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I am a relative "Newby" to the Packard way of doing things, but I have years of experience with Corvette, Buick and BMW data plates and numbers. I recently bought a 1956 Four Hundred hardtop that was also a dealer customized Esquire edition, sold presumably by Harry Du Bois in Virginia. What I am trying to decipher is the approximate production date for 5687-4121. The 5687 seems correct, but do the second numbers mean that this was the 4121 Senior Packard to come out of the Connor Avenue plant. I assume that since records show that only 3224 of these hardtops were made in the 400 line, that this second number is a sequential number for all of the big 1956 cars. Since only 28,500 cars were produced before the lights were turned out in late June 1956, this might mean my car was produced in late 1955 or early 1956, depending on how the line was or wasn't meeting buyer demands and when the 1955 to 1956 model changeover actually took place.

Corvette people can become anal over details like this, so if I am out of line or on a fool's errand, please let me know. This car was carefully maintained for 44 years by the fellow I bought it from, and in turn he is the son of a long-time Packard mechanic (and fellow 1956 owner) who assisted in the care of the car. I am just trying to fill in some blanks about what I have just taken over.

Dave, welcome to PackardInfo.com!
Try to get in contact with your namesake Dave (Owen_Dyneto), who knows how to decipher the numbers.

G'day DaveB845,
Another to PackardInfo.

Second Gerd's advice that O_D in most knowledgeable regarding your query. But to kick things off, for each model I believe the numbering started at either 1001 or 2001, that's why you need the experts to advise. And a build sheet may be available for your car, again the experts can advise!

On another matter, I invite you to include your '56 Four Hundred Hardtop in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo.

The 4121 means this was number 3121 of the 56 400s built.
Number starts at 1001 for the different cars, Patrician, The Four Hundred, Caribbean.
At the back of the engine you will find an engine casting date which will tell you when the block casting was poured. It is difficult to see as it is down behind the distributor.
Congratulations and welcome to Packardinfo!

Your car is a very late one. #5687-4224 was the very last "400" built that year (or ever). So your #5687-4121 was about 100 from the last "400" built. I would guess that it was produced around May or early-June of 1956.

Good to have you aboard. My Clipper's production date was sometime in late May/early June of 1955 according to PAC. I believe the car was originally sold in Albuquerque, NM. I know the car was in Albuquerque in April 1962 because I have a service record for it and I know it was purchased from an Albuquerque junk yard in 1982. I was unable to find out any more information about the Bumblebee, but I will keep trying. You are lucky to know who the first owner was -- that adds to your car's provenance.

Randy, due to how inventory of subassemblies was managed (or mismanaged) engine casting dates are not necessarily a reliable way to estimate production date of a vehicle, especially for the 1955-56 cars. For example my 56 Carib, shipping order dated June 6, 1956, is a quite late car, #254, with a corresponding late Caribbean transmission as indicated by it's Utica number but it has a very early Utica plant engine # and thus an early engine casting date.

As I recall there a were a total of 539 Caribbeans built for 1956. So, spares for inventory aside, that number of transmissions and engines would have been built. The engines are transmissions had their own unique Utica # prefix ("C"), By the time my car was built in June one could assume most of the hardtop Caribbeans were also built, so perhaps 500+ or so had been built by then. My transmission number, #509, is consistent with that yet the Utica engine number, #137, is not. Both the engine and transmission are original to the car. To me this simply demonstrates the vagaries of inventory control and the same inconsistency is shown, even more dramatically, with the body dash or theft-proof numbers.

An interesting question is if this erratic control of inventory as shown by the Caribbean data above applies to the other car lines or is more specific to the Caribbeans which had a troubled introduction into production, some say due to delays in front seat design (by Sunstrand-Ferrar?). I tried at one time to gather and analyze the vehicle number versus Utica transmission numbers for the 56 Caribbeans but found owners, for whatever reasons, unwilling to provide the data so it remains very much an incomplete study.

Owen, I was just pointing out where the owner could find the engine casting date to add to his record of the car. I know some Corvette owners and they are anal about numbers and the history of their cars. I know from my own engines that the casting date cannot nail down the production date.
I also wonder why you can find some vehicle numbers on the side of the block rather than the front??? The gent from Warren who bought his Caribbean new had suspicions his engine had been replaced because he was unaware the number was on the side rather than the top. That Caribbean is in the museum at Warren.

Thanks to all for this information. So far I think that I have a winner. Obviously, time will tell, but I intend to be a responsible caretaker and give it a good home. I bought it from the third owner, a retired dealer mechanic, son and grandson of Packard dealership mechanics. This car is a good "ten footer", with the most obvious need to have the driver's seat leather repaired. Most everything else on the car, excepting the radio, works well. I have restored three Corvettes, so my attention will turn to something with real steel from Detroit. With the knowledge that this car was one of the last Packards to leave the factory, I will take extra special care as I turn my own wrenches. And I am now registered. Your comments have been welcoming.

"And I am now registered"
Dave for including your '56 "Esquire" Four Hundred Hardtop Coupe in the Registry!