Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Owen -

In the first paragraph of your previous post, you started off with "Executives", but I believe you meant that the "Esquires" were a dealer conversion - and are otherwise correct.

I have no access to the 374-cid Exec, but it was sold by the late "Dr. Art" some years ago.

In the first paragraph of your previous post, you started off with "Executives", but I believe you meant that the "Esquires" were a a dealer conversion - and are otherwise correct.

Curses, dislexia or gray cell failure strikes again! Thanks, and I'll correct the prior post for future readers.

Back to hood ornaments: Was it a Cormorant or a Pelican? Even the company didn't seem to know for sure. It was the early 30's, I believe, when Packard "changed their bird" to the Cormorant.

We could have a poll here and settle it once and for all.

I'll vote Pelican is really what it was, but that Cormorant was an intelligent alternative that probably saved Packard a lot of grief, and might have kept them afloat for another couple of decades (both are water birds, after all, and in keeping with Packard's many contributions to land, air, and sea motorized transportation).

Owen -

Heck, the only people who don't make mistakes are the ones who don't do anything.

Then, it's only natrual that topics of discussion drift from time to time, but there's been a lot of ground covered in this thread. I just wanted to make sure the Exec didn't get confused with the Esquire, which was a done using a full Senior car.

These forums are becoming quite a knowledgebase that many future visitors will come to rely upon for inforamtion. So, thanks very much for editing your original post.

BTW, this unusually-equipped Exec, came up in the course of discussion on "1956 Build Slip Codes" last year:

https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=1422&forum=3&post_id=13319#forumpost13319

I guess the question now is whether or not that car has a factory-installed 374-cid mill.

Brian,

Thanks for your clarifications. I do agree that expansion of the "knowledge base" is one of the best payoffs of these threads, regardless of the topic. Though my most burning question about the 374 Exec is: what kind of hood ornament did it have?

Thanks for the link.

I guess the question now is whether or not that car has a factory-installed 374-cid mill.

As I recall, the owner had no documentation of authenticity for the car. I suspect it was a dealer "creation" but you never can tell w/o the build slip and original sales invoice, I guess anything is possible.

As best I recall, it had the stock Senior hood and bird. While the faux scoops are a nice touch on the limited-production Caribbeans, I prefer the stock hood on the Exec.

When the car was reported back in the 1980s, at least one of the articles I read featured some correspondence between the factory and the original buyer.

It's a real shame if that stuff was lost, but the production records might be on file in the archives of the Studebaker museum.

Quote:

Maybe we've got such a beast right here on the boards... AL's Exec front, Caribbean hood, Clipper trim with dual quad engine, probably a 374.

It may just be cobbled together, but AL should be able to figure this out while he works on restoring it.

Oooo, if he could find a build sheet that verified it was a factory Clipper with "Racing Equipment" that somebody stuck a senior front clip on... he will have found one of the elusive beasts being stalked on the "1956 Build Slip Codes" thread. More cross-thread germination.

Well I have the seats out but have found no build sheet as of yet. Would they have been hidden else where. As to the cobbled up part, as I understand from the man I bought the car from(who I am still looking for BTW), he bought the car from the son of the original owner, who was a Packard employee. I will go out on a limb here and say that if the car was cobbled up, it is the best cobble job I have ever seen. I will keep looking though. Back to the original discussion. If the visual evidence is to be used the Packard hood ornament was A PELICAN. I do not think the Packard brothers would have called it anything else as that is what is in their "COAT OF ARMS" which is the badge on the cars. In addition the crest has the inscription underneath stating "A PELICAN IN HER PIETY" Somewhere down the road it got changed to a cormorant which probably came about by the fact that whoever they had casting the piece slenderizing the figure down so much that it began to resemble said bird.