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Re: Considering a 1956 400
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Just can't stay away
 
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Moose Motors in Penngrove California works on Ultramatics.
Posted on: Yesterday 12:40
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Re: Considering a 1956 400
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Home away from home
 
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Several of the color combinations were reversible as described in the color and trim charts in the Literature Archive. I know your preference is 1956 and mine too for the same reason but there is a two-tine green 1955 Patrician for sale not far from here.
My 1956 Clipper Custom is Tangier Red and Dover White but a while back a Dover White and Tangier Red Clipper Custom 2-door hardtop appeared and I put an offer as I thought the two would make a nice pair but, as my offer was far below their asking price, it was declined. As far as I know it never did sell. Clipper for 1956 was, of course, a separate make than Packard.
Posted on: Yesterday 14:13
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Re: Considering a 1956 400
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Home away from home
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PGH, I think you might be right about the contrast between Norwegian Green and Shannon Green. It seems like Eire Green might go with either of those. The color chart does show Eire and Shannon were offered together.
I wonder if 3 greens could be used together. Like adding the Eire on the bottom or maybe on the top. Mark
Posted on: Yesterday 21:42
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Re: Considering a 1956 400
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Home away from home
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Quote:
I am always hesitant to say anything on these online forums where everyone believes (and sometimes rightly so) that they are the expert in whatever the subject happens to be. But I also know that these "forums" are havens for endless arguments– which I detest. I don't participate in endless online arguments. Most of these are almost always cherry-picked and tailored to meet whatever point an arguer wants to "prove." Congratulations for owning a transmission shop. Nobody said or even implied that you work for an auction company. However it IS auction companies and the internet that have minimized the Ultramatic down to simply being called a "2-speed." Tossed in a box with the rest. AND– like you– ignoring the lock-up torque converter altogether. A feature "2-speeds" normally did NOT have and something that took the transmission beyond simply having two forward driving ratios. A feature still being copied in one way or another in recent years! Yes.... let's IGNORE all of this. Right? A person has a navel... So? Let's ignore the rest and just call everybody who has a navel, "NAVEL"... or NOSE. So let's be fair. Ignoring something just because it doesn't fit an argument does not make that feature unimportant or disappear. Please. This is the kind of logic that has people on today's interstates following 18-wheeler trailers at five feet back while traveling 70+MPH– then being all shocked when they end up decapitated under the safety bar. Or darting in-between huge trucks in little roller-skate cars on the interstate, then getting mooshed into Spam in a can. Geez. Now howwww did that happen???? I will state that I am a retired senior technical writer and automotive engineer. I'm a member of SAE (inactive). I worked a career for over 40 years with both foreign and domestic major OEMs. AND... I have actually designed things that went to production. Things that are still out there in the world functioning. So I am not totally naive on all things automotive. Furthermore, I am old enough to remember when Ultramatics were new and when nobody really cared about what a luxury car did 0-to-60 in speed or whether the transmission chirped the tires. I will also state that I have owned bunches of Packards over the years– particularly 1955 and my favorite, 1956. I have also owned (or driven as company cars and test evaluation cars) hundreds of vehicles. By the way, one of the most impressive luxury sedans I ever drove was the first Infiniti Q-45... wow– impressive even for today's standards. • While the argument here completely ignores the genius and function of the Ultramatic lock-up torque converter and the fact that it does indeed alter the RPM and other factors... let's look at the fact that multiple ratios beyond two forward were around in the 1950s. Let's even pretend that I don't know this (except that I DO). Then I will relate some personal facts about wondrous stuff like