Rare Low Production V8 Only 276 Survivor Classic Vintage Antique Car Caribbean

OVERVIEW:This auction is for a rare 1956 Packard Caribbean convertible. The Packard Caribbean was a limited production model which made its debut in January 1953. It was Packard’s elite sport model. and was brought out to compete with the 1953 GM Autorama cars. namely the Cadillac Eldorado. the Buick Skylark. and the Olds Fiesta. The model only ran 4 years. ending with only 276 of this example built in 1956. the lowest production year for the Caribbean convertible. This car is #19 of those 276 units. They are recognized as a Certified Milestone Car by the Milestone Car Society. a 310 horsepower 374 cubic inch V8 fueled by dual Rochester four-barrel carbs. That was 5 bhp. more than the new Eldorado. and except for the Chrysler 300’s Hemi. it was the auto industry’s most powerful engine of the day. Torque is transferred to pavement through Packard’s Twin Traction differential. It is equipped with power steering and brakes. The ride features Torsion-Level suspension. which automatically adjusts ride height depending on passenger load. The Caribbean convertible also came with reversible seat upholstery which was brocaded fabric on one side. and leather on the other. Imagine that. spare upholstery! These cars were the choice of many celebrities and well-to-do individuals of the day. and represented the pinnacle of Packard offerings. In addition to its sleek and luxurious styling. the Caribbean of course carried the well known quality and superior engineering that was Packard’s hallmark. causing it to be referred to as the American Rolls Royce………Ask the Man Who Owns One! Serial number is 5699-1019. paint code MTV. trim code 90. The car is correct and original in all regards other than a conversion to a Torqueflite transmission. This change was common with Packards of the mid 50’s as the original Ultramatic proved to be problematic at times. The original Ultramatic has been rebuilt and will go with the car. Apart from the transmission swap. this car is an original unrestored and unmolested car with 68. 61 original miles. The car is very complete and very solid. Purchased by its present family out of Montana around 1987. it has been a reliable occasional driver since. with regular maintenance and routine mechanical work performed as required. Overall the car shows light wear & tear of its original miles. and remains a decent looking car and in roadworthy condition. It had some minor bodywork to repair a couple of minor parking lot mishaps. and only partial repaint in those areas. The majority of the car is in original paint. There are no hidden secrets with this car. This car could be maintained and enjoyed as the survivor that it is. with minor detailing and freshening along the way. or. it would make an excellent restoration candidate given its completeness. unmolested state. and very solid rust free condition. CHASSIS:The ’56 Caribbean convertible rides on a 127” wheelbase. has an overall length of just over 218 inches. and weighs in at 4. 60 lbs. The frame channel side members and X-brace have extra-depth reinforcement. The frame on this car is absolutely solid and straight. with no rust rot or signs of collision damage. Suspension is independent up front. with torque arms at the back. and tubular shocks. The Torsion-Level suspension provides full-length torsion bars to front and rear. and has an automatic load compensator to adjust ride height. This system is fully operational on this car. It just had a new brake switch and levelizer relay installed. All suspension. steering and driveline components are original without modifications. The power brakes are in good working order. as is the power steering system. The dual exhaust system appears in very good condition. The tires are a matched set of 5 white wall Autopar Premium Plus GT P235/75R15 108S M+S All Season radials in very good condition with excellent tread remaining. mounted on wire wheels with appropriate Packard stainless hubcaps. There are 5 original steel rims and 4 original full wheel discs which go with the car as well. DRIVETRAIN:The 374 ci. V8 engine is rated at 310 hp. and is dressed with original chrome valve covers. It starts easily. sounds good. and is in smooth and quiet running condition. with good oil pressure and no smoke. It has dual 4 bbl. carbs. The only engine work done that the current owner is aware of is a valve job done in 2013. and a new water pump was installed. All other mechanical components on and around the engine appear and function in good condition. The engine compartment is very complete and original looking. and it is relatively clean and tidy. The Torqueflite 3 speed automatic transmission was a conversion from the original Ultramatic and appears to shift as it should. Part of the conversion is the column shift. whereas the original Ultramatic was a push button shift. The original Ultramatic has been rebuilt and will go with the car. although I do not have a picture of it. The original push button shifter assembly is no longer with the car. but these apparently are not that hard to come by should you require one. Oddly enough the column shift on a 56 Packard is much rarer than the push button shift. It is unique to 56 and not easy to find. Belts and hoses appear in good condition. The original fuel pump is functional. There is an electric fuel pump mounted to the left frame rail. It is disconnected from the fuel line and not in service. although it does work. and is turned on by a