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

When viewing the 1951 24th series convertibles in the registry, some have three chrome trim pieces on the quarter panels and some have four. What is the model difference, they all state Packard 250's?
Thankfully,
Al

Can I assume you're referring to the louvers or "venti-ports"? If so, at this point in time the # of them on any particular car can be meaningless; the # of them used did vary by model and year but they were also available from the parts dept. and lots of folks happily added them (or deleted them) over the years just like they added curb feelers and the like. Also, dealers were no doubt happy to sell and install them on any model as a customer's request.

I believe in looking at pictures in the Dawes book, in 1951 only the Patrician initially had them, and 3 of them (per side). In 1952 the Patrician apparently had 4. When the convertible and hardtop first appeared in 1951 as a member of the 200 family they had none; Packard quickly realized their error in making the convertible a "bottom of the line" car and created a new series for the convertible and it's companion hardtop, the "250" series; thus not all 1951 convertibles are 250 series - just the later ones. For the upgrade to the 250 series they added several features including the louvres and the upgraded grille. There are others on this forum more versed in the louvre story than I so if you get comments to the contrary, they are probably based on better information.

PS - the parts book pretty well spells out which models had them and how many, but it doesn't list the 200 convertible and hardtop, just the successor 250 models.

Thank you Owen. Very helpful.
I'm going to take a look at a 1951, 250 convertible within several days... Just made verification today, that the 327 had a complete rebuild... An ultramatic. So far, so good. If I bring it home, it will be a great project for this summer, when my garage hits 100* here in Arizona!