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

OK, so we don't really worry about how many miles per gallon we get in these old cars. I know that. But for some reason people always ask the question anyway.

I checked mine this week ('49 22nd Series 288CID) and I got 14 MPG in mixed freeway/city/county road driving.

Does anyone else ever check their gas mileage?

That's about what I got in my 56 on last road trip--15 something. Whats sad, it that it's just a little less than what I get in the 2007 company minivan which comes in at 2 cylinders and quite a few pounds less, I'd wager..

Last year I went to Barberton Ohio to a combined S/P meet. I drove very carefully out and back and 95% of the time was on an interstate. I got 17.5 which is the best I've ever gotten in a Packard. Normally around 15.5

I know that few who drive cars that are 50+ years old do as much highway driving as I do but am wondering what speeds are normally driven when such driving is done. When on the Florida Turnpike, I-4, I-95 and I-75, my '55 Pat WANTS to run 80 mph. I try to keep it closer to 70 - 75 but it's, "sweet," spot (where it seems that everything comes together, all components mesh in perfect harmony with each other and everything just seems, "right,") seems to be 80 mph. If you take your eyes off of the speedometer or let your attention wander and then look back at the speedo it's back at 79 - 80 mph. A couple of highway runs made with a tachometer and vacuum gauge hooked up in the cockpit seem to indicate that the engine is performing within its optimum operating range.

I know that the car's aerodynamics are bad and that it certainly doesn't achieve its best fuel efficiency at that speed but it's REALLY hard to keep it under 75. Being used as a daily driver, as it is, I've considered adding an aftermarket speed control.

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I have one of those, I married her. She is always telling me to slow down as our local freeway is not the Autobahn!

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Kev,

Know exactly how that feels, I've got one in my car too!

I got ya both beat. When my mother in law is riding in the car with the wife and I, I've dot dual air bags!

"What kind of mileage do you get?"

I love it when rubes ask questions like that.

"Where do you get parts for a car like that?"

Zurich. I have them flown in by private jet.

My team of mechanics installs them in my air conditioned garage. You have to be very particular when you own a car like that, an oil leak could ruin the Aubusson carpets on the garage floor.

It's not really all that expensive. I write everything off as a business expense to my Bahamas corporation. Then lease the car back to my Liechtenstein trust through my Swiss bank. This results in a perpetual tax loss carry forward for my Cayman Islands company.

The big expense is having the leather massaged with Oil of Olay by topless bikini models.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

I have a framed ad that came with my 49 deluxe eight (23rd series), called "HOW WOULD YOUR CAR RATE ON THIS PACKARD CHART?." They surveyed 1000 Golden Ann. Packard owners with 135 horsepower with overdrive. This was the result:

22 mpg and over 7%
21 9%
20 17%
19 24%
18 22%
17 12%
16 6%
15 and under 3%

They noted that the most frequent response was 19 mpg and 33% got more then 19 mpg. Interesting stuff! Take it for what its worth.

You have to be careful with data like this; owners generally report the best mileage they ever achieve. Often, that is on the downhill trips (elevation 1000 to elevation 400) or with 20 mph tailwinds (Packards with their refrigerator aerodynamics are VERY sensitive to headwinds or tialwinds). Also, in the days when our Packards were new, the average highway speed was about 45 mph, not the speeds we drive today.

The book "Packard Gold Portfolio 1946-1958" from Brooklands Books, is a compilation of road tests and magazine descriptiosn from that actual era. It is very informative about what gas mileage was REAL for these cars. Some of the tests simply noted average mileage for the road test, while others actually used equipment to find the MPG at 30, 40, 50, and 60 mph. The results are interesting.

The BEST actual INSTRUMENTED mpg I found in there for Ultramatic-equipped cars at a CONSTANT 60 mph was about 15.5 mpg. The best instrumented mpg at 30 mph was just under 20. The AVERAGE MPG for Ulytramatic equipped cars was mmore like 12 to 13 (no kidding). Even the 3speed plus OD cars, while not showing an INSTRUMENTED tests, nevertheless showed average MPG of 12 to 13 where mpg was quoted at all.

Added edit: At CONSTANT speed, the Ultramatics would NOT have inferior mileage to that of the 3-speeds, since the Ultramatics bypass the converter and lock up at cruising speed. The 3-speed with overdrive would get slightly better mileage than the Ultramtics or 3-speeds without OD, due to the 30% gearing difference with OD engaged. But, that difference in mileage would be order of magnitude 5 to 8% (I have run similar tests on more modern vehicles using gearing differences of up to 22%, and gotten only 5% worse mileage at 60 mph with 22% stiffer (numerically lower) gearing).

Jim G