Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Rectangular "thing" in upper right of dash - original owner's brass monogram plate.

Color-matching seat belts - "Snake Oyl", advertises in Hemmings but I believe they've changed their name now. Buckles are "of the era" chrome, but the outside mounting is conventional, not the way Packard did it. In fact Kendall Gibbs' 56 Caribbean convt is the only one I've ever seen with the correct factory belts, though I believe only 1 Caribbean came with them from the factory, Kendall got his from a 400 or Patrician or the like.

Believe O_D's glovebox door tag may be same as mine with the original purchasers name. Interesting is color. His dash is copper and tag is gold, my dash is gray and tag is silver--color co-ordinated to the max it appears..

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Yes, mine is gold-colored and reads the same as yours as to type face and text with two exceptions, of course the name of the owner, and it gives the maker as The Packard Motor Car Company, not Studebaker-Packard Corporation.

But the original owner was vehemently opposed to the acquisition of Studebaker and may have had a special one made and substituted after delivery.

I had a discussion with Ed Cunningham, last interior design chief at Packard about the V-8 dash pads some years ago. He told me that they were originally produced by the US Rubber company in a specially-designed mold, the colored vinyl was vacuum-formed into the mold first, then the padded foam was injected into the mold, to acheive the exact contuor Randy speaks of. I'm not saying that a trim shop can't do this, but it would be difficult and I have seen many more unsuccesfful attempts than successful. The front bead that follows the contour of the IP is not rolled and stitched, but molded to suggest this effect.
The Just dashes product is very, very good. Yes, it is expensive, but I don't believe they are getting Wall Street fund manager rich (circa pre 2008), they are probably just covering expenses and making a little.

Would the padded dash of the 56 Sr's be identicle to the 56 Jr's ??????

My 56 Executive has a near perfect cover (replaced in 75 by the Nashville Packard Dealer) but has NO padding under it.

Interesting question. I've never seen a non padded cover. The way manufacturing was described above would seem like it would be too big without the padding. Does yours fit well in the corners where things curve in all directions?

Believe most lower Clippers just had the painted panel but pad was optional according to the build codes Brian posted earlier. Execs & other seniors had the pad standard. The same part number is used for the upper metal panel in 55-6 so assume pads would be same shape but different colors.

IT fits perfect. No wrinkles, bulges nor any other irregularities of any type. Strange that there is padding on the very front rounded edge nearest the passengers and at the curved corners. BUT NO PADDING on the flat horizontal top surface. It lays good and flat as if cemented to the metal.

Owens dash and other dashes i've seen are much zoftic compared to mine along the top horizontal surface.

I'll try to snap a pic of it tommorow so u can see and compare to Owens pic above..

At this point, i'm inclined to believe that the dealer just did a slip-shod job of replacement deleteing the padding. The dealer actualy farmed it out to an upholstery shop ca. 1975. I have the work order for it. BUT that begs the question, why would there be padding at the front curve and corner curves but not the top surface????

I bought seat belts for my 1963 Chevy II from Dan's classic auto in Oregon, they carry the Beams (brand) "retro seat belts" They have the flip-up chrome buckle and come in 22, count 'em, 22 different colors, I matched the 1963 Chevy aqua-turquoise perfectly, they are $20.95 each.

dansclassic.com/products.cfm?mk=128&md=910&c=1232&kys=&yr=

If you can't find a good color for your Packard you aren't trying hard enough.

Note that my 56 Executive dash padding is not as zoftic as Owens appears in his pic above. The dash pad was replaced ca 1975 by the original owner and it was done by E. Grey Smith Packard dealer over in Snatshville.

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Interesting where the seam is on yours. Mine splits the middle of padded curve.