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

Just chatting with Robert Neal on this, he may have something to add here but he did note to me that there is a similar situation with respect to the unusual Briggs and VNs for a 23rd series car which apparently was a prototype. So it seems probable that this was the case here. Certainly PMCC wouldn't sell a prototype as a new car here (though they might export it) so perhaps it was sold to an employee or otherwise escaped the junk yard. Hopefully the story continues to develop.

Dave and all,
The car I found some time ago, and it is in my full 22nd-23rd roster as well as my 22nd-23rd BSN roster so I don't know why you got missed Dave, just fell through the cracks somewhere I guess, is 2352-1 Briggs 2352-102 BSN 814340. The car was sold through Packard's New York agency to a Swedish dual citizen who shipped it to Sweden for his driving car while there. He alternated back and forth each year. The car is currently being restored by his nephue. During restoration all kinds of special part tags etc were found under seats and behind upholstery so there is virtually no doubt it served as a prototype Its BSN is only 36 numbers below that of 2252-5706 and would indicate it was pulled off the line in July of 1948. It has an early type 22nd Series VIN plate.

Note the 5479-1 also has a 26th Series VIN plate.

This car should certainly be preserved and restored as it is historically significant. I will be that a lot of early features and special tags will show up during restoration.

Robert Neal

By the way, I successfuly cut and pasted the images.

Let me throw in an observation. The door interiors are very different from the 54 convertible. The armrests in 1954 were incorporated into the door panel. The armrests in the subject car are like the 53 model. The outside trim all looks correct for a 54. The tail fins & tail lights are unique to the 54 Convertible and Pacific. So are the three little chrome strips on the rear fender. The dash and all the knobs are right for 1954 but not 1953.

I hope whoever bought it, will look into the things Mr. Neal mentioned.

Anyone purchase it here?

The car looks like the one used for the '54 catalogue, However, the passenger door window switch doesn't look right. Weren't the electro-hydraulic switches chrome with squarish bezels? The photo looks like it has a round bezel and a black switch. Course, over time who knows what the car has been through.

Some Ford products used the round bezel and black button but don't know if they were still using hydraulic windows. Our seat buttons were black in 54 but not the same internal electrical configuration so probably not a direct swap. As you said, who knows what might have been done.

I don't remember the brow over the drivers side switches either but maybe it was there on 54s. The shells over the 4 buttons sure appears oxidized or rusted. Even the pot metal seems to have held up better.

One other interesting thing is that the convertible top knob below the ashtray appears to be a stock chrome dash button. In pictures I've seen of convertible knobs, they are plastic with the instructions on them -- just like the photo in the 54 owners manual.

The doors on the car have a stainless panel at the bottom, but the picture in the catalog does not.

And for Owen;
The last e-mail from the seller;
"The engine is not the original. The gentleman from whom I bought the car in 1968 in Binghamton NY had replaced it with a new one purchased from SASCO in South Bend in 1964. His book of record does not show the number of the original. The pad on which engine number is stamped is blank on this engine. The transmission is the original I believe."

This would be an interesting car story, if anyone could follow up.

Definitely '53 convertible door panels.

One further item to look at - I remember judging a '54 Pacific at the Pittsburgh National in '86. A lovely car, all red and made out to look like a fire chief's vehicle with a huge siren mounted on the fender, the only thing unusual in the interior was that the ignition lock was at the left, as per '51-3, and not on the right of the steering column, as per '54. We looked at the S/N, which was an early one, and concluded that the change in position must not have come with the exact start of the 54th Series. I can't tell from the photo but predict the ignition lock is at the left.

Also noted: there seems to be a V8 senior in the garage, so it's likely that the seller is in the club. From his location, it might be possible to figure out who he is, and get further info before the flatbed arrives, or at least have him relay all of this interest to the buyer. The car looks very restorable. Hope it will be.

G'day 3spdOD,
to PackardInfo. I invite you to include your Packard/s, whether equipped with 3 speeds and OD or not, in the Packard Owner's Registry here on PackardInfo.

Thanks, I'll get to that. I just retired & am looking fwd to getting back to things I largely dropped 30yrs ago once I get all of my stuff out of the workplace. My '51 300 & '54 convertible, both 3spdOD, have been waiting patiently.