Hobo Jungle

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Like that '29 Packard,

Yes, and I recall that back in the 50's, and certainly before, Packard had great image, with some folks feeling they were equal competitors, or possibly even superior, to Cadillac. I always thought Cadillac was the better looking of the two, esp. when one looked at the '55 and '56, or even the Cadillacs of the 60's. But I think Packard had its last cars in the late 50's. (Was the model called the Commodore"?)
Just a distant memory from kidhood. Murph

[Rufus T. Firefly]

(Was the model called the Commodore"?)

I think it was a Commander....

[healey36]

Western Maryland rail-inspection car:



Surf's up!

Healey

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Like those wheels,

Wonder if there is anything like those available for modeling purposes in O scale?

[webenda]

The original dub wheels.

[rex desilets]

Like those wheels,

Wonder if there is anything like those available for modeling purposes in O scale?

Well, a start might be bogie wheels from a 1/35 scale tank.

[Roy]

Like those wheels,

Wonder if there is anything like those available for modeling purposes in O scale?

Agreed. The wheels certainly shouldn't be too hard to make. A little lathe and drill work.

What surprises me, is that automobile's axle track is so close to standard railroad track gauge.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Like those wheels,

Wonder if there is anything like those available for modeling purposes in O scale?

Well, a start might be bogie wheels from a 1/35 scale tank.

Interesting thought - need them in metal though to make something runnable on O scale track.

[Mitch]

I always thought Cadillac was the better looking of the two, esp. when one looked at the '55 and '56, or even the Cadillacs of the 60's.
Murph

How about a '58 Cadillac Convertible, Murph? White with white top, boot, and white leather interior. Or the light Baby Blue ones with white top and interior. Remember the "Bullet" tail lights that everybody bought and put on their '60 and '61 Chevy Impalas. The 58 was a gorgeous car. Bumpers alone probably weighed 350lbs.

And for Rufus, I seem to remember the Commander as a Studebaker, 'cause my buddy had one. '55 two door with a 327 V8, with an updraft carburetor on it.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

And for Rufus, I seem to remember the Commander as a Studebaker, 'cause my buddy had one. '55 two door with a 327 V8, with an updraft carburetor on it.

You're correct.......with a small exception. In '54 Packard bought Studebacker so that '55 was really a Packard on paper,

The Packard name was dropped in early 60's.......

[rogruth]

I have been told that this type of car with the metal wheels were a very rough ride.
I don't know from my own experience.
The ones similar to the trucks in use today with regular wheels and tires and flanged
movable wheels rode much better.

[webenda]

With sales dwindling by the 1950s, Packard merged with the much larger Studebaker Corporation in the hope of cutting its production costs. The new Packard-Studebaker became the fourth largest manufacturer of cars in the nation. Studebaker was struggling as well, however, and eventually dropped all its own big cars as well as the Packard. In 1956, Packard-Studebaker’s then-president, James Nance, made the decision to suspend Packard’s manufacturing operations in Detroit. Though the company would continue to manufacture cars in South Bend, Indiana, until 1958, the final model produced on June 25, 1956, is considered the last true Packard.


1956 Packards

400
--2 Door Hardtop
Caribbean
--2 Door Convertible
--2 Door Hardtop
Clipper Custom
--4 Door Sedan
Clipper Custom Constellation
--2 Door Hardtop
Clipper Deluxe
--4 Door Sedan
Clipper Super
--2 Door Hardtop
--4 Door Sedan
Executive
--2 Door Hardtop
--4 Door Sedan
Patrician
--4 Door Sedan

Reference: http://www.nadaguides.com/Classic-Cars/1956/Packard

[webenda]

400

packard-400-1956-1.jpg (93.96 KiB) Viewed 2785 times

Caribbean

56_Pakcard_Caribbean.jpg (113.15 KiB) Viewed 2785 times

Clipper

packard-clipper-1956-1.jpg (547.48 KiB) Viewed 2785 times

Patrician

1956PackardPatrician.jpg (120.5 KiB) Viewed 2785 times

Executive

1956-packard-executive.jpg (166.98 KiB) Viewed 2785 times

[webenda]

The Packard Predictor (of things to come from Ford)

packard_predictor_concept_car_1956.jpg (1.52 MiB) Viewed 2783 times

And out of Ford came

ford-edsel.jpg (109.45 KiB) Viewed 2783 times

[rogruth]

What I remember about the Edsel is that it was NOT a bad car, it was just another car that was not needed.
The people that I knew that had them liked them. I'm sure there were exceptions.

The Packards were very nice but were always considered to be up-scale in the league with Cadillac and Lincoln.
Packard dealers were sometimes hard to find.