Every time that I see a 1956 Packard Four Hundred, or 400, it amazes me that they aren’t all snapped up and hidden away in collections. They’re just amazing-looking cars, so elegant and classy. This example can be found here on eBay in equally elegant and classy Palm Springs, California and it’s not cheap – the current bid price is $12,600 and the reserve isn’t met.
This car looks amazing and the seller – a zero feedback seller, just for the record, and I know that we all have to start somewhere – says that it has had two careful, loving Packard fanatic owners. They show dozens of great photos so check them out to see almost every square inch of this gorgeous machine. The only thing that concerns me, or one of them, is what appears to be a run in the white paint on the rocker in this photo.
The Four Hundred, as spelled out on the back of the trunk lid, was made in 1955 and 1956 and it was part of Packard’s senior model line, no pun intended. Sadly, Packard sales were about half of what they were in 1955 even though other luxury brands were still doing well. There were a couple of quality issues that were taken care of for the 1956 model year, for the most part, but sales still dropped.
The interior is somewhere between super gorgeous and crazy gorgeous and if this could possibly be original, that would be even more amazing. Even if not, those seats are beautiful front and rear and the dash and gauges are beautiful enough to hang on the wall as art. Everything works right down to the power windows and even the clock. There are several underside photos that are always nice to see from a seller.
The engine is a 374 cubic-inch V8 which would have had 290 horsepower and the seller says that the “engine has been rebuilt to Packard specs, the Ultramatic suspension was recently serviced and the vehicle has a fully functional Torsion Level Ride and Level Matic controller.” As a general reference, Hagerty is at $16,800 for a #3 good condition car and $30,100 for a #2 excellent car. This has to be the nicest example that I’ve seen. How much will this beautiful Packard sell for, $20,000? More?
Terrific find, Scotty. A magnificent and underrated car, one that garnered the attention of another Packard enthusiast and himself a legion, Dick Mann, when my friend showed up with one a few years ago at a local car meet they were both attending.
When you ride in one, you’ll realize why it still had a reputation as a upper class car even at the line was coming to its demise..
Every time I hear of someone railing against a 1955/56 Senior Packard’s ride, I tell them to hold their tongue until they have driven one [or at least ridden in one] over some rough ground, especially a railroad crossing. There is still nothing like the ride, even today. There might be modern cars that ride smoother in typical road surfaces, but only the torsion level Packards can handle BOTH a smooth road and a terrible road with finesse.
There is a video available from the Packard Club [Mid-Atlantic Packards chapter] that shows an early 1955 Packard Patrician, 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood 60s, and 55 Lincoln sedan, all crossing a series of railroad crossings in Detroit. As the speeds increase, the Packard takes it all in stride. You can see the wheels and suspension jumping up & down, while the body remains almost perfectly level. The Cadillac tears off it’s rear bumper, and the Lincoln dents it’s oil pan badly [I might have the 2 cars’ damages reversed, can’t remember].
The Citroen pneumatic suspension comes close, but is too trouble prone compared to the Packard system.
I’ve owned over 20 different V8 55-56 Packards since 1968, [and worked on many more]. I have yet to meet another person, once they have experienced a ’55-’56 Torsion Level suspension on the V8 Packards, who didn’t agree with me they were superior to anything on the market, even 20 years later.
As 1955 Packard advertising said: “Let the ride decide!”
I’ve always liked this color combination, if I remember right, It’s Dover White and Scottish Heather.
Plus, while this is a well-optioned car, it lacks the “Piano”, a 6-button box on a stalk from the steering column on the right, It’s the first automobile to have a totally electric shifter. This arrangement did have some initial problems, with a selector bar carrying current that contacted small spring wire “fingers” and when it came to the right point it would stop. Problem was the moving selector bar could catch on the fingers and cause damages. Once the edges of the selector bar were re-designed with a curved edge [and existing ones filed down], that mostly solved the problem.
Love the style and color combination !! However, with a hard top it will not bring the money it deserves.
Scott, they only came as a two-door hardtop. Are you thinking of a Caribbean?
The 400 was a sedan as well.
The 400 was a 2 dr ht ONLY. The sedan was the Patrician. The convert and an upscale 2 dr ht were the Caribbeans.
Will Fox believes the 400 was a sedan as well. He probably thinks Studebaker bought Packard as well. Hey Will, the senior series sedan was named Patrician. Why do people state opinions that are absolutely untrue? It makes them look like FOOLS!
Scotty & Will,
Actually, you are both correct.
The 1951-52 Packard senior sedan was called the “Patrician 400” in honor of the top 400 Roman citizens.
For 1953-54, the “400” was dropped from the name & emblems, it was simply called the “Patrician”.
In 1955 and 56, the senior 2-door hardtop became “The Four Hundred”, and the sedan was called “The Patrician”.
