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Re: 1956 Caribbean Production
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Webmaster
 
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You will know your car was built at some point after that last date you find on the car. If you can find records for a serial number that is right before yours, that probably help narrow the field.
My car was very late production in 54. The engine has a cast date of 8/15/54 and I think my heater box has a 8/17/54 date stanp on it. Figure after an engine is cast, it still has to go through various steps and processes before it is turned into an engine ready to go into a vehicle. So my car must have been very late August or early Sept.
Posted on: 4/4 8:12
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-BigKev
1954 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan -> Registry | Project Blog 1937 Packard 115-C Convertible Coupe -> Registry | Project Blog |
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Re: 1956 Caribbean Production
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Home away from home
 
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Quote:
Your Caribbean MES hardtop was sold new out of the Philadelphia region. My buddy, the great Roscoe Stelford and myself have records on these cars. Yes, yours would have been in the last third of Caribbean hardtop production. You can always look for casting dates on your engine, transmission and other parts. As for dates on the rears of instrument cluster gauges... those were made fairly well in advance so don't depend on dates stamped as a gospel guide there. Also, remember that all 1956 Caribbeans (hardtops as well as convertibles) required extra steps in the assembly process at Conner Avenue. Therefore, none of these cars were a straight-through assembly like a Patrician or Four Hundred. Each was pulled from the normal line and shunted to a separate area where trim work was done for the tops. This slowed things down a bit more for all Caribbeans. Important thing to remember.
Posted on: 4/4 11:43
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Re: 1956 Caribbean Production
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It would be good to get those records digitized at some point to preserve them for the future. Roscoe is only about 30 minutes from me.
Posted on: 4/4 12:45
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-BigKev
1954 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan -> Registry | Project Blog 1937 Packard 115-C Convertible Coupe -> Registry | Project Blog |
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Re: 1956 Caribbean Production
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Home away from home
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56 clocks also have dates. But same warning as the instrument cluster...
Posted on: 4/4 13:10
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1955 400 | Registry | Project Blog
1955 Clipper Deluxe | Registry | Project Blog 1955 Clipper Super Panama | Registry |
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Re: 1956 Caribbean Production
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Home away from home
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Roscoe has his records and I have mine. With all due respect to Packard knowledge seekers of today, I've been at this for a lot of years. Yes, I know where Roscoe is located and I have been to his place several times. We visit fairly often on the phone and via emails. Please understand I've known Roscoe since the 1970s. I have been collecting this stuff since the 1950s, back when nobody cared. Saved everything I could from Conner Avenue (my aunt worked for the guy who set the plant up). Started out putting everything Caribbean on 3 x 5 cards. Did this on my own. And started my own roster for Caribbeans in the 1970s and this ran, advertised world-wide for many years– even if nobody remembers today. My Caribbean Roster was always in Hemmings Motor News Almanac for decades. Today? Nobody can seem to remember... or even know about it. But this was long, long, long before anyone knew about digitalizing. Or the almighty internet. This stuff has indeed been preserved– even if today's folks on the internet don't know about it. Love for all things Packard– including Caribbeans– has been going on a long, long time. Things happen as the years go by and generations get replaced. 
Posted on: 4/4 14:15
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Re: 1956 Caribbean Production
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I'm not sure where the disconnect is here. I never said you and Roscoe didn't do any work, and nowhere did I even elude to that.
My point is, what happens when you and Roscoe have gone to the Great Car Show in the Sky? What happens if your house burns down tomorrow? What are the plans to preserve those records for future reference? If there are plans in place, that's great, enough said. I'm all about making as much Packard information freely available for folks to access, with no agenda attached. This was one of the reasons why folks like Carol Mauck asked me many years ago to take Fred's extensive Packard literature collection and make it available for folks to access. He didn't want it to end up in the landfill or at a museum where either no one knew it was there or they were charged to access it. Too many rare pieces (aka Dad's old dusty Packard stuff) have been tossed out by family members who don't understand their informational value. Hopefully, everyone puts in some type of effort, in their own way, for the betterment of the hobby. Some people will appreciate it; some people won't.
Posted on: 4/4 14:51
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-BigKev
1954 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan -> Registry | Project Blog 1937 Packard 115-C Convertible Coupe -> Registry | Project Blog |
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Re: 1956 Caribbean Production
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Totally understood. And great for the Maucks and altruism and philanthrophy. Good for them. But nobody said you did or didn't say what you've just stated. Nobody. So let's not beat an egg into a horse. Only said that this stuff has indeed been preserved and individuals have indeed had the forethought to save it in the first place for people to argue about today. Before the internet. All of which is precisely why I started collecting and preserving the Packard stuff... and notes and memories decades ago. What I saved was not communal nor a group effort. It was my personal effort. Even if it is a bad thing today to get credit for what one has actually done on their own. Or that such individual efforts do not matter in the communal world of today– unless one is giving it all away to this or that, etc..etc. I'm not "dad"... and watching stuff get tossed is certainly not a new phenomenon to me. Please. I was there when they were tossing out Packard stuff in Detroit. I had relatives who worked for Packard. I owned commercial property near the Grand Blvd. plant. My family had a store near the ConnerAvenue plant– which I watched both open and close. I had friends who actually worked on real Packards, including special ones... like the Balboa, the Request, the Panthers, and the Predictor. I actually knew this stuff. Sharing the info? Over the years I have included inside stories, histories, photos and memories in The Packard Cormorant magazine, Hemmings Motor News, Special-Interest Autos magazine, Car Classics magazine, Popular Mechanics and more. Including a book I wrote. For the first time in history, I listed the actual Packard Pan Americans, their full history, how they got made, etc. etc. Showed photos no one had ever seen before. Facts no one ever wrote about before. Minimizing all this is fine, I guess. But my efforts and collections are not communal. And I should not be browbeat over what I decide or don't decide to do with my stuff. No matter what anyone may imagine in my ability to envision, certainly there has been prior thought to preserving the history of this stuff. Including ... when I go to the great Packard graveyard in the sky. So. And again with all due respect, I have just a little clue here about saving the history and sharing it. I detest arguments– especially online. Thanks for the concern and passion.
Posted on: 4/4 15:37
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Re: 1956 Caribbean Production
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I'm not trying to "browbeat" anyone. I simply said it would be good to have this information digitized for the future.
Obviously your content to do with as you wish. You do you. Good day and good luck.
Posted on: 4/4 17:42
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-BigKev
1954 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan -> Registry | Project Blog 1937 Packard 115-C Convertible Coupe -> Registry | Project Blog |
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Re: 1956 Caribbean Production
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Quite a regular
 
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My hardtop is #1061, MES. The build sheet has a rubber stamp on it indicating the date of January 27, 1956. Don't know if this meant the car was put into production on that date or was completed and ready for shipment. Car delivered in Hawaii and coded as an "export" as Hawaii wasn't a state at that time. Hope this helps.
Posted on: 4/5 15:10
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