Vehicle Description
1955 Packard Patrician four door sedan, the pinicle of mid-century
luxury. This car is an engineering marvel - power everything and
the only car ever made in history with full torsion bar suspension.
No car rides like this one. The Good: - absolutely zero rust on the
underside. There is some old bondo that needs attention on the body
here and there (it was repainted in the 70s) - brand new carburetor
- rebuilt alternator -rebuilt transmission 5000 miles ago - recored
radiator and heater core - tires only have about 5000 miles on them
- generally in great shape; the interior is quite nice. - most of
the car functions as it should; it runs and stops fine. - the
chrome is rather good. - electric wipers - only 64000 original
miles on it The Bad: - the driver's window is cracked. (The
integrity of it is fine, so I left it as it was) - as stated above,
there are few spots where the body was previously bondoed that need
to be redone. You'd never notice at 20 feet. - the headlining needs
to be replaced, as it sags in the back (a brand new one comes with
the car) - here's the big issue: the Twin Ultramatic was known for
being a poor design. It took eight months to rebuild the
transmission after I bought it, and now reverse gear has stopped
working. It is likely a simple fix, but I've not the time to pull
the pan and see. If I do get around to fixing it, I'll place notice
here and the price will increase respectively. TO REPEAT: it
currently drives forward as it should, but cannot drive in reverse.
- the hydraulic lifters are noisy on the left side of the engine. I
replaced the lifters on the right bank when I had the head off
recently. The engine runs fine, but sometimes you can hear the
lifters clicking. (Replacement lifters I found go with the car) -
the ammeter doesn't work These cars are rare, and the last true
Packards made. Truly a delight to drive, and even in its old paint
never fails to bring smiles wherever it goes.
