Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

I was thumbing through a copy of the new book "Merchants of Speed: The Men Who Built America's Performance Industry" by Paul D. Smith.

I started looking through the chapter about Lou Senter (founder of Ansen).

According to this chapter, a dragster built by Senter and powered by a blown Packard V-8 (bored out to 435 ci!)was the first gasoline-powered dragster to reach 150 MPH!

Seems Senter got a deal on 50 1956 Packard V-8s that were shipped to the wrong destination (or something like that).

According to him, the rest of the engines sold quickly once word got out about the way the car performed! There's a really good B&W photo of it, too.

You mean this one?

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No, the one in the book looked as if it was white, and said something like "Ansen Special" on the body...

EDIT: I'm trying to find a photo of the car to post here, but so far, no luck. IIRC from my brief time looking at the book, the car looked as though it was built professionally

Thanks for the info about Lou Senter and the Packard V8.

Yes, the V1.5 Packard V8 was larger and had better ports and valves than the V1.0 GM Kettering V8s and thus was fast with the minimal racing technology of the day. However, Quote: they were probably not so happy with Lou once word got out about how fragile the Packard bottom end is in a racing application.


thnx, jack vines

I'm sure you're right about that...

But wasn't the '56 V-8 bottom end considerably improved/stronger than in '55?

Or were the engines simply assembled with whatever parts were on hand by '56?

Who else can remember new in-the-crate V8 Packard long blocks listed in the J.C. Whitney catalog for something like $200? I understand quite a few went to marine engine converters.

Quote: The '56 main bearing caps were larger/stronger than the '55s. If the '56 also has the improved oil pump and cam retainer plate/spacer, then the result is a more durable lower end.

Quote:I don't remember the $200, but SASCO had them complete, ready to run, for $395. (But then, that is $3000 in today's dollars, so it wasn't the bargain it seems.)

thnx, jack vines

Apparently there were a lot of engines left over when Packard production stopped in Detroit.

Some were given away as prizes at the drag racing nationals, and they were advertised in hot rod magazine. Im not surprised someone took advantage of a deal to turn them into marine engines.

I doubt they were made of leftover parts. My impression was that they planned to continue producing Packards but the problem was they could not afford a new body design. There was a plan to buy Lincoln body shells from Ford and modify them but this fell through. At the last minute they came up with the Packardbaker for 57. This is why they had a lot of engines left over, the Packardbakers used Studebaker engines.

What I would like to know is what happened to the Packard engine tooling. If Studebaker couldn't use it why didn't they sell it? A truck manufacturer could have used it, the way LaFrance and Seagrave used Pierce Arrow and Auburn 12s long after the car companies went out of business.

I can't believe a practically new engine factory was sold for scrap. But what happened to it?

It's my understanding, and I have no way of verifying this, but I've heard that the Packard V8 was to be Chevy's first big block engine, but they apparently didn't get it worked out and it never happened. I can't remember where I heard this, but it was either on here or the AACA. Would have been nice if they would have, as it would have made parts a LOT easier to get!