toggle switch under the dash to the left of the steering column. The original windshield washer and bottle is missing from under the right fender. but the bracket for it is there. BODY & PAINT: This is a very solid and rust free western car. having spent most all of its life in the dry climates of Montana and Alberta. There is definitely no rust out or rot. and no evidence of any major collision damage. It is quite evident that Packard was generous in its application of undercoating. The original heavy coating still remains firmly adhered to the interior floor pans and trunk area. coated with original paint. The few areas where some has peeled away show nice original reddish primer. The undersides of the pans. sheet metal. and frame also received undercoating. and though more areas underneath have become exposed. they show either paint of just surface rust. The floor pans. trunk pan. body mounts. inner & outer rockers. quarters. fenders and doors are all very solid. right from the bottom up. There is no rust swelling of the flanged lips either at the door or trunk lid bottom edges. There is only one spot I found with a few small blisters in the paint. It is the top of the left front fender. about mid-way. about the size of a quarter overall. Overall. the body and sheet metal on this car are quite straight. The rear cowl panel. between the convertible top and trunk lid does show some waviness. not very noticeable. and only when viewed from a certain angle. All other body panels are pretty straight. The majority of the paint on the car is original. The paint code is MTV. where M=Dover White. T=Naples Orange. and V=Corsican Black. The lower black is all original with no evident repaint. The orange mid-section is a combination of original and some re-spray with minor spot touch ups. The top white is a combination of about 50/50 original/repaint. The owner believes the right fender had been replaced at one time and repainted. with blending into the door. There appears to have been some re-spray on a portion of the hood blending into the left fender. The trunk lid had in the last couple of years been backed into by a pickup truck in a parking lot and was repaired and repainted. with blending into the left quarter. It’s a good 20 footer. but with an easy and proper prep and paint this car would be outstanding. You would not have to do extensive body work or expensive rust repairs. TOP:The top is in poor condition and will need replacing. It is the second top this car has had. The owner still has the original top from the car and it will go with the car. The original top had an orange liner so it is an excellent piece to still have if one wants to duplicate a replacement top correctly. The original top boot cover. although not shown. will go with the car as well. The power top raises and lowers as it should with no problems. All chrome latches are operational and in good condition. as is their chrome. INTERIOR:The deluxe interior is in good. totally original condition. It is overall comfortable. and usable as is. These cars came with a very unique feature. reversible seat cushions. Trim code 90 indicates Vermillion and White leather. Gray cloth. The upholstery materials on both sides of the upper and lower cushions are in good original condition. although signs of light wear and age are expected. there are no serious rips or issues. Leather straps with snaps are used to hold the vertical back cushions in position. The change-over from one to the other is fast and simple. The front seat is equipped with seat belts for 2 passengers. The sun visors are in nice shape. as are the door. kick. and rear side panels. The right rear side panel has a tear above the window switch. but that’s about the only one evident. The dash padding has been removed and the cover has shrunk and is wrinkled to the point that it should be replaced. The day/night rear view mirror has some minor de-silvering. All the interior chrome and stainless trim ranges from good to very good. The dash fascia panel. instrument faces. and chrome items are all in very nice condition. The pot metal chromed garnish moldings are very nice and pit free. The steering wheel has only minor cracks at the spokes. still pretty good overall. The horn ring has nice chrome. and there is a spare. The plastic horn button is not bad but has some very minor hazing. Original carpets are still in place but the front one is heavily soiled. The original aluminum sill step plates are good. The brake and gas pedal pads are not excessively worn. Original wind lacing on the vertical pillars is soiled but still in place. The panel in the rear top well is in place but slightly warped. The shaded windshield is in good condition. and all side glass is good as well. All weather-strips are original. ELECTRICAL:This is an original 12 volt. negative ground system. Wiring on the car is original and appears to still be in good condition. although there appears to have been a bit of rewiring or repair under the hood by the firewall. The battery is 1000 CCAs and just over 2 years old. The charging system appears to be OK. The gauges are in nice condition. and all appear to be in working order. All power windows and the 4-way power seat are in working condition. The drivers switch for the passenger door window is reversed. easily corrected. The original factory Wonderbar radio turns on but the signal seeking does not work. not sure about the reception as it was only tested inside a metal clad building. The dual power antennas work. The