Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

This past weekend my 56 Esquire and another Packard friend attended a Peachstate Packard club meeting. My car was as flawless a performer as a 59 year old car could be expected to perform. That was the second car meeting in a row where there were no Packard issues, and saying that after a 70 mile trip is something.

Earlier in the week I took my 2014 VW CC in for its ten thousand mile service with absolutely nothing to note or complain about. That's not unusual; our family has a bunch of VW/Audis and one 2013 Chevy. Each of these cars has never had an issue to complain to the dealers about in their first 50,000 miles. I wondered how the ownership histories of 1956 Packards in their first years might compare, even with the thousand mile lube schedules and 2,000 mile oil servicing.

Our family was a largely GM-buying crowd in the mid-1950s. Mostly Buicks and Chevies, but somehow Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs were shunned, possibly because of their Hydramatics that were viewed (unfairly?) with suspicion. Even though their mother had Packards up until WW II, none of my aunts and uncles seemed inclined to buy them either. Still, I can remember our GM cars being a lot less reliable than anything we've seen in the past two decades. Something was always going wrong and seldom showing in that tiny warranty period.

So, I suppose that not having an issue in each drive would qualify as normal for a well-cared for Packard, even at that time. Today, enjoying the smooth ride with fingers crossed is not always that easy. It did impress my friend who has his father's 1936 convertible sedan. I did not mention my hope that our trip would end well. He might have just assumed that it would.

In a word - rotten.

Exhaust system, transmission, engine problems, and poor build quality. They did rack up some substantial mileages. Early CCCA member Charlie Clancy's father ran his up to 99,000. But other owners I knew got rid of them. Ken Fahnestock (Hibernia partner) had a 56 Caribbean into the mid 60's. One original owner, who was an engineer, loved his Clipper for the torsion bars, but only accumulated 75,000 miles by 1978 when the trans went.

They were not nearly as bad as TurboGlide and Flight Pitch Dynaflow. And Air Ride was a disaster. But those cars could be converted to normal by the dealer. Packard didn't have that option.

Dave, I guess your question is specifically addressing the 55/56 cars? Not sure if you're asking about reliability as new cars or now as collector cars.

Properly sorted out and maintained they are capable of good reliability based on my experience with my 56 Carib and my friend Mr. B??k with his 56 Executive. I don't know much about the prior history of my Carib before 79,000 miles but I've driven it about 20,000 trouble-free miles including some long mileage tours ranging between 300 and 750 miles with no problems. It does have a rebuilt Ultramatic but the engine has not been touched and it now has 97,000 miles. I would think nothing of hopping in it for another 500 mile tour. Mr. B??k has driven his Executive from New Jersey to Packard Nationals in Pontiac, South Bend, Branson, etc.; all trip of close to or more than 1000 miles each with no issues. As a new car, I suspect they had poorer than average reliability as Tim notes but IMO that's nothing than can't be overcome by careful and comprehensive preventative maintenance.

Some problems with any car back in the day would have to do with value. A three year old expensive car be it Caddy Lincoln Imperial or Packard is the used value was low.If they needed expensive repairs like transmission, rust even dual exhaust replaced or tires many were for sale cheap. Most people tend to stay away from them. The Packard had it even worse being a orphan and little dealer support. I remember talking to a local former Packard dealer who was selling Studebaker then that the Twin Ultramatic was not a easy transmission to repair properly by untrained mechanics. A lot of people who buy used cars do not keep them in the best mechanical condition.
The present owners of collector cars tend to go over board on keeping things right and not abuse there toys
If you consider the major change in style between 1955- 56 and 1959 cars of all makes another bad fact for older cars.

Today's cars are paragons of reliability and long life compared to those of the fifties. There were a lot of complaints and problems with all makes.

In the sixties car makers made a real effort to clean up these problems before they drove away their customers permanently.

Then government safety and emissions regulations sent them to hell again in the late sixties and up to the mid 80s.

Since then cars have improved tremendously in the most functional ways.