Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Guys,

A good friend in the classic car hobby has been working for several years on his (now) beautiful Packard 250 convertible, he thinks it's a 53, from what I can find through some initial research, it looks more like a 51 or 52 to me.

Since there are no body or vehicle information tags on the car, the only "body tag" there is, is this one: B68570
From studying your helpful tag decoding pages, I got the idea that this is more likely the Vehicle Theft Proof Number?
Can anyone decode any information from this number?
Perhaps the B stands for the 1952 model year?

Because it is proving hard to legally register the car (he bought it from an estate sale, the last registered owner has been dead for over 40 years and any paperwork there is, does not seem to want to resurface) he needs all the help he can get, so if there's anything anyone can give in terms of information, that would be fantastic!

Kind regards from Belgium,
Davy

Owen Dyneto can possibly help with the body number if it falls within a known range. Otherwise, there are no known records.

The only other ID possible is if it still has the original engine. The Motor Number is on drivers side either mid block near distributor or on a pad above the starter & will tell the year the engine was made and thus the year of car. 51 is J. 52 = K, 53 = L and 54 is M. Unfortunately, not of much help if the engine was changed.

Is the small Briggs body tag on firewall just to drivers side of wiper motor also missing?

If it is a 51, it has PACKARD spelled on the hood and a cormorant with the wings up. But there are some more differences between this years, maybe he could upload some pictures?

Tom

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I wish the top of the windshield showed in the picture, squared corners of the glass would be 53/54, rounded would be 51 or 52. The P-A-C-K-A-R-D on the hood says 1951, the grille says 51 or 52, but the thief-proof number is clearly for 1953. Seems it's a bit of a mongrel. And if it's a 1953, the designation "250" doesn't apply.

PS - good point from HH about the Briggs tag. If it's present and defaced, it should tell everything. Even if the number on the Briggs tag isn't legible, you can still tell a bit more. 1952 and earlier Briggs tags just gave the number, 1953 and 1954 also said "Briggs Manufacturing Co." below the number.

There is a very very slim possibility the build slip might be taped to the metal cover over the glove box or folded and stuffed between the gas tank fill tube and vent tube. If found in either place and still readable, that might have some of the original number on it.

Thank you for all the kind responses!

So the Theft proof number indicates it as a 1953 model? That's already something concrete that we have.

Of course, I will be getting pictures of this car asap, should have done that in the first place.
Unfortunately the engine is no longer the original (although I will get the engine number anyway) and no other tags are available.

Thanks again, I'll let you know once I have photos up!
Davy

I wish the top of the windshield showed in the picture, squared corners of the glass would be 53/54, rounded would be 51 or 52.

Sorry, my error. Only correct for closed car bodies.

From the 1951 brochure:
The windshields were interchangeable between the Mayfair and the convertible.

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Thanks again for your kind comments!

Today, I've been taking some pictures of the car in my friend's warehouse... hopefully we can finally shed some light on which model this is?
The year has been established as 1953, thanks for that!

As he is getting rather desperate in getting the issue of the lost papers resolved, he may actually be entertaining offers on this car.
But we'll get back later on that one...
Would there be any serious interest in this 1953 drop-top Packard as is (without any Belgian papers) or not?

Looking forward to your words of wisdom!

Davy

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3/4 front left side

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