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Sometimes as I stare at my Packard before turning off the garage light after a long afternoon of fiddling with it, I wonder where my Packard was originally sold. What dealership did it originally get shipped to from Michigan? Is there a way to find out? What happened to all the paperwork when Packard was phased out from Studebaker? I assume a library or Museum has them, or maybe a University. Is there any way to find out? Just curious.

Portlandon-According to my late friend Dick Teague, as retold in the AQ Packard book, Packard kept very complete records going back into the very early days, and those records remained intact until the summer of 1956. After the sale of S-P to Curtis-Wright, and that firm's move of all automotive manufacturing to South Bend, Detroit (=Packard) maintenance employees took cloth-sided carts (like those used in hospitals for linens) and emptied the contents of row upon row of file cabinets and wheeled them across the street into the powerhouse and incinerated the files, so much Packard history went up the chimney, thousands of "Rosebuds" were left to decipher in a very Citizen Kane like finale. As Dick pointed out it was no act of vengeance or spite, it was just a case where there was no one around who cared in a position to stop it. Imagine if Dick had been able to save all of that data in addition to the photos which would have met the same end had he not arranged to have them taken (well, really--stolen) to his house. He donated them to the Detroit Public Library and we can enjoy them today because of his thoughtful action. I know a tome like the AQ book could have never had the impact it had without those photographs.
The Studebaker museum in South Bend has some PMCC paperwork, what little bit was saved and transferred to Studebaker. I don't think they have the shipping records for our cars, but I would love to be wrong!

It does certainly add a lot to the enjoyment of an older car, and to the sense of preservation of a small piece of history, to know the history back to new. And I'm indeed fortunate to have that on both my Packards. My 34 Eight I bought from the original owner in 1964, and though I don't have the original invoice, I have some of the details surrounding the purchase. When bought, the car did contain some interesting documents, WW II gas ration card, some repair bills, a couple of hotel bills from various trips, original owners manual, prior registrations, etc. And I was fortunate to have a chance meeting years later with the nephew of the original family chauffeur who filled in some further details about the car's life from 1934 thru 1963.

My 56 Caribbean was purchased new by an early Packard collector and, with both of us active in the local PAC region at the time, I knew of the car as early as 1965 or so, and finally bought it from the family in 1996. I do have the build slip and shipping order, as well as an original shop manual with dozens of pencilled marginal notes in his handwriting.

Though not always easy in this era of almost constant "car flipping", it can be very rewarding to track down your car's history, and I'd encourage you all to take a crack at it.

Just the thought of seeing them loading armloads of paperwork into the incinerators makes me kind of ill.
56 years of paperwork up in smoke. What a shame. Thank God for Mr. Teague and his "theft" for prosperity. I know that any manufacturing company would never think that 50 years from now, people will be collecting a now obsolete product and that historic preservation is probably one of the last things on their minds. It would sure be nice to have some of that paperwork.

Thanks for the info Mr. Pushbutton!

My car was ordered as a (Packard) company car by Richard Naylor, the Comptroller of Packard. He kept the car until his death in 1976. Joel Ray and Dave Marold bought the car from his estate shortly after his death. The car sat outside a garage where the local kids threw racks and bricks at the car, breaking the winshield, side glass and back window. Luckily Jel and Dave came along soon after this happened and the interior was not ravenged by the weather. I bought the car from Joel and Dave in May of 1982.

Unfortunately I don't know anything about the history of my Packard. I was told it belonged to a wine-farmer in California. He was probably a member of the "Packards International" club, because that's on the license plate. The original US license was 347 NSK. It was serviced by "Deal & Davie, Susanville Ca. That company is still there, selling Toyota's.

If anyone knows anything about this Packard, please let me know!

Tom Wolt
The Netherlands

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FYI, production Orders for the 1956 model year are available as noted in a copy of the email below:




Dear Mike,

We would have the PO for the 1956 ($40), but not for the earlier cars. You can order them through the Museum Store (888) 391-5600.

Thanks!

Andy

Andrew Beckman, Archivist
Studebaker National Museum
201 S. Chapin St.
South Bend, IN 46601
(574) 235-9714 x226
www.studebakermuseum.org

When I bought my 55 400 in 2003 it came with the original owners identification card, see pic.. I guess I was lucky.. Does anyone know if this was something given to all new Packard owners...? On the reverse it has the VIN # and the key numbers which also match up to the original Packard keys which came with the car.
The A.O. Smith stencelling is still visible on the frame with a date of 5-23-55 and another number though I don't know what this means as it doesn't tie up to the VIN in anyway.
Sadly the history is patchy after this until the early 90's.
Hope I attached the pictures right...

Regards,

Packard Dave UK.

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Dave,

I would think that the "326228 - 15" is a part number, possibly for the chassis. While the "127" refers to the 127" wheelbase of the car. I'm sure I'll be hammered if I'm wrong.

Can't find my hammer, but the frame numbers for 55/56 are in the 4xx,xxx series.