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I got a copy of the production and shipping orders for my 1956 Caribbean convertible, and have been involved in getting them for several others thru a fellow PAC member. They were obtained from a private individual who has them but does not wish to be identified as a source for these documents.

My friend Chris and I are both beneficiaries of Dave's assistance via his friend and the information is much appreciated.

Dave,

I would be very grateful if I could request a copy of the production order and shipping order for my 1956 Caribbean convertible. It would be of tremendous help in the documentation of my vehicle and I would be willing to provide reasonable renumeration for the effort to this anonymous individual if desired. My Caribbean is 5699-1240 and as a PAC member myself it is registered with the club.

Sincere thanks for your time and consideration.
Robert.

Robert, if I had the documents I'd be more than glad to make you a copy, and I would have probably donated them to the PAC years back. But I've got to contact another person who knows yet another person who has them, and I feel I've worn out my welcome for these favors at this point. Perhaps the fellow who owns them will someday donate them to PAC or the Studebaker Museum, or some other public site, or advertise the fact that he has them. I don't know the reason for his secrecy about them. Sorry I can't help.

But while on the subject of 56 Caribbeans, myself and several other owners have been trying to gather information on these cars, and perhaps you be kind enough to provide that info to me via a PM. The data we've been gathering, for distribution to all those who contribute includes: Car #, Build date, Shipping date (June 25 for your car), Delivery date, Engine casting date, Cowl # (thief-proof number), Utica engine# (right rear of block, usually), Utica trans #, Oil pump variation, Door jam switch variation (one or two per door jam, with or without a blackoff plate over the second one), and Grille mesh (chrome or gold).

Thank you for your reply and I completely understand.

I will be glad to provide the information you requested and send it to you in a PM. I know I have most of the information but I will make sure when I get home this evening.

Regards,
Robert.

Owen wrote: "... Utica engine# (right rear of block, usually), Utica trans #, Oil pump variation, Door jam switch variation (one or two per door jam, with or without a blackoff plate over the second on..."

What is this about TWO door jam switches???? Why would there be two????? One is just a dummy to plug a hole??? This is a new one to me.

It is my understanding that all 1956 Carib convertibles were built during he last 2 months or so of production before Packard closed. If that is the case then shouldn't all 56 Caribs convertibles have the late plugged pump????

Are there 56 Caribs with engine number at rear of block??? If they were all built late production then they should have the engine number at the front near the unit serial number by the oil filler tube.

Any production figures on how many came from the factory with Air conditioning or Dealer installed aftermarket??

PV-8--my car is late (very late), and comes with factory air.


Oops, mine is a 400, not a Carribbean

(poor man's Carribbean)

The 1987 Cormorant article "All the Caribbeans, Examining the Roster," lists 15 factory air conditioned Caribbeans with number 276 being not only the last of the line but the last factory equipped air conditioned Caribbean.

PackardV8, I think perhaps you're confusing the engine number stamped up front by the oil filler (also the VN, stamped at the time the vehicle was assembled) with the Utica engine plant number applied when the engine was built and before it was shipped to Connor and assembled into a car. These numbers are sequential and begin with a prefix to indicate whether it's a Clipper, Patrician/400, Caribbean, or Executive motor. An additional prefix was used if the engine was equipped with a standard transmission flywheel. These #s, as with the transmission numbers, are the keys to when various changes were made in production. According to Packard's Service Technical Bulletin 56T-20 of May 3, 1956, "the Utica Plant engine number is now stamped on the casting at the same general location as the engine serial number and not on the right rear exhaust port flange as has been the practice previously".

As to the oil pumps, the fact that Caribbeans were late production doesn't mean they have late engines. My own Carib is a late car (#254), and yet it has a very early Utica plant number (#137), ad a late casting date, yet also a very late Ultramatic number (#509). The Ultramatics, also made at Utica, also use a prefix number to differentiate which series of car the transmission was intended for. The "C" prefix is for Caribbean. All of the above has at best of curiousity value, but it does shed some light on how Packard rotated inventory received from Utica into the production line.

As to the door jam courtesy light switches, the very first 56th series cars used two switches (presumably one for the interior courtesy lights, one for the side running light?), then they switched to a single with a plate over the unused hole, and the last bodies only had a single hole and switch. This is somewhat documented in the 1956 Caribbean roster data published by PAC back in the 80s I believe, the same report which indicated which cars had which equipment, like which had the underseat heater, seat belts, rear radio speaker, etc. Lots of interesting trivia for the Caribbean fan.

Its also interesting to see how many convertible Caribbeans came with wire spoke wheels, I forget the exact number but it was less than a dozen as I remember.

One of the many Caribbean items that has eluded me to date is the correct paint color for the steel wheels. If I had to guess, I'd say the middle color.

Postscript: Let me add a bit more. The changeover to the plugged relief valve in the oil pump occurred in Caribbeans at Utica #C1400, meaning that of the 500+ Caribbean engines, the first 400 were not so equipped. As to the double door jam switches, the earliest Caribbean I have data on (a number less than 10) has the chrome rather than gold mesh behing the grille, and has both holes for dual jam switches, with on plugged off. The prototype 56 Caribbean convertible, made by the factory by modifying a 1955 Caribbean, was fairly well photo-documented some years back. It had dual door jam switches if I recall correctly.
As to the Utica engine plant prefixed, "A" was for the 5640 with Ultramatic, "AA" for 5640 with standard shift; "B" was for the 5660-5670, "BB" for the same with standard shift; "C" was for the 5688 and there was no "CC" code for standard shift, and "D" was for the 5680 and "DD" for 5680 with standard shift.

Owen wrote: "PackardV8, I think perhaps you're confusing the engine number stamped up front by the oil filler (also the VN, stamped at the time the vehicle was assembled) with the Utica engine plant number applied when the engine was built and before it was shipped to Connor and assembled into a car..."

I'm not sure what u mean. Are u saying that there are THREE different numbers on the engine?? The VN number that matches the body tag, a Utica number and some other number called an Engine Number????