Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

I do recall seeing Bill with this car at some PAC events years back. Nice to see it's found a home and will receive some TLC.

I am curious to know what happened to his original test fixture, the cycle car. That is the real historic vehicle that should be preserved along with the 55.

If torsion bar suspension was in production in 55 how could a 55 be the test car?

Rusty. Test bucks are always needed as long as anything is in production. For further testing and refinement for current oncoming model years.

Testing led to refinements in TL for '56, and supposedly more
changes for TL were due and already approved for the stillborn '57s. Be very interesting to know just what those changes were. Allison's car was likely where those improvements were put through their paces.

I believe the cycle-car still exists - Joel??
I saw it in Troy Mich. at a PAC meet.
Allison was a mechanical genius.

Its been a # of years since I read the story but if I recall correctly, Allison developed this (on his own time?) while he was an employee of Hudson and when they expressed no interest in it, he was given leave to pursue other potentially interested car makers.

The rest of that story goes that Hudson "loaned" Allison to Packard, and he continued to be on the Hudson payroll while he finished the project at Packard. The result was Packard's exclusive Torsion-Level suspension. Things were done differently back then.

Hello,

I may be able to answer the improvements question but everyone seems to be on the right track so will save such for a rainy day (Bill's papers consisted of a good 6 boxes and fill a 4 x 4 x 8 by 4 shelve display case).

Bill actually had a corporation and for another rainy day I will post out the letter congratulating him on the packard contract for 55.

Nobody bit on the hint yet: So, where was this car seen (pictured) when it was new ?

JMM

Quote:

The prototypes started being built long before '55. According to one source, the first automotive prototype, following the working Cyclecar, was a 1951 Packard known as A-1, tested for about a year after completion.

The next test car, the A-2, was a 1953, followed by 10 1954's.

So there were a total of 12 experimental cars prior to 1955. Since the frames in '55 were essentially the same setup, the system was thoroughly real-world tested by the time it was fitted to a production '55.

How many test '55s were made is not stated in my source. It does state that 11 of the original 12 Reinhart bodied cars, were destroyed, but Allison drove the remaining one "for many years" until an irreplaceable prototype part broke.

As far as the Patrician pictured above, I have only seen one photo of Bill Allison in front of the grill of a '55 senior, which could be the Patrician. It's on pg 593 of the Kimes Packard History. The above information on the prototypes is also from Kimes, pg 590-591.