Also forgot to mention,
While the 1956 cars said “The Four Hundred” on both front fenders and across the trunk lid, the 1955 cars had the same “The Four Hundred” on the front fenders, but on the trunk lid it used the previous script “Packard” logo and the gold number “400” that was at both sides of the base of the rear window on the 1951-52 Patrician. Other than a hexagonal red reflector on the taillight assemblies for ’56, these are the only 2 exterior changes between the ’55 & ’56 from the rear.
Scott, the extremely low production Caribbean convertible was in a class by itself. There is no real equivalency between “The 400” and “”The Caribbean”. That said, toward the very end Packard offered a very limited number of Caribbean 2 door hard tops!
There was a Carribean hardtop here where I live with wire wheels and Iooked in it and saw a red clutch pedal which meant standard with overdrive.Some one knew what they wanted and got a rare car.
and the seller says that the “engine has been rebuilt to Packard specs, the Ultramatic suspension was recently serviced …”
Think the seller meant to say Ultramatic transmission there. Great looking update of the 1951 body shell by Dick Teague for ’55-’56 while Packard’s days were numbered. Even 50-plus years ago these were rare on the road. Today, how much interest can there be in them to command a high price? Collectors are aging out of them, like so many ’50s and earlier cars.
A “couple” quality control issues is quite an understatement. The 55s were notorious lemons and the 56s not much better. See the case Of Packard Norfolk v. Miller, Virginia Supreme Court. Add to that the finicky Ultramatic and the electric shift that jammed in Park on hills and you have a car no one wants to take a chance on.
electric shifter and torque lock?
I read the case. Sounds like Packard had layed off their entire QA staff near the end.
Dual J F,
I’m familiar with the case. If my memory is correct, this was a situation that the dealer mishandled from the beginning and the customer became [understandably] Irate. This suit was not against Packard Motor Car Company. It was a contract dispute between the selling dealer and the buyer, Dr. Miller.
The car was an early production example. Yes, these early cars had a defective seal between the oil pump and the vacuum pump at the end of the shaft that drove both pumps. It allowed air at sustained high engine speeds to get into the engine oil, causing the valve lifters to rattle like marbles in a tin can. It also made the car run lean. This was a supplier’s error in providing pumps fitted with the defective seal. Situations like this happen to EVERY manufacturer, even Rolls-Royce.
It took a couple of months for PMCC to figure out the problem and take corrective actions. Had the selling dealer contacted PMCC and arranged to put the owner in a loaner car, it’s unlikely the suit would have existed. But the dealer kept giving the car back to the customer without the proper repair, and finally the customer [IIRC] refused to take the car back.
The dealership erred in returning the car, in an unfinished condition, to the buyer, multiple times.
The court ultimately decided that because the salesman kept telling Dr. Miller that the new Packards were free from any problems and defects, and this statement was admittedly not true, this was a breach of contract. The appellant court agreed.
Let’s take a look at 1955 Packard problems in general:
The President of Packard rushed the new 1955 models into production, this should have never happened. They were introducing an all new V8 engine, a new “lock-up” automatic gearbox, a radical new suspension, and while the body was not all new, it did have teething problems [see below].
The bigger problem was quality control issues with the new Connor Avenue assembly plant, and early cars suffered from poor body alignment of the doors, front fenders trunk lids, etc. When Chrysler bought the Briggs Body company facility that had made Packard bodies since 1941, Packard had to scramble to find a suitable facility and ramp up production in less than 2 years. It was simply too short a time frame, but they had no choice.
And then there was the new “Twin Ultramatic Drive” transmission. This had plenty of teething problems, but most of these problems didn’t manifest themselves until after 1956, so they really didn’t have much of a difference is sales thru 1956.
By 1956, most of the body assembly problems had been solved, the vacuum pump problem had been solved, and the suspension was relatively trouble free. Even the all-new in-dash Air Conditioning system was trouble free until years later when the rheostat controlling the system began failing from age.
But another problem ended up hurting 1956 sales; The new “Twin-Traction” limited slip rear differential from the Dana Corp had serious axle shaft problems, resulting in all of the cars fitted with these diff’s being quarantined until new axle shafts could be installed. Again, this was not a PMCC failure, this was a defective product from a supplier. But of course the public never knows the back story, they only heard about another problem with Packard cars.
After watching Jay Leno and his 56 Packard, I have a new appreciation for the torsion bar suspension. He went into great detail about how it works and why these vehicles handle so well. They were way ahead of their time and he proved how it didn’t allow the car to dip and float upon stopping and braking. I think the looks, design, and color combinations were as good or better than anyone else at the time. Its a shame that we lost Packard because it was a tremendous automaker, just ask the man who owns one.
The man who owned one was asked and the one asking frequently got a lesson in profanity.
