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I do 'feel' rich when I drive my Packard and with such friends as I have here on PI.

The trip to Laughlin is two-fold for me. To meet with all of you and to let my brother finally drive my '56 Executive. We just lost our mother and we have such great memories in her '56 Executive. Mine is paint code BA and hers was code DA, that's the only difference.

Edit: BTW, who could resist making 'faces' in the chrome 'boobs' on the front bumper?

bhappy Quote:

Look upon it as an adventure. When I bought my 55 Pat I drove it from Portland, OR (point of purchase) to Las Vegas, NV (residence, 1100 miles) with only 1 problem which was due to the stupid prior owner (battery installed neg ground when 55 was pos ground causing battery failure).

Didn't you change out the BTV on your car? So, you should not worry about catastrophic brake failure. Anything else that breaks would be an adventure and I'm sure you would have plenty of help on the road, if needed. Just allow enough time.

Despite some of the complaints about original equipment posted here (me included), Packards are quite reliable. If you drive it, be prepared for many, many "thumbs up" on the road and get your smile muscles ready!

I plan on being at Laughlin, although I will commute, not stay overnight since I'm more or less a "local". I look forward to meeting you and your Packard.

Craig

bhappy Quote:

I believe the correct nickname for those pointy things is "Dagmars". But you're right about them being irresistible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar_bumpers

Craig

You guys are great fun and I'll enjoy meeting all of you there.

I'll agree with Craig. My 56 Executive is a very reliable car. It took a month or two to work out the bugs that the previous owner was responsible for. Even the lifter clatter issue that lasted 3 or 4 years off and on never stopped me from driving the car. It just annoyed me off and on.

I've never driven it on a 2K mile trip but i have driven it over 25K miles over the last 12+ years and it has never left me stranded except ONCE and that was due to MY fault. Most of my driving and i'm sure Craigs driving is at the 60 - 80 mph sustainedd levels.

I have driven it on 400+ mile round trips on several occasions sometimes all in less than 1-1/2 days.


Don;t fear old iron. Just drive it.

On a different note i believe it was Owen Dyneto that started a thread about a year ago to list items needed to carry as 'spare parts'. It's a good idea even on a NEW car. Not much point in leaving parts at home sitting on a shelf if a breakdown out on the road should occur.

Maybe we should all review OD's thread now. Maybe can't carry it all but there is always a few essentials that i will NOT leave home without. Or it really bothers my conscience if i do. Even if driving long distance in a BRAND new car it bothers me not to have a few essential spares. ESPECIALY those god forsaken electronic control modules and computer controled nonsense.

Here it is:
https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=3199&forum=4&post_id=33366#forumpost33366