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Were any non-Clipper bodies stamped by Briggs in the early 1940s? If so, which years and what became of the stamping equipment and tools that Packard had set up in house for the 1938/39/40/???/??? Juniors? Thanks.

Were any non-Clipper bodies stamped by Briggs in the early 1940s?

We've been over this some time ago in another thread which you might be able to find, but the answer seems to be NO. If I recall correctly this is supported by information in the minutes of the Packard Board of Directors indicating the contract with Briggs was only for the Clipper-style bodies (ED - and the LeBarons). I believe all of Packard's Board Meeting minutes survive and I do have a copy of that reference somewhere, if I find it easily I'll post it. Though I've only examined a handful of 1941 and 1942 Clippers, thus far none have had a Briggs Body Number tag. That doesn't mean they didn't have one, well all know how such tags and VN plates seem to be removed and get lost.

The board minutes can be found here.

Thanks guys, very informative and much appreciated.

Just to pursue the topic of Briggs body tags a bit further for those who might be interested, here's a photo of what I suspect is an early Briggs tag, this one on a 1941 LeBaron 7 pass limo. Remember that though it seems certain Packard still built the conventional bodied cars thru 1942, the exception was the LeBaron-bodied vehicles, Briggs owing the LeBaron name (which later passed to Chrysler with the sale of Briggs to them). This is the only such tag I've ever seen, I've looked at other 1941 LeBaron built cars including several Sport Broughams and one other 7-pass limo and they have no such tag. Neither do any 1941-42 Briggs-built Clippers that I've looked at. Nor have I seen any holes where such a tag might have been mounted and later removed. I'd appreciate any comments on this from anyone owning a 41-42 Clipper.

Assuming this to be a Briggs tag, there was a second change in the style. The 1947-52 tags only have two lines of information, the top line says "BODY NUMBER" and the second line has the number itself. Beginning in 1953 (or perhaps very late 1952) the tag was enlarged slightly anda third line was added at the bottom which says "BRIGGS MFG. CO. DETROIT MICH".

And just a though to add on the other thread concerning where the body panels were stamped after Packard took over Conner Ave., I've read that Briggs had another 10 or 12 plants in the Detroit area so I suppose it's possible that Briggs still stamped the panels but Packard assembled the bodies at Conner.

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