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Somewhat begs the question then: Why did Packard wait until 56 to use the Kirksite????? Were'nt the 53 thru 55 hoods hand made?????

My guess is that Kirksite developement and use had not YET expanded or evolved to any MAJOR convenience level for production STAMPING operations. Maybe for a butter mould or something but not a 200 ton press for stamping fenders or hoods.

There are many technologies that do not reach practicle levels of use for many years???

So, does the final verdict mean that Packard used Kirksite for the 56 hoods???

Are the following statements correct?????

When 56 Carib production started ALL other 56 model production ceased.

56 Carib production was the last 56 production models.

Are the following statements correct?????
When 56 Carib production started ALL other 56 model production ceased.
56 Carib production was the last 56 production models.

That is not correct, according to the very limited amount of build-date information I have. Caribbean production apparently had several "campaigns" interspersed during regular production. I believe the last 1956 Packard built was a Patrician and that is apparently quite well-documented.

Is there any record or reasonable speculation of when the FIRST 56 Carib (conv. or HT) was built????

Kirksite dies big enough to make a hood were being used before the first Packard Caribbean was made. Why they chose to do all the hand work I don't know but it is fun to speculate.

This is pure guess work but it could be that

1) They had the ability to hand modify the hoods, possibly they were done by Henney which did a lot of hand work and lead work on hearses and ambulances?

2) They thought of the Caribbean as a specialty product and did not think it would sell as many units as it did.

3) They did not expect to keep producing the model for more than a year.

By 1955 they saw they had a model that was popular enough to justify the tooling.

I gather that the Caribbean was something of a throwback to the custom bodies of the 30s. The initial plan was to have a body that was sectioned for a lower silhouette but the cost was prohibitive.

In any case the initial thinking involved a more or less hand made car. It may have been a while before they thought of tooling the parts instead of making them by hand.

Is there any record or reasonable speculation of when the FIRST 56 Carib (conv. or HT) was built????

Earliest one I have data on was convertible #9, shipped on December 8, 1955.

This is pure guess work but it could be that

1) They had the ability to hand modify the hoods, possibly they were done by Henney which did a lot of hand work and lead work on hearses and ambulances?

2) They thought of the Caribbean as a specialty product and did not think it would sell as many units as it did.

I don't think so, but I'm just speculating as well.

Re (1) In addition to the hoods, the trunk lids were also modified with some hand-forming. I'd think Mitchell-Bentley (or Ionia) would have been a more logical choice if they went to the outside, as Henney ceased car-related work in 1954.

Re (2), they announced well ahead of introduction just how many Caribbeans would be made, as each one was a financially loosing proposition. Only in 1956 did they exceed their original production limit, and then only because of extreme pressure from influential dealers and others who, upon hearing of the impending shutdown, put pressure on Packard to use the balance of the unique parts to produce the last batch. Or so the story goes.

"Earliest one I have data on was convertible #9, shipped on December 8, 1955."

Thanks for the reply Owen. Dec 8, 55 is too early to support my theory or more abundantly negates my theory on the 56 Carib hoods.

PI had a special Carribean Issue dated "summer 1996". I went back and read the article with greater scrutiny than i had a few years ago. For some reason, a few years ago, it had left me with the impression that Caribs were built as the LAST models exclusively. After re-reading the article i see that it only seems to give that impression but does not support it in detail.

Thanks for the corrections.

You may want to get your hands on the issue of The Packard Cormorant of some years back that had very complete data (except build/ship dates, Utica #s,) on all the 1956 Caribbeans, convertibles and hardtops. The info includes which features which cars had, color and interior codes, etc. The data was taken from the build slips. One of the shockers was how many had factory seatbelts (1 as I remember) and how few had factory air and wire spoke wheels, especially shocking when compared to how many have those features today.

Would be interesting to know proportionally how many cars had fact air in the 53 - 56 era--not only Packard but other luxury or even regular brands. My Caribbean is one of the many cars not originally equipped but since the late 50's and my first time being in a car with AC, that is one of my make it or break it deals. When a parts car came along with a complete setup, I grabbed.

IIRC, was fairly expensive (believe reading it was around a $700 option) in 55-6. If that price is right--or even half that--, every way you look at it, pretty pricy for those days, especially for something in a car when you consider a lot of homes weren't even equipped. Might partially explain why so few were made. There were a few aftermarket units also, some halfway decent, others fairly cumbersome or not very well integrated & that easy to install but did come in a few dollars less. Still, you really didn't see that many of those dealer added units either in 50's era cars.