Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Excellent research as always Brian! I look forward to seeing the updates.

Any idea what the HS high speed car equipment would consist of and why Patrician only or the racing equipt for Clipper?

HK Hassock 5682 only ?????????

Packard offered a toilet in the 56 Patrician????? That's hilarious. GUFAW !!!!

But why only the Pat??? This all raises alot of questions.

THe "High Speed equipment" and "Racing equipment" also makes me wonder. There was no Interstate hiway sytem in 56 and very little until about 1962. So i'm wondering if the High Speed eq. was for the western states. Maybe Police use or FBI ???.

With the discovery of the forged crank maybe that was part of the High Speed or racing eq. option. What other engine or drive train internals may have been part of it?

I'm real interested in the valve timing of hte V8's.

PackardV8 -

"Hassock" as in footrest.

It was a seperate, carpeted, wedge-shaped piece for the rear seat occupants, offered as a set of two - one per each side. You can scarcely make this out in one of the pics included in the DriveReport on a '56 Patrician that was published back in 1976 in Issue #36 of Special Interest Autos.

Until the Exec came along, Patrician was the only sedan in the Packard line, but had been offered in Series prior to the V8s.

Perhaps others can fill in the rest of the story.

PackardV8 and HH56-

Unfortunately, as noted in one of my recent posts on this, no other details are provided in those documents.

WRT to high speed and racing equipment, I should point out that Studebaker was working on a "Jet Streak" package for the 56J Golden Hawk, which, quoting directly from the July '56 issue of Motor Trend, would consist of "an Iskanderian cam, Packard Caribbean dual 4-barrel carburetors and manifold, dual break distributor, and a special coil". However, this "Jet Streak" package was cancelled by the factory, never available to the public. (Do not confuse this with "Jet Thrust" engines - Avanti mills as used in '63-'64 Larks and Hawks.)

Yet, some have seen other Isky parts for the Packard V8 have turn up on eBay, on occasion.

Hopefully, someone will come up with some factory letters that will enlighten us.

With the torque converter in 400 (and all HTs) different with a higher stall speed, don't know if that would be considered speed equipt--although it might explain why HS was something for Patrician only since it would have had the regular converter.

"Yet, some have seen other Isky parts for the Packard V8 have turn up on eBay, on occasion."

As far as i know Isky was strictly aftermarket that was never offered in production (as option or otherwise) from any of the car makers. But maybe Isky, if they are still in bussiness, might have some historical documentation on Packard. Just other avenue to explore.

Isky's still in business:iskycams.com/

Brian's updated versions (55 & 56) have now been posted. Same article pages, just updated PDFs.

Thanks!