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We would like to see what the forum members might know about the history of this car. Does anyone know who was the original owner and coachbuilder?

The car has 2 d sedan long front door and fabricated long rear door. It was made by cutting a Patrician in half and placing the front and rear sections on a purpose-built (not stretched) frame. Then the limousine center section was placed in between the two stock units.

To restore it we are using the same method, we sacrificed a '52 Patrician. Note that the limousine was built with a 53 trunk and '53 hood ornament and grille. There are no coachbuilder's nameplates on the body and no tags on the floor.

Thanks
James

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Desperate people do desperate things.

There is no longer as much mystery about these cars as there was just 3 years ago, the history of it and three other similar cars is clarified a bit and documented in Bob Neal's book "Packard 1951 to 1954", - see pages 198 - 202 for specifics. Designed by Dietrich, built by Henney. The theft-proof number (B02167) falls into the 1951 range and the Briggs number is also 1951 - Ray Dietrich's shop was still active in 1951 so that's probably where it started. I was involved with Bob in getting some of the photos for Bob's book, including those taken at Kanter's, and working to track down the history. We believe one of the 4 was built for the then-President of Champion Spark Plug though letters to them have long gone unanswered. And IIRC the car carries a 1952 VN, not 1953 but in any case it is clearly NOT a 1953.

That the basic design is Dietrich is confirmed in a surviving letter (in Neal's book) from the Packard/Toledo OH dealer Laurel Worman to PMCC offering to let them inspect the car (for prospective future production?).

Here on the PAC forum is a thread going back about 3 years, specifically on this car.

packardclub.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1519

James,

That thing is beyond a mess. Good luck with that deal.

Craig

Quote:

You or I tackling it would be grounds for a forced visit to a medical professional but I would bet for the current owners almost any part needed is no farther than a short drive away.

O_D would know if this is the same car that he mentioned once before which had an interesting AC install. If it is, pieces must have been removed already but as it sits I don't see any indication it had a unit. For a limo built around the time AC was being offered and the climate it was likely to be in I would have thought it would be so equipped.

EDIT: From the PAC link, it does appear to be the same car so the question is where do the AC ducts exit. There are hoses which appear to go under the car.

Yes, there is a "Comfo Aire Inc., Toledo OH" control panel mounted under-dash to the right of the steering column. Coincidence that Worman Packard was in Toledo as was Comfo Aire, and that the car had (when I last saw it) a low-numbered vintage OH license plate - probably not.

HH56, looked thru the unpublished pix I have of the car, no photos other than the control panel show any components of an AC system and I don't recall seeing any of that either except for some extra holes in the package shelf.

EDIT: Memory failure, here's a picture of the unit.

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Thanks. I would sure like to know now that the car has been disassembled where the builders placed the AC outlet ducts. That was a question that didn't have an answer in the original photos O_D took. They don't appear to be in the package shelf as one would expect. In one of O_Ds photos the ducts transition to a smaller diameter and go under so where would they have come out. From what is shown of the divider I don't see them in that location which doesn't leave a lot of options other than possibly somewhere in the quarter section. Maybe there are some photos of where and how they were finished taken during disassembly or perhaps James could describe what was found??