Quote:
Originally Posted by Dee8go
They sound very expensive.
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They really are, when you try and keep one fixed and in running shape.
A friend of mine got one, (about 10-15 years ago.) It was a 1956 "The 400" model, a coupe, local to the SF bay area all its life, even to the original 1956 yellow and black plates it came with.
Just another Baby Boomer wanting to relive his childhood again, because his father used to own one of them when he was a kid.
One of the worst money pits I ever heard of.
I lost count of all the "Ultramatic" transmissions and self leveling suspensions that had to be replaced over and over. He finally had to convert the thing to a Chrysler "Torqueflite" transmission, trading originality for reliability.
He had thrown over $20,000 at it, (you can do that if you are a lawyer that never had babies) and it still had thin paint, cracked glass, pitted chrome, and lots of other problems.
Road manners? You have GOT to be kidding me. It doesn't have them. Corners like a brick going sideways, and rides like a ballooon going down a river....
Still has problems, but it is coming back. He belongs to the club and goes to the meets, is the editor of their club paper, called the "Cormorant" or something like that I think.
He also owns a couple of really nice BMWs, and 1989 Rolls Royce Silver Spur but of all his fleet, that old Pink and White 1956 "The 400" Packard really gets the looks.
1956 was the last year of the "real" Packards, a competitor to Lincoln and Cadillac.