Packard Forum Index » General

Gosh, when I drive US 5 in California, I thought 75 was the minimum speed!

David Grubbs Quote:

Also true for NV and AZ. You'll get run over if you drive 65. You need a V-8 Packard to avoid that (speaking from experience).

Craig

+1 for the v-8s, especially those with TLS.

If you have never ridden in a torsion bar Packard, see if you can swap or go in one on a tour. The ride is soft but well controlled and at any kind of speed you often get one small bump, not 2 big ones.

Wonderful cars on the highway (except when at the pump!!!!!!!!!).

Quote:

But then, not any worse than what you'd get if you were towing it behind a Suburban.

Damme sir, a desecration. My seconds will attend you!

V8 Packards lead; they do not follow.

Let the ride decide, not the thump at the pump.

Well, I've got to say that it is sometimes hard to say what the top end is on a car such as my '55 Clipper with its 352 V-8 and alleged 245 hp. I run Joe Gibbs 15w-45 racing oil in the car -- which I like a lot despite its somewhat high price per quart. There is no problem with the power or handling; what concerns me is the Twin Ultramatic. It is one tempermental transmission! To be on the safe side, I have been servicing it about every 1,500 miles. The brakes and suspension are great, no worries there.

That said, last October, driving to a meet in Fredericksburg, VA, I had no trouble whatsoever keeping up with the flow of traffic and at times moving a bit faster. That means I was averaging about 75 mph and sometimes moving just a bit past the 80 mph mark.

Of course, unlike modern cars' gauges, one cannot absolutely be sure about the accuracy of 1950s cars' speedometers. But can't you just imagine a state trooper telling his pals about nailing a 1941 Packard for driving more than 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit on an interstate!

Quote:
Take a GPS device along with you next time.

Not sure about all makes/models, but my old Garmin displays actual speed.

On any of the pre-V8 cars, overdrive is a huge plus. With that you can easily maintain any reasonable highway speed with no undue stress. On non-overdrive cars you will want an axle ratio no higher than 3.54. Sadly, most straight stick cars right through 55 carried a 3.9---much too busy at 70 mph.

Even my 51 Kaiser will pull a steep hill on the interstate at 75 in overdrive. ( approx. 3.2 in OD, 4.55 rear axle)