Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Yeah, the orange ball for the antenna. I have a Union 76 BIG sticker about 10" diamenter.

I have genuine Packard curb feelers on the right side of the car. The forward one is just behind the front wheel. There would be no place to mount them ahead of the wheel. It has helped alot in keeping me from getting too close to the curb and scraping my whitewalls.

Thanks Joel & you other 'goofballs'! I got exactly what I asked for.........BUT no fox tails here is So. Arizona unless I go down to the local 'breast emporium'. Maybe a Diamondback rattlesnake's tail!

A steering wheel spinner in a discreet matching color.

The vulgar kind with scantily clad females is well, just not really Packard material.

And a pine tree deodorant hanging from the mirror.....

An airhorn....concealed, of course. Nothing that plays the cockroach song is Packard approved.....

For that matter, when did 8 tracks appear?

JC Whitney, where oh where are the products that made you famous?

8 tracks appeared about 1973. Prior to that it was 4 track for a very short period of about 4 years. Probably google it for more accurate history. SOmetime about 1956 record players (platter type records) were available for cars.

As for JC WHitney they fell prey to the "Energy Crisis" hype of ca. 1974. That's why we now have 300 pound Americans trying to squeeze their ass into sawed off 4 cylinder puddle jumpers just so they can save the earth from global footprinting and carbon warming, $1200 washing machines that save 2 gallons of water, imbiciles standing at the gas pump complaining about $4/gal gasoline while drinking $2/gallon DeerFart bottled water while talking on their blue butt or ear tooth headset and the list goes on and on and on.

THe problem is that very few people want a REAL CAR anymore. Prior to the Energy Crisis the automobile represented an ADVENTURE. IT was marketed and purveyed as such. Witness such names as Cadillac, Apache, Pioneere, Galaxy just ot name a very few. Names that represented something adventurous. Now the most adventure anyone has in mind is maybe a soccer-mom trip to the local ball field or a gold star on their forhead for political correctness or to sit around reading a "really good book by really good author" or maybe watch an Al Gore movie. THere are many people now on the roads that without GPS they wouldn't be able to drive to the local hardware store 2 blocks away from thier home of 30 + years.

How can JC Whitney appeal such a crowd of morons??????

Ah yes, the good old Brodie knob - illegal in most states, but not becuase of any naughty pix.

Lots of other stuff to hang from inside rear view mirror, including fuzzy dice, HS graduation tassle, shrunken heads.

What about a dancing hula girl or plastic staue of Jesus for the dashboard? Don't forget the nodding head chihuahua, or was that from the '60s?

Lots of horns to choose from. Wolf whistle is a golden oldie. IIRC, GM offered a set of musical horns that played "See the USA...) as an accessory for '57 Chevies.

Hmm, I'm guessing 8-track tape player for cars didn't arrive until the mid-1960s. There was a provision in the console 0f '67 or '68 Grand Prix for a Delco-supplied add-on unit; an addtional trim plate for under-dash mounting allowed same unit to be installed in Bonnevilles and other Ponchos. The players were integrated into the next-gen radio chassis, a few years later.

Too late for a a zoot suit with reet pleat, reave sleeve ripe stripe, stuff cuff, and drape shape?

Keith -

A dashboard-mounted record-player would have been a great test for the Torsion-Level Ride.

Decades ago, someone gave me an old Western Auto tape player. It had an opening for tape cartridge that looked like an 8-track and stereo output, but with only two positions for the head, I started wondering if it was a 4-track - though I'd never heard of such a thing. I stripped it for parts for other repair projects; perhaps that was a mistake.

Most of today's electronics are too costly for me and too gimmicky. Much of it is clearly designed with planned obsolesence in mind or some other hook (there's an app for that). I tend to avoid such crap.

However, I did opt for a GPS a few years after I decided AAA mmebership was no longer worth the annual dues; I could get towing (plus rental car coverage) from my insurer for much less. GPS is a lot easier to follow than any map when your driving in unfamiliar areas. However, a built-in unit makes no sense when I can transfer one portable unit from car to car. Neither the data nor the technology are 100%, but GPS has saved my bacon more than once.

Sure, i can see the practicle side of a GPS. No doubt about it.

But has anyone else experienced the following (i'll keep it as short as possible):

Man calls for appointment. Man punches my address into GPS. He says 30 minutes to get here. 30 miniutes later he calls with desperation in his voice to break appontment ONLY because his GPS lost signal. After some prodding i determined he was 500 feet away from my address. I told him to turn left and second house on the left. The whole conversation went as if he really did not believe it was possible for me (or anyone under any situation) to guide b y knowledgable direction.

I've experienced similar phenomenon at least 6 times over the last 4 or 5 years.

"Most of today's electronics are too costly for me and too gimmicky. Much of it is clearly designed with planned obsolesence in mind or some other hook (there's an app for that). I tend to avoid such crap."

Yeah. tell me about it.

True story:

Corporate executive and family in their 50's with BBA and a $180K++ family income show up at my door for a holiday weekend. Now, they have at least 9 laptops/desktops between the 3 of them, 7 cell phones (one cell phone buried in bottom of a purse the size of a god damned suitcase,) a $280/month cell/ISP package, 3 GPS's, 4 new cars, IPODS, MP# players and serously i can not recount all of the e-devices they really have over and above those listed here.

BUT what do they do???? In view of a 1200 mile trip they show up with only one laptop, 2 cell phones, 1 GPS and ONLY one cell phone charger between the 3 of them and THEN want to use MY computer to check in at the shop!! I mean WTF.

Don't forget those clear plastic rods with a red tip that you attached to your fenders by the headlights so that you could see the corners of your car.