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I am a new owner of a 1948 Super Eight Victoria Convertible and may want to install one of these contraptions. I hope to discover a build sheet for the car to see if it came with one. The car already has lots of options and was an early build 10/47 with unique trim confirguration. I bought and read Robert J Neal's Book "Packard 1948-1950". I Also found a 1st edition 5/1948 Packard Service Training Booklet for the unit.Very intersting read- lots of enginering and components and adjustments. Am I asking for trouble?

IMO, they are a decent option and a good conversation starter at car shows. Over the years many have been disabled or had parts removed and thrown away to provide better access to something else when they no longer worked or needed an adjustment and no one was around to do the work. Having an intact and working option is starting to become a rarity.

When adjusted properly they do seem to work as advertised. They do take a bit of understanding on how they work and what adjustment does what and when but there are situations where it may not be as responsive as you might like and would be better turned off. For the most part the adjustments are made to only suit one driver. Once dialed in for the first driver a second driver who has a different driving style may not be happy with the operation

The nice thing about Packards system is you can turn it off and the car works exactly as if the option was never installed.

It would be difficult to install on a car without, especially if the block isn’t tapped for the diaphragm and control unit. When not ordered, the castings were typically left blank, especially on the head. If you do install it, you need to change the transmission too as the proper one has the needed governor for the system but I believe you can get a new harness for it from YnZ’s. In any event, if you do install one, please document the work in a blog for others to follow!