Imperial in a dark jade green metallic and it looked elegant. Twice as classy as the same car in white. wonder how the Patrician would look in dark green?