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1955 Packard Four Hundred (Series 5580) 1956 Packard Four Hundred (Series 5680) For 1955 the Four Hundred name was re-employed by Packard and assigned to the automaker's senior model range two-door hardtop. Visual cues that helped to easily identify the 400 included a full color band along the lower portion of the car topped by a partial color ...
American Motors purchased V8 engines from Packard before introducing its in-house-designed V8. The automaker used these Packard engines exclusively in 1955 and 1956 Nash Ambassadors and Hudson Hornets. The Packard 320 cu in (5.2 L) engine was used in 1955, and switched to the 352 cu in (5.8 L) version for the 1956 model year.
The 1957 and 1958 Packard lineup of automobiles were based on Studebaker models: restyled, rebadged, and given more luxurious interiors. After 1956 production, the Packard engine and transmission factory was leased to the Curtiss-Wright Corporation while the assembly plant on Detroit's East Grand Boulevard was sold, ending the line of Packard-built cars.
Borrowing design cues from the 1956 Clipper (visual in the grille and dash), with wheel covers, tail lamps, and dials from 1956 along with the Packard cormorant hood mascot and trunk chrome trim from 1955 senior Packards, front bumpers, and Dagmars from the 1956 model, the 1957 Packard Clipper was much more than a badge-engineered Studebaker ...
Packard's Ultramatic transmission was the creation of the company's chief engineer Forest McFarland and his engineering team. The magnitude of this accomplishment is illustrated by the fact that it was the only automatic transmission developed and produced solely by an independent automaker, with no outside help.
During the 1956 model year, 3,375 Patricians rolled off Packard's production line before the model was dropped by the ailing carmaker. The final Packard built (that was a true Packard and not a badge-engineered Studebaker President) was a black Patrician sedan, and it rolled off the Packard assembly line on June 25, 1956.
The only apparent frill was Studebaker's heavily promoted "Cyclops Eye" speedometer, the same as that used on the 1956 Studebakers. Dealers were instructed to avoid installing extra-cost accessories, on the rationale that a buyer who wanted frills on an economical car could buy a regular Champion for an extra $200 (equal to $2,170 today).
Studebaker-Packard Corporation made numerous attempt at resurrecting the Packard nameplate. The French Facel-Vega four-door sedan, which was powered by a Chrysler V8 engine, would have been supplied the basis of a new Packard. Additional work was done with the Ford Motor Company to use the 1956 Lincoln Bodies that Ford was eliminating.