Bob, may I remind you that the PMCC had a stellar reputation until it made that disastrous decision to buy Studebaker. Until then Packard had over $6 million in the bank as cash assets.
Problem was, Packard took Studebaker’s claim it was solvent financially, when in fact the company was cooking the books and hemorrhaging money everywhere, and Packard failed to have a financial audit performed prior to the purchase. Historians mostly agree this failure to perform due diligence, is what lead to the company’s eventual downfall.
So instead of looking at the situation from a purely financial side, instead of ending Studebaker’s production line, one that was losing money with each vehicle sold, they chose to close the Detroit Packard facility, the only profitable part of the company. This was the second stupid decision.
Studebaker-Packard chose to keep Studebaker because they were making 6 times the number of cars. They seemed to miss the fact that this meant they were loosing 6 times as much money at the end of the year, with a factory that dated back to the US Civil War, and employees that had not had a strike since WW2.
Enter Curtiss Wright Corporation. They took control of S-P and stripped it of both Studebaker’s & Packard’s defense contracts. Without those assets, the big insurance companies that traditionally lent money for retooling of automobiles, would not lend the money S-P desperately needed to consolidate and re-tool into a single basic vehicle line with 6 different sub-lines. I’ve seen what the company had planned, and it might just have worked, but we’ll never know.
The rest is history.
Well, up until the enlightenment about the jamming transmission, this was one of my favorite ’50’s cars. Probably still is.
No car from yester-year is all that great when you get down to brass tacks (or coil springs covered in raw cotton, burlap and mohair)
Great colors. Might be the coral and not the lighter pink on the local 400 that I covet every summer of late.
I see enough laugh lines on the leather to suggest that the interior is original. Fantastic.
So, leave the court cases behind those cathedral tail lights and park on the level.
You’ll be stylin’ like no other.
Bill McCoskey,
I was aware of the great reputation of PMCC and had forgotten the subterfuge of Studebaker. that brought ruin and shame to Packard.Thank you for the reminder,I also knew of financing by insurance companies and the screwing of S-P by Curtis-Wright that was said to have been engineered by Charles (engine Charlie)Wilson who was Secretary of Defense.Correct me if I an wrong,I don;t get upset about my mistakes being corrected..
Please continue with this thread.
Bob,
I’m of the same opinion, I can’t possibly know everything, and on some subjects I fear I know less each year [like with the ladies!]
There was plenty of mis-information circulating about PMCC and S-P in the 1970s and ’80s, especially when it came to Jim Nance. But the Packard Club took the bold step of inviting him to speak at one of the National meets, and he finally laid out [with proof] how Curtiss-Wright screwed the Company.
And it looks like I may have to modify one of my statements in the message stream on the Barn Finds segment on the Chrysler Turbine car, my info appears to be out-of-date!
Being partial to Packards, I’ll be brief. I can say, without reservation, the most beautiful car of the 50’s.
For me the styling peaked on the 57 Chevy as written here: “The 1957 Bel Air showcases all the major 1950s styling cues without going overboard”. IMHO this Packard takes it just a bit too far for my tastes. That being said I would be happy to have this piece of artwork in my garage.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/why-the-1957-chevrolet-is-an-american-icon#:~:text=Chevrolets%20so%20equipped%20are%20nimble,renders%20every%201957%20Chevrolet%20collectible.
There were numerous more tastefully done cars in the 50s.
Scott, I agree with every word of your first paragraph.
I’m amazed that this is the first one that I have ever seen.
This thing is three shades of cool.
Oh, I just hate being financially embarrassed. I’m only a short drive from Palm Springs ! I really love old Packards.
beautiful vehicle. door handle missing from passenger door.
what were knobs n either side of dash for? vents?
Bill Bowman – Ashtrays that slide out when knob is pulled on!
Even though by 1956, Packards were dated looking (especially the greenhouse) they sure were imposing cars!
I believe why the sales were done for 56 was that the UNION decided to strike against the company that made the body panels (Budd) Studebaker too,,yes the 56 s were great looking
The 55-56 Packards were stamped and assembled at the Conner Av plant that was a Briggs stamping plant. Packard leased and expanded the building to accommodate stamping and final assembly.
A beauty for sure. This ’56 is identical, other than condition, to one I have left to my mother as a one owner car. My mom worked for Packard during WWII and one of her tenants had the 400 she bought new. She had no kids and wanted my mom to have it so she willed it to Mom. Mom got it around 1980 or so and it has been in a shed ever since. Red/white, 2 door HT, v8, suspension, auto. It is worse-for-wear sitting for all these years. It is for sale if anyone wants to visit it and make offers. It is currently in Placerville, CA but will soon be in western Nevada. No photos yet but I can snap a few if anyone is interested.
