1955 Packard Caribbean "Convertible" 1 of 500 & 1956 Packard Clipper "Panama hardtop coupe"

This was filmed Saturday June 6, 2009 at the Fleetwood Country Cruize in London, Ontario Canada

1955 Packard Caribbean Convertible

2 very nice examples of some of Packard's last gasp's before the company went totally off the rails and thus went under. In 1954 Packard bought out Studebaker, the decision wasn't the smartest, since Studebaker was in some trouble as well, thus now Packard only seemed to add more onto there plate, thus for the 1957-1958 model years the Packard's where known in the industry as the Packardbaker's as they where basically Studebaker's (here is a example of a 1958 Studebaker, basically the Packard was just a re-badged Studebaker in '57-'58) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InduVM6SAJQ and even that didn't help matters, sales still where poor, and thus the Packard nameplate was pulled for the 1959 model year, to favor the Lark line of cars, so these 2 cars are a great example of the last of the last true Packard's, and thus these cars marked the end of the once mighty Packard, and the end to the last surviving automobile manufacture out of three that where once known as the three P's of American Luxury automobiles, they where Packard, Peerless and Pierce-Arrow

1956 Packard Clipper "Panama hardtop coupe"
Original price when new was $2,916 and the weight of the car is 3,825 lbs and 3,999 where built like this one for the '56 model year

1955 Packard Caribbean "Convertible"
only 500 produced in '55 also first year for the Packard V8, also i can't find the weight or original cost, but here is a great video that will go over this year and model of car better, so please click the link and see Jay Leno's fine example in the link below,

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=1126464

for further reading,

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1953-1956-packard-clipper5.htm

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1953-1956-packard-clipper4.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packard_Clipper


http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1953-1956-packard-caribbean4.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packard_Caribbean

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Packard
• 1955 Packard
• 1956 Packard
• Packard Caribbean
• Packard Clipper
• 1955 Packard Caribbean
• The Three P's
• Fleetwood country cruize
• London Ontario
• BRENTHENRY1989

[raconter1]

Amazing cars there, Brent! Nice vid! The last gasp of a mighty giant! The favored Packard's dream car the Packard Predictor that had the cathedral tailights and an odd Edselesque front grille! Too bad there was no money to pursue the dream! :) Jack

[BRENTHENRY1989]

yep they sure are Jack, and i was amazed to watch the video about Jay Leno's '55 Packard Caribbean Convertible, that torsion bar suspension is something else, before i watched that video i had no idea what that term even meant, but now that Jay explained it, and i have done some research on Wikipedia i have a good understanding of how it works, and i am amazed at the leveling effect these Packard's had, which Jay's video demonstrates well

[BRENTHENRY1989]

also i have seen some pictures of that concept car the Predictor, it was quite the car, and it sure had a Edsel look to it,also if you look up the Packard Engineer Mule "Black Bess" it had a very Edsel look, and it was ordered destroyed in the last days of Packard, i think Packard was trying to revive the famous '33-'41 grille design, but of course funding was short,so we will never get to see a comeback from Packard, but maybe the Edsel is a small glimpse of what may have came fourth in '58-'59

[GEARHEADGUY92]

very beautiful packards love the hood scoops both cars look brand new probably better than new

[BRENTHENRY1989]

thanks for the comment, and i agree they both look great, and the hood scoops are a nice touch, i know a few auto companies flirted with this idea of hood scoops early, like 1952 Mercury's and the 1953 Hudson's, then the '55 Ford T-bird used it in the most modern way that would inspire cars in the 60s and early 70s and thus it will forever have a effect on the automotive world, again thanks for the comment and watching! :)

[RebelStangII]

It looks almost BrandNew!

GET"R"DONE & HAVE FUN!

[BRENTHENRY1989]

yep they almost do look new! its like a time machine! and thanks for commenting,

[loufalce]

@hughdern ...The "senior" Packards like the Carribean, Patrician and 400 were competetors of Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial. The Clippers were competetion for Olds, Mercury, Buick, and Chrysler.

[Featureman]

The Packard Caribbean convertible certainly qualifies as the most beautiful car ever built. I remember when they were new on the dealer's showroom floor.

[hughdern]

By 1955-56 di Packard cars when they were in the showrooms copete with Imperial and Lincoln? Or did they compete with Buick and Chrysler?

[raconter1]

Packard purists decried the lack of the traditional tall, upright grille in the late model Packard production. I think Packard realized this and struggled with how they could ever duplicate it on these low slung post war cars. :) Jack

[raconter1]

Yeah, Brent...torsion bar suspension was used by Chrysler products from 57 on...they were used for the front suspension, not the whole car like Packard. My Darts and Coronets had that design, and they were very good handlers for the time! None however had the self leveling feature of the Packard. :) Jack

[yooperd]

Packard really had some good ones. Might be like a "his and hers" pair, he gives his wife the convertible? lol

With all the retro cars coming back, maybe we'll see an entire division revived...wishful thinking, but I'd take a new Packard.