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

Can someone provide an explanation and possibly a photo of the factory configuration for the trunk interior of a 1954 Cavalier? Also, a photo of the jack and how it was fastened down.Thanks.

Maybe someone has a good original car they can get color photos from that will answer a question on color of the flock material but until that happens here is a couple of black and whites out of the 54 fact book with Packards description of the treatment.

Modern flocking material is availablehttp://www.flockit.com but the coarseness and length of fiber that Packard used in trunks must be obsolete. Packard used Rayon fibers and what is available today are very smooth and small. There is a Nylon fiber that is larger and more suited but still not like the original.

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I'll check Reedy & Shaub's book on jacks tomorrow but as I recall, the jack was not fastened down. It was packaged in a cardboard box along with the wheel and fender skirt/spark plug wrenches. The box was then stored in the rear of the trunk just below the package shelf.

I have a friend with a 1954 Cavalier which he bought some gears back with about 12,000 miles on it. The description of the trunk HH gave from the fact book fully corresponds to his car.

G'day Paul R. White,
to PackardInfo, and I invite you to include your '54 Cavalier in the Packard Owner's Registry.

For what it's worth I vacuumed my '54 Cavalier's trunk and looked at the fibers under significant magnification. What I observed was at least 5 colors, that's is, light brown, dark brown, white, black, and a translucent tan. The fibers varied in length, but I bet the longest was 3/16 - 1/4 inch in length, and they were roughly the diameter of hair. Although I can't find the citation I was led to believe the original product was goat hair, which would somewhat explain the color variation. If you are intent on replicating the original finish with a synthetic product then a blend might be in order. The overall color was a medium brown, so I would start with a few brown hues and blend in lesser amounts of white and black, and an even smaller amount of tan/clear. I'm sure the color of the adhesive will affect the overall color presentation. If the original trunk finish was in fact goat hair then I would expect some amount of color variation car to car.

My '54's trunk had a dark (almost black . . . perhaps the mentioned asphalt sound deadening) overall color applied to the trunk sheet metal. It also had a multi piece of 'tar paper' (stapled together to form a single sheet) covering the trunk's floor . . . I guess my special composition mat that is mentioned in the brochure was lost to time. There were also 'ropes' made of a jute that filled the gap between the 'wheel tub' and the outer fender. I assumed that these were to discourage small items from dropping in to the crevasse. Those are about 2 inches in diameter and maybe 30 inches long ( I can photograph if needed). They are over bradded with thread in a large a diamond pattern.