Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

I don't know how official it would be for Germany but maybe one of the world-wide Packard Clubs would be willing to write something formal-looking on the Packard letterhead that might be accepted. It's just a thought.

It depends on the condition of the engine. An engine in worn condition may not have the horsepower to pull the overdrive at higher speeds.

It works like this: For the Packard motor at least 45% of the power output is used just to make the crankshaft go around. The horsepower required for a given speed is fixed. So if you reduce the engine speed 20% you reduce the amount of fuel required to turn the motor - hence the term Econo-Drive. The fuel required to maintain the speed is still the same.

As well, if the overdrive puts the motor rpm below the level required for a given speed the car will not go any faster regardless. This actually is a fairly common result. Take some modern cars with paddle shifters. Some of them go faster in the next lower gear.

Aerodynamics also plays a role in top speed.

I think he's talking about the official rated top speed, not what it might do now.

This is the inscrutable index of the Packard Club magazine. Only by searching the text was I able to find the article which is in Issue 66 on Page 10.

packardclub.org/download/PAC_Cormorant_Index_through_issue_177.pdf

Clipper vs Cadillac: a 1947 Comparison by Michael G.H. Scott

For $8 (plus extra postage for Germany probably) you can get a back issue:

Ordering Back Issues
Back issues are available as listed on the back page of each Cormorant magazine. Back issues are $8 each, postpaid. Send order with a check made out to The Packard Club to: Drusilla Carter, 13 Falknor Drive, Manchester, CT 06040.

Email: packardgirl@hotmail.com

Perhaps some kindly person who has that issue (1992?) would snap a photo of each page of the article and PM it to you.

I remembered a situation today from years ago.

Billy Hirsch got in a race on the Garden State Parkway.

It was his low mileage 49 Custom 8 with overdrive against a 40 160 sedan without overdrive. Both throttles were held wide open. The Custom 8 won, but not by a spectacular margin, and the speedometer in the 160 was reading 105. Of course those gauges aren't very accurate so the actual speeds were somewhere in the 90's.

Top speed on my 53 clipper with a 3:90 rear axle ratio is documented as 155kph in "Teil I" of my Zulassungsbescheinigung. (That long word is German for registration)
If it helps, I could send you a copy of that. I know the documentation is for a different year than your vehicle, but it is close.

# JoeSantana. Thank you very much for your research. i have found issue 66 on ebay. i will buy it.