Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Joel -

If you could post a pic of that scrap of original Hypalon material removed from a Carib Hardtop and/or the covering on an original Hardtop that you have, with a tape measure in the view for reference, that would be great.

Then, I'll get an equivalent pic from my Hardtop to post here and provide a bit more about what raised this question.

MrPushbutton -

What, no landau bars? How about a pelican hood ornament with illuminated plexiglas wings? Don't forget "The Crown" air freshener!

Brian, here is a pic of the top material. If the detail is not good enough for you, PM me and I'll send you a piece of it.

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Brian, your roof material sample was mailed out today.

Thanks Joel - shouldn't be but a couple days in the mail 'til it arrives.

I did get a pic, this weekend, of the material currently installed on my Hardtop, but am a litle short on time this evening. Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story.

Back in 1991, when I first went to look at the Caribbean Hardtop that I would ultimately come back to purchase months later, the owner made it a point advise that he had the vinyl top replaced many years earlier. That work seemed obvious to me then, though some of my reasons have now been proven to the contrary.

It struck me odd, back then, when the owner went on to say that the material was not exactly the same as original, but as close as he could find. You see, I was expecting a pinpoint grain like the Hypalon convertible top materials of the day and what I had seen on a Hardtop that I had encountered way back in the mid-1970s. While I'd heard of a leather-grained convertible top cover for Caribbeans, I thought that was some option.

Now, looking at the attachment that Joel was kind enough to supply, I can see now that the old fella wasn't feeding me a line.

Attached below is a pic of the material currently on my Caribbean Hardtop. While the pattern bears some resemblence to a portion of Joel's swatch, the original the grain has a much more natural look to it. Though the Hypalon proved to be problematic in this application, the grain pattern was clearly "top shelf".

More on this story tomorrow.

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Joel -

The sample of material arrived in today's mail. It is even more telling than the pic. The original vinyl covering on the Caribbean Hardtop must have been a real thing of beauty - nothing I have seen on other Hardtops comes close.

While the grain of the material currently installed on my Hardtop shares some similarity, it is much larger/coarse - clearly not authentic (including the underpadding).

While I feel better about displaying the car with its current leather-grained top, I do intend as part of the "rolling restoration" of this car.

With this sample, perhaps I can find a closer match, and will report back here when I do.

A little update for an old topic.

A recent donation of scans of over 350 swatches of OE upholstery materials by member 56executive Roscoe Stelford includes a sample of 6487021 material, but with model application for 5699. However, the parts book identifies that P/N as the Fabric Roof Panel Cover Material
for 5697, the Caribbean Hardtop.

This swatch is comparable to the sample that Joel provided above, but may be of substantial size that same grain could be reproduced in, if not found in an existing, more weather-resistant material.

Meanwhile, I only recently learned, thanks to public discusssion in these forums, that the Hardtop roof covering was thinly-padded (confirmed by Gr. 31.46492)

I guess the old fella who sold me the car was right when he told me that he had the top replaced with materials that were close but not exactly the same as original.

The material on BH's hardtop is a bright white material used originally on GM cars, notably Cadillac. It is too bright a white to go nicely with the '56 Dover White Caribbean upper color which is a creamy white.

Hypalon was not a "grained" vinyl material for convertible tops, it was a synthetic woven material, woven like Haartz cloth canvas used on cars from the 30's to the 50's. In service the '55 Caribbean Convertible tops deteriorated quickly and Packard listed as a replacement top one made of the '56 grained vinyl. The '56 Caribbean Hardtop top covering was of a similar grained material. It did not hold up well, bec ame porous, and led to many Carib hardtops being scrapped due to rusted/rusted away roofs. I've scrapped 3 or 4

fred -

Thanks for the additional insight.

Yes, the material on my car does remind me of some that Cadillac used back in the 1970s. I've also heard that Chrysler used a "Crush grain" on some of their vinyl tops in the 1960s, but haven't looked into that.

After all this good discussion in this thread, I can now say that I've never seen a '56 Caribbean Hardtop with a correctly-grained, let alone original, top - though I haven't seen all of the surviving examples. That tells me authentic-looking material must be awfully hard to come by.

Now, my Carib Hardtop is by no means a show car, but merely a survivor, and has been out of circulation for the past decade due to other priorities. I know the replacement roof covering on my Hardtop is not an exact match (and never said it was), but it's closer than than the many other replacements that I've seen. I suppose I could have this top recolored for a closer match, but it will do for now.

While I have no interest in subjecting any of my Packards to club judging, know that my goal in restoration and preservation is to be as authentic as is reasonably possible. Ultimately, I would like to strip the top (along with the rest of the car) and restore with more durable top material of an exact grain and color. However, I'm a long way from that stage.