Earle T,
I would suggest you join the Packard club, if only that it gives you free advertising for your Packard, and everyone who sees the ad is already a Packard person. You are also welcome to drop me photos at billmccoskey@aol.com.
just a note, the packard plant on mt. elliot on detroits east side still exists, and waiting for new product [since 1958].
This 1956 Packard 400 is very similar in design/styling to the 1956 Lincoln Premier. Parts for the Lincoln would probably be easier to find.
Dale, Actually it’s easier to find Packard parts, as there were guys like me who made the rounds of all the former Packard dealerships buying up their parts stocks back in the late 1960s & early 70s when they often went for scrap value or less. I had former dealers actually tell me to take them away ’cause they needed the space. I can think of only a few post-war Packard parts that are difficult to find, like the 3-connector hydraulic brake lite switch that turns off the leveling system when the brakes are applied.
the air cleaner looks the same as Oldsmobile.Didn’t GM acquire their engine rights?(i read somewhere the packard engine was being considered more the Mark series–this 1 being the Mark 111)
Packard tried to sell the new v8 plant in Utica, Mi. There were no buyers and the machinery was sold for scrap.
The air cleaner was not a Packard or GM made assembly, it was made by a 3rd party that offered them in both Carter and Rochester carb opening sizes. Same with the Caribbean dual 4 barrel carb setup, it looks identical to the Cadillac Eldo and Oldsmobile air cleaners, but one is a Carter, one is a Rochester, and the distances between the holes is different.
This,and many 50s cars were literally works of art,and craftsmanship, some younger folks need to take up the mantle, and help keep these alive!
Works of art and craftsmanship????Detroit wasn’t into craftsmanship until the Japanese gave it a bloody nose and
I recommend David Halbertams book called “The Reckoning}
that tells about the harsh lesson Detroit got because of the attitude that said.”We build junk and YOU will buy it”.Not so much and if robotic assembly hadn’t come along there might not be any American cars today.
Bob,
I was good friends with David and his brother Michael. Most people don’t know that David & Michael were car enthusiasts, and together they had a 1950 Studebaker Starlight Coupe, that was in my shop when his brother was killed [1980].
Both of them were some of the smartest people I’ve known, and I have known more than a few really smart guys. I still miss our conversations. David was a gifted writer, and Michael was a successful cardiologist. I tried to get David to write about vintage cars, but he said there was no challenge there.
Scotty, thank you for this. I would call the Seller if I had the room, ask him/her what they want for it and write the check. I’ve had two. Lovely cars.
I always thought the 56 Packards were the best looking cars of that time frame.The wretched reputation of the 1955’s were a poison pill and no amount of advertising could save the company.I knew the Ultramatic was a dud and have no experience with the push button control and sticking in park if not on level ground.I would assume the weight of the car would preload the park engagement in the drive line and create a real problem.I owned a 55 Patrician and it was the most comfortable car ever but the nagging worry about being stranded far from home was more than I wanted to deal with after three rebuilds on the transmission I was done with Packard
for a long time.
Drove my 1955 Patrician from IN to CA – no problems. Still have the car!
My Dad was a packard man and I remember 1948 1950 1952 and last one a 1956 2-door hardtop all black with push button drive. The car had automatic road levels that was really neat. The car was a dream car and was better then a caddy if you ask me. The ride was so comfortable. After the 56 He bought a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk all Black with gold in the fins Supercharged .Wow fast car and mom loved it it was her car. I wish we still had both of those cars now. My dad never had a problem with any of those cars.
The transmission lock up was at least somewhat a driver error issue. Almost every owners manual ( which no one ever reads ) tells you to set the parking brake “BEFORE” putting the car in park. That’s done so all the weight is not on the park pin. This is a gorgeous car, and would be quite welcome in my garage.
I have the room, and I would call the seller if I had the money!
Rules say: No personal attacks. Don’t post car for sale in comments. Yet both are here.
One can almost visualize Charles Stark weather, although he eluded the law, briefly, in a stolen 56 Patrician. Apparently Packard borrowed Olds/Cad air cleaners, I’ve seen quite a few so equipped.
Packard Senior cars had Rochester carbs, The junior Clippers had Carters. They have different opening holes. Same with GM cars, some have Carter, some have Rochester.
So the 1956 Executive has the Rochester?
Crumley,
The Executive was basically a Clipper Custom with a Senior front end & dashboard, and different side trim. So it had the 1956 352 engine with a Carter 4-barrel carb. The air cleaner would be the circular version with a single air inlet. {Not the Senior dual inlet version.}
I remember that Packard stolen by that miserable little thug and a shot from pursuing law enforcement brought him and the Packard to a halt .Too bad the cop missed him.
My neighbor had a 38 4 door sedan and traded it in for a 56 Packard. It was the best car I ever seen. Beautiful, quiet, and very richly designed and equipped. Packards were built to last and last.
Do you still have the 1977 Charger Daytona listed on Barn Funds?