Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Big Kev,

You beat me to it. I was wondering what the MSRP would translate to in today's dollars. So, to get a fully loaded 1956 Caribbean in today's dollars we're looking at about $56K. What modern luxury convertible could you get today for that price?

It todays money that a bargain compared to other vehicles being offered. Not sure there is even another "Full Size" luxury convertible even being offered in the market place without spending stupid money.

What's more shocking is to do the same math on housing prices. In 1956 $9000 would buy a modest-sized 3 bedroom new house in affluent Bergen County, New Jersey. Just a few years back, they were paying $750,000 and more for that house as a tear-down.

Apologies for going off-topic.

They can always build more cars....but land is basically a fixed resource.

Here is the list of accessories and their prices for the 1955 Packards. Installment 1 is the cover, installment 2 are pages 1 to 3, and installment 3 is pages 4 and 5.

(o{I}o)

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patgreen -

Unfortunately, for us, window stickers weren't required until the Automobile Information Disclosure Act of 1958 was signed into law. The window sticker (known in industry circles as the "Monroney label", for the sponsor of that bill) discloses, among other things, the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) for the base vehicles, optional equipment and other factory charges.

Now, that isn't to say that MSRP didn't exist prior to the enactment of such legislation, but simply that the gubbamint required its disclosure to the prospective buyer to help keep thing a little more on the up-and-up in the marketplace. However, there are some people who will tell you (and I agree) that MSRP is an imaginary number - something the factory made up.

Yet, I digress...

I compiled the RPO charts for 55th and 56th Series from Trade Letters that the factory sent to dealers. Those letters advised not only of the availability of equipment but its pricing, including MSRP as well as Dealer Price. However, my only intent in composing those charts was to help decode build code strips and production orders.

Pricing is a whole 'nuther matter. First, it's a little more complicated as prices were subject to change over the course of a year. Second, I was working from photocopies, and one of the principles behind this site is that we only provide scans of original material (with permission, when necessary). As such, you'll see those documents noted as MIA under 1956 Trade Letters in the Literature and Manuals archive

I have previouly advised, in other related topics, that I would be more than happy to compose similar charts for other Series/years, if only the material is donated to P'Info, which would also make pricing available to all. I'm sure that material is out there...somewhere.

Until then, I know this isn't the answer that you were looking for, but I hope it sheds some light.

Installment 2.

(o{I}o)

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Installment 3.

(o{I}o)

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Double clicking on the attachment for installment 3 will display it on your monitor in a readable fashion.

(o{I}o)

Cars and other goods always had a price set by the manufacturer. But under American anti trust laws it is illegal for a manufacturer to dictate what price the retailer sells anything for. So this means the manufacturer's price is only a "Suggested retail price". The dealer can sell for whatever he can get, either higher or lower.

The Monroney sticker was supposed to clean up some of the abuse by crooked car dealers. One of their favorite tricks was to quote a price of $2500 on a $2000 car then offer the sucker $300 more for his trade in than it was worth. This did 3 things: it made the sucker think the car he was buying was worth more than it was, it made him think he was ripping off the dealer on his trade in, and it made it easier to finance the car because of the big down payment, which was largely fictitious.

This trick became a lot harder to pull when anyone could see at a glance what the real price was. Then they had to figure out a few new fast ones.

It was during the fifties that car dealers earned their reputation as the biggest thieves at large. New laws to protect the consumer were long overdue.