Packard Forum Index » General

When showing my car, I'm usually the only Packard and the people like what they see, but are more confused and ask "who makes Packard?" The next question is "what year is it?" That's funny because I have mounted a front license plate that reads "1956 Packard". I think it's just an easy way for them to 'break the ice' and it let's me know they want to know more. The key is not to hold them captive for too long.

Wait till they get angry with you because you correct them on the "Air" ride. They know because they had an uncle who owned one.

+1

If they don't know the year, most are amenable to polite correction---but not on the subject of air suspension.

One thing that fascinates me is that they rarely respond to the upholstery---which to me is quite different from anything new....

Another odd group is other collectors who firmly believe their car was/is superior to anything on wheels. Particularly if it is unrestored and in grade 4/5 condition....

Yeah, I have several friends with GM products who worship at that alter. When they say "We're taking our cars to the Saturday cruise" I always reply OK - You take your cars and I'll bring my Automobile. Some of them do not possess a sense of humor - sad.

are they drinking the "GM invented everything" koolaid too? I run into that a lot

At a cruise night last summer, as I was pulling out in my '53 Caribbean, a guy ran up to me and asked "what year Cadillac is that?"

Now the punch line...he was the owner of a '55 Coupe deVille.

Go Figure

Quote:

Should've told him that "it's a special ordered one with everything made by Packard"

You could say "It's a late model Packard" and you wouldn't be lying.

I don't understand why when asking people to guess what year your car is, they guess 1955, and this upsets you. To be honest, there is not much visual difference between 1955 and 1956 Packards. More hooded headlights, busier grille, more square trunk, and extended chrome strip on the side. That is not much to differentiate between them for someone not into Packards. I have even seen books on automobiles that have 1956's captioned as 1955's and vice versa.

Can you tell the difference between a '75 and '76 Cadillac Coupe Deville? '72 and '73 Imperial? '77 and '78 Town Car? '69 and '70 New Yorker? '71 and '72 Nova? If it is not a car that you are passionate about, you will not know all the minor changes for similar years for everything.

For those just guessing 1955, I would say that most would guess it is not late 1950's because there are no big fins, and not early 1950's because there are no separate rear fenders (like Chevy) or it is not a bathtub style. So 1955 puts it squarely in the middle.

When people compliment my 55 Pat, the first question I usually ask them is, "do you know what year it is?". If they say 1955, then I respond, "You're good! That's it." If not, I just say, "Close...it's 1955, you're pretty good!". Those Q&As seem to make everybody happy.

However, the "air suspension" vs T-L is harder to navigate through. I usually have a copy of the SM T-L diagram with me to show them and that usually clears it up.

Craig

Friends

I have a lot of fun with this..

"Who made Packard, Ford?"

"No Packard. They started in 1899, before Ford, Buick or Cadillac."

"Oh"

T"he first Packard has things your new car has. Automatic Spark Advance, Foot Accelerator, and an H pattern gearshift. :You can go see it at Lehigh University. Ward Packard endowed the engineering building"

"Oh....."

"In less than a year later, after the first 12 cars, they had steering wheels. If they were not the first with the steering wheel, they were the first in the US and the Europeans were only a few months ahead..."

"Really?"

"About 3 months after Cadillac sweated and produced the first practical V8, Packard came out with a V12. It cost twice as much"

Going pale now

"In the 20's, Packard had 50% of the luxury market. The other 50% was spread across 20 makes. including Cadillac and Duesenberg"

Usually in full retreat by now..

"Oh by the way, they had a 95% return customer rate and were the 2nd most widely held stock after GM...they were turning a 14% profit"

I just love it!

Regards


John Harley