Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Hey everyone. Found this site last week while doing research for a car I wanted to buy. And obviously, I bought it. Its a 53 Mayfair 2 door. Seems like a fairly solid project. I probably paid too much for it but I like it. It has the 8 in it, ultramatic, power brakes, power steering, power seats, and power windows. I met a packard guy last night at a local car show, and he told me it was a fairly rare bird. . . It has been off the road since 1965. I will be slowly chipping away at this for the next 2 months, as I have other projects that need finishing. I hope to learn alot here. Most of the guys I know are not packard guys. So I will be in here asking all sorts of questions. Here are some pics of what I am starting with.
<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/azgfk/53%20Packard/?action=view?t=DSCF0008.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/azgfk/53%20Packard/DSCF0008.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/azgfk/53%20Packard/?action=view?t=DSCF0006.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/azgfk/53%20Packard/DSCF0006.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/azgfk/53%20Packard/?action=view?t=DSCF0005.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/azgfk/53%20Packard/DSCF0005.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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Welcome and congratulations on your find. Looks like a very good start for a project. Well optioned & the only major one missing from those available would be the air conditioning.

One source says 5150 Mayfairs produced in 53 out of almost 90,000 Packards total. Imagine not that many Mayfairs have survived either.

Hopefully the mechanicals have withstood time & if the obvious parts I can see missing really are, most shouldn't be too hard to find. Will be a really nice car after some time, sweat, and $$.

What a great find! There is actually a very strong Packard following here in central Arizona. The web address ispackardsofaz.org/Packards/index.html it is the Packards of Arizona club, a regional Packards International club. I would also recommend joining Packards Internationalpackardsinternational.com/

PI has a membership meet in February with what some would say is the largest all Packard swap meet in the western United States. I have gone the last 3 years, and the founder of this site, and many others here go as well. The people I met there and parts obtained there have been the biggest help in the progress on my car.

Glad to have another Packard enthusiast here in town. Welcome to the site, and I hope to meet you sometime around town.

Best of luck,
Jim

Welcome to Packardinfo and a great find. My first car was a 52 Mayfair and got me started with Packards. You will find a lot of friendly and knowlwdgeable Packard folk here. Keep us updated.

Those Mayfair coupes were realllly nice lookin' cars! Welcome to the site!

Welcome, all kinds of great info. here. Nice car too, I really like the early 50's Packards. BTW, I lived in Mesa a few years, nice area.

G'day.
to PackardInfo, and could you include your '53 in the Owner Registry together with a pic, any known history and how you acquired it please?

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. Anyone around here decode the door tags? and whats the crazy stamps on the firewall??
Productive day today. Cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. this thing sat for WAY too long with no windshield.
<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/azgfk/53%20Packard/?action=view?t=05-17-09002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/azgfk/53%20Packard/05-17-09002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
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Quote:
I'll leave it to others with greater expertise to decode the door tag. But the "crazy stamps" is the Thief-Proof Number, see this threadpackardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2025&forum=4

2677 = 26th Series (1953), Packard Mayfair Hardtop
3512 = 1,512th model of this type built (I think the numbering for this series started with 2,001 if not, someone will correct me).
LM = Paint, Two-tone, Sunset Red over Topeka Tan
95? = Trim Code, If it's '95' (hard to see) Light Green and Dark Green (Light Stripe) Broadcloth.

If you haven't done it already, you should download the 1948-1954 parts manual from this website. All the above info is found in the first 20 pages or so.


The Parts Manual is located here:
packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/article/view.article.php?140

This is a critical piece in figuring out which parts are interchangable between years and models.