this. My family bought two brand-new 1955 Pontiacs (three if you count the Safari that we traded back because it was too small). Both of the Pontiacs were equipped with 4-speed (WOWOWOW! Should be twice as good as Ultramatic– right?) Dual-Range Hydra-matic transmissions. These cars were purchased from Grates Pontiac dealership on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. I STILL have some of the original paperwork from our purchase. A friend also bought a brand-new 1955 Cadillac Eldorado... also equipped with a similar 4-speed Hydra-matic. I rode in these cars regularly, but don't recall either having startling off-the-line performance. And why should they? That's TODAY'S mentality, not 1950s. No matter... The first Pontiac transmission lasted ALMOST a year and crapped out... after being troublesome all along. The second magnificent Hydra-Matic lasted only a few months more. It was followed back to the shop by the Cadillac... which blew out the entire transmission. Unlike the bad 'ol "2-speed" Ultramatic– NEITHER of the Pontiacs even had a "PARK" position and would roll away unless you set the "parking brake" (which had a handle with a nasty habit of coming off in your hands!). Sorry. • If you don't know who Jim Hall was or about his record-setting Chaparrals, or his invention of ground effects... welllllll tsk, tsk, tsk. Sad. But the argument proposed was that 2-speeds are no good for performance. Not how much a vehicle weighed. Of course Chevy DID introduce the 3-speed Turboglide. Ohhhh THAT was a masterpiece huh? Three-speeds WHEN it was working. A lot of car guys today don't even know they made these things– and justifiably so. Of course if we want to pooh-pooh the Powerglide and what it could haul around weight-wise– okay. LETS do this. I even have another example of a car my family bought new: a 1963 Chevy Impala 9-passenger station wagon WITH roof rack and lots of accessories. Of course with a 2-speed Powerglide transmission. FURTHERMORE, I can even connect this car and transmission (in more ways than one) with none other than Packard. After a few years of hauling the family to all manners of trips and festivities, I inherited this automobile. Then I used it in the early 1970s to tow-bar a 1956 Caribbean convertible all the way from Florida to California. With all this using that 2-speed Powerglide transmission and a small-block V8! Ohhh... imagine that 2-speed hauling all that weight... in summer temps over the century mark... up and down mountains... across deserts.... while hauling a Packard Caribbean convertible. OMG! What did you say about "very lame"????? I eventually sold the Impala to a surfer in SoCal who was still driving it years later. By the way. The Powerglide was NEVER out of the car and was still functioning when I sold it. I could not say the same for my 1963 Ford XL convertible with 3-speed "CruiseOMatic." Nor could I say the same thing for my 1964 Oldsmobile Starfire convertible with 3-speed Hyda-Matic "Slim-Jim" (loved the car but not the troublesome trans). Nor my 1966 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. I could go on, but I won't. • Regarding how many people have yanked Ultramatics for wonky fandango contraptions? Too many. Every few years somebody comes up with another brilliant doogie instead of repairing the Ultramatic. I'm an old guy and and I've been looking at and owning Packards for several decades. Here are just a few of the thingies I've personally seen (or owned) over the years (and this is just off the top of my head): 1.) NUMEROUS GM Hyda-matic conversions (once bought a Caribbean with a ball-knob shift lever in a slot CUT IN THE FLOOR. Yes, it kinda-sorta worked– former owner was very proud of this abomination). 2.) NUMEROUS Mopar Torqueflite conversions (some so awful the transmission was mounted at a 45-degree angle!!!). Anything is better than repairing the original– huh? Hotcha! 3.) Several Ford CruiseOMatic conversions 4.) A few Borg-Warner conversions 5.) At least one B&M conversion 6.) Numerous "stick & over" conversions (at least these were/are Packard.). This will be my last response on this matter since endless arguments are the stock & trade of internet forums. This is not my purpose here. Virgil Cole was NOT "just another cowboy"... and Ultramatic was NOT just another "2-speed automatic"... Photo taken in early 1970s at an interstate highway rest stop during coast-to-coast towing of my 1956 Caribbean. What some today might call a 'barn find" (it had been sitting with 30,000 miles in a carport since 1963). Chevy Impala is loaded down with Packard parts and performed flawlessly. Hood is open here for a cooling and inspection break. 2-Speed Powerglide had no trouble hauling the "2-speed" Ultramatic! 
Posted on: Today 10:19
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