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With gas now at about $1.40 @ liter (Approx.$6.00 per US gallon) here in Ontario I am curious as to what Packard owners get in miles per gallon with their Packards. In an PAC Cormorant edition in the early 1990's featuring the Packard Clipper one of the articles compared a 1947 Custom with a Cadillac Model 62. The Packard owner claimed that he was able to get up to 23 mpg at highway speeds with his 1947 Custom with the 356 engine and overdrive transmission. My 47 has the same engine and transmission and at 55 mph I seem to be getting no better than 12-15 mpg on a US gallon. The engine in my car is a bit low on compression but is in excellent state of tune otherwise. I don't do a lot of long highway trips with the car but it would be nice to get better mileage when I do unless my 15mpg is a more realistic number than that suggested in the article. What do you get for highway mileage?

Clipper47: Here is a question I would like to ask, and see if someone has the answer.

What was the first diesel powered car in the USA.

John F. Shireman

Don't know what the first diesel auto in the US was, but I do know that my 56 Clipper ( 352 V8, t/u) was getting about 20-22 mpg on the hiway. Don't know what it will get once its back up and running.

john, What has this question have to do with the topic of this thread? I know my old VW Diesel used to get 55MPG and my Mercedes 240 about 40mpg but they weren't Packards. In any event I think maybe the beer baron Busch family built a car around 1900 since they held the US patent from Herr Diesel.

I think you already know this one... but it was a 1923 (?) Packard sedan equipped with the smallest Cummins marine 4 cylinder diesel by Clessie Cummins. Built in late 1929,it was driven to the New York auto show January 6 1930.

You are correct Rusty. The Packard averged 35 miles to the gallon while making the trip to New York.

John F. Shireman