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

I am very interested in a '53 Cavalier 'Self-Parker'. Is that a real feature of the car and, if so, how does it work?

referenced in a picture here:

oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Packard/1950.html

Until Randy comes along to fill in the history, here is a link to some photos he posted.

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=1610

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=1609

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=1608

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=1607

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=1606

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=1605

This is why I am totally awed by the engineering marvels that Packard owners have to enjoy. Think if they could've survived into the future, we might have had flying cars by now

Was hoping Randy or one of the well versed guys would fill in the blanks. Randy had posted on it a little and supplied the pictures. I vaguely remember some history but not enough to say for sure. Don't think it was anything Packard did to develop--but more an inventor tinkerer type. Don't remember if it was done alone or if there was any corporate support from anyone.

HH56 and Randy, thanks for the pictures and info. Just looking at them made my mind go off into 'why I love these cars mode'.

HH56..I hope you're donig ok with all that rain.

Thanks for good thoughts on the rain. So far, things are very damp but otherwise OK locally. Much worse further south. The old rhyme -- rain rain go away -- does comes to mind though.

Bad thing is, according to weatherman, when it goes away it will be heading your way in the form of snow.

That Cavalier is currently at the Frick mansion in Point Breeze - a suburb of Pgh. The mechanism was installed on the Packard - not developed by them. Memory says that same mechanism was also installed in a Caddy, approx the same year but I don't have any facts to back that up. It does work - allowing you to pull the front end into a parking place and then by use of the mechanism, swing the rear end into place. Parallel parking is a lost art and I could envision some witless driver swinging the rear end into a parking meter and damaging the rear quarter. It was ingenious, but unnecessary.

At the time Randy posted his pics and this thread I had found a video showing this device in action on the Packard and put a link to it into Randy's thread. Unfortunately the link now doesn't work and I can't find it again, if my failing memory serves me right it was on a French automobile site of all places. However I did find this -youtube.com/watch?v=MhAJ5ErGGd8 maybe this will suffice for the time being?

Thank you all, I am happy to know that what seemed to be a perplexing automation was accomplished so easily. I know it is a unnecessary feature.

I'll wait here in Colorado for the snow to hit

Bob

Once you described the self parking device I remembered seeing it before, in a magazine article from the early 50s. It was in Popular Mechanics or Popular Science. The inventor mounted 2 dolly wheels under the back of a car so they could be deployed by a hydraulic or electrical mechanism. The wheels were placed so as to rub against the rear tires when down. By shifting the car into gear, the rear of the car moved sideways.

It was not invented by Packard but by an individual who hoped to sell his invention to the auto industry. I believe he made it available as an aftermarket accessory. Possibly Packard tested it, or someone had it installed on his own.

Packard also experimented with a radar self braking mechanism. It was meant to apply the brakes automatically in an emergency. The trouble is it would slam on the brakes with a screech if anything got within 30 feet of the front of the car, another car, a pedestrian, a lamp post as you turned a corner, a garbage can, anything. They discarded the idea after a testing it and finding the idea unworkable.

*Update*

After looking at the pictures, it seems the car in question uses a different system than the one I saw in the magazine. The one on the 53 Packard seems to involve a movable spare tire, belt driven by who knows what.