Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I'm curious about what these numbers mean. They sure don't look normal, but they look original. Normally, the first number is body style, the second is sequence number.
And what does the "A" mean?

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A is for Ambulance, B is for ...

West,

Is this the nomenclature used for commercial vehicles like hearse or ambulance chassis, seeing they didn't have an identifiable production body?

'A" does not denote ambulance. The first set of vehicle number digits on the sale of a chassis without body is the chassis type, followed by the sequence #. "A" denotes a commercial chassis as differentiated from the standard car chassis and this method of numbering and designation of commercial chassis was used for many years by Packard.

So that specific sale by Packard was a commercial 1803 chassis. Thus 1803A-2018 indicates the 18th commercial 1803 chassis sold to date. If it was an 1803 chassis sold to Derham and the like for auto coachwork it would have been just 1803-XXXX, no "A".

As some know, I had to deal with these 1803A axles.

I did get my new speedometer gear, so the speed reading will be correct using these 1803A axles. In the process I used the attached info sheet which a kindly fellow member sent me.

Note attached reference to hearse and ambulance associated with A models.

So I think this is a logic issue.
All Ambulances are A models, but not all As are Ambulances.
HOWEVER, you can't ride in a hearse until you've ridden in an ambulance (to the funeral home).

And that's why I maintain, A is for Ambulance.
Let's hear it for ambulances. Ambulances are NUMBER ONE!!! A-1!

OK, it should have been 1803B for bus which hits you before your ride int he ambulance and then the hearse. But still.

We now return you to the grown-ups.

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"A" is a commercial chassis for any end use purpose.

I believe the "Bus" if a reference to the Business Cars which have a different rear axle (wider tread) than normal, at least thru 1938.

A recent thread on the Business Cars,https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=13913&forum=1&post_id=141933#forumpost141933

And check the third line of this page from a 1941 120 owner's manual for the notation of the designation of the 120 commercial chassis.

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