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I must have married one of the best women in the world as we are now a two-Packard family. Our first Packard - a 1955 Patrician 4-door touring sedan, is currently in the garage undergoing a mechanical re-build. While perusing the various web sites for parts, I noticed a 1955 Four Hundred Coupe for sale nearby and going for a reasonable price. The Four Hundred had the advantage of being in driveable condition with some of the major body work and interior work already performed. So, with my wife's blessing, we bought our second Packard and she is looking forward to crusing around this spring and summer once all the mechanical systems have been checked out and the power windows once again become operational.

The 1955-1956 Packards have long been my favourites, notwithstanding the beauty of the 1920s and 1930s Packards, I am simply a child of the 1950s and make no bones about it. When the Four Hundred arrived, my neighbours were quick to drop by for a look when they noticed I was working on something or other with the car.

The Four Hundred is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. The heater needs to be re-installed and the hoses re-connected and then tested. As I mentioned earlier, the power windows are not operational and have to be repaired. While the power seats appear to work somewhat, there is a problem with one of the motors that requires attention. The engine runs rough and could use some TLC and the brakes need some adjustment.

On the plus side, the car was re-painted about 15 years ago and while it could use a new coat of paint, it is presentable and quite servicable for a driver. There is quite a bit of trim missing and the car currently has '56 tail lights with the hexagon rather than the '55s with the golden "V", but that is minor. The seats were re-upholstered some time ago and the carpets were replaced. All of the guages on the control panel work with the exception of the engine temperature guage. The power antenna works as does the original station-seeking radio. Even the cigar lighter works! (Not that this is important since both my wife and I are non-smokers).

As time permits, I'll be doing the detail stuff so that the car is ready for the road by the Spring. I still have to arrange for insurance and getting PA antique tags for it before we can legally put it on the road -- but that is coming.

The Four Hundred gives us a Packard to enjoy while the major restoration work centres on the Patrician, which I envision as our "formal" sedan while the Four Hundred will be the sporty or around town car.

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Another multi-Packard family. Ahh, life is good! And compliment your bride for me.
Remember AColds' axiom - If she aint happy, you aint happy!
What a treasure - the car and the bride!

Congratulations on a excellent joyce. I like to color of this car, its really something do be desired.

Congratulations.

This is the exact color combination of my '55 400. I just wish mine was as far along as yours. She's a beauty.

Congratulations. Nice car.

Tom

Also, if you need the ribbed aluminum trim down the doors and front marker light areas, I have them. I parted out a '55 400 a couple of years ago.

PM me if interested.

I've done some routine maintenance work on the Four Hundred when the weather was nice. The old headlamp bulbs were replaced with new Xenon bulbs that I had originally picked up for the Patrician. Aiming the right hand side one has been a challenge due to a damaged headlight bucket. I fixed the bucket and will be back to trying to correctly aim that headlight when the weather improves.

The dash needs to be cleaned up but it looks promising. I also replaced the ratty wiper blades with replacements that I had also originally bought for the Patrician. It has been a long time since I had a car with vacuum wipers and I had forgotten how slow those things are. Step on the gas and they stop. Brings back memories. I think replacing most of the vacuum lines is probably in order.

The most pressing project under the hood appears to be replacing the heater core and re-installing the heater hoses with new hose lines. The prior owner had just replaced the core and had not yet replaced the lines. I'm not too happy with the shape of the core he put in and I'll most likely yank that out and put in a spare that I picked up a few months ago.

Playing with the idle screw has resulted in a better running engine, although it is still rough. There is a new distributor cap and plug wires on it and I'm wondering if the new stuff is compatable with the older engine. I've read some posts about higher resistance wiring and stuff causing Packard engines some problems. I wonder if I should get plug wires that are designed for the older engines. Thoughts??

Enough for now. Thanks for all of the best wishes regarding the new acquisition.

The Keystone State is a happy place to be.

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If your wipers are really that sluggish, chances are that the motor needs lubrication or rebuilding, or that the vacuum booster pump isn't functioning properly, or both. Wipers on my 56 Carib are pretty snappy and though they do slow down a bit if you really nail the throttle, they still sweep at a reasonable rate.

If you don't want to tackle the motor yourself, Ficken Wiper Service is the best there is.