clock has a noisy grind. so the fuse has been removed. The cigarette lighter and horn are in working order. The windshield wipers are not working. reason unknown. All exterior and interior lights are in working order. The front right park light lens is cracked. the left one is good. The right quarter courtesy lamp lens is broken. the left one has just a minor edge chip. The right tail light lens is good. the left one has a light scratch. The right back-up light lens has a chip. the left one is good. There is a complete spare tail light assembly with good tail and back-up lenses in it. BRIGHTWORK:All external chrome and stainless trim is on the car and in overall good to very good condition. there is nothing missing. In most of the pics you will notice the absence of the ‘Packard’ script on the trunk lid. It had been misplaced and not found after the trunk lid repairs. A new one was ordered from Max Merritt Packard Parts and just arrived. It is now on the car and shown in this most recent picture below. The bumpers are in very good condition with nice chrome and good shine. The front bumper does have a crease down low caused by a bumper jack. and there is a bit of rust as a result. but it is very low about mid-way on the driver side. and really only noticeable if you get down on your knees. The rear bumper is very nice with no dents. and are the rear guards and bumper ends. The original grille is outstanding. very nice. no damage. The Packard hood emblem has a very minor chip in the enamel. The pot metal grid and surround pieces are also in very nice condition. with virtually no pitting. If there are any pits. they are few and miniscule. It’s basically the same for all the pot metal chrome items on the car. hood scoops. vertical quarter panel scoops. etc. Nice chrome. good shine. and very minimal minor pitting if any. Any of the pieces would be excellent candidates for replating if you were pursuing a top level restoration. The left front pot metal fender spear has a small chip missing at its very leading edge where it tucks under the corner piece. not very noticeable. All side stainless trim ranges from fair to very good condition. All would be restorable to excellent condition. One of the six snap clips is missing from the belt line stainless on the right side. Max Merritt has these. The large stainless panels on the lower rear quarters are good except for minor pings and blemishes. which would repair and polish out easily. They do not have severe road rash from gravel. The fender skirts are in good shape. no rust. The 5 chrome wire wheels are generally in good condition. One has some very minor blisters. and another has a small bit of rust starting to appear. They likely have not been polished in a while. and likely some of that rust staining would clean up and enhance their appearance. There are a few spare parts that will go with the car. There is no jack or mat in the trunk. SUMMARY:If you are looking to drive a mid-1950’s luxury convertible with distinctive styling and limited production rarity. this could be it! Packards have long been known for their quality engineered and long lasting mechanical aspects. The Caribbean was their luxury flagship and has growing appreciation within the collector market. It is a Certified Milestone Car and has all the markings of a rare collectible and investment vehicle. If you are considering a convertible driver to enjoy right away. something to tinker with. or a nice 50’s cruiser to restore. this is it! You won’t be spending years or tons of money trying to find missing parts. or performing major extensive rust repairs. and your investment will be secured by the never ending interest in and admiration of these collectible Packards. This car was enjoyed by its owner and his family for nearly the last 30 years. In light of their patriarchs passing. the family has decided to make this special car available with a very reasonable reserve. Consider this. as reported in the Jan. -Feb. 2015 issue of American Car Collector magazine. At the Mecum Auction. Dallas. Texas in Sept. 2014. a 1956 Caribbean with 66. 10 miles. described as an older restoration and rated condition 2. sold for $162. 00. And it was called a fair deal!The reserve on this car is set way far below that. This is opportunity knocking! PAYMENT TERMS:This vintage vehicle is being listed on behalf of the owner. Please email ‘carsgoneby@telus. net’ or phone Rick at (403)534-2222 for additional honest and accurate information from a professional auto restorer. All information listed has been gathered from discussions with the owner. and a test drive and visual inspection. Almost 200 additional pics are available for viewing at www. carsgoneby. com/PhotoAlbumsPro/1956Packard . Additional specific pictures are available upon request. No warranties expressed or implied. Successful bidder to make a minimum payment of 50% of closing bid amount (US funds) within 5 days of auction closing. with the balance payable upon vehicle pick up within 21 days (international) or 14 days (US/Canada). Payment must be in certifiable form such as cash or wire transfer. Other forms of payment only acceptable with time allowance for instrument to clear bank prior to vehicle being released. Any deviation from. or changes to the preceding terms must be reasonable. and should be requested. discussed. and agreed to prior to bidding and auction closing. IMPORTANT OTHER:Please submit all inquiries prior to bidding. and please only bid if you are able and willing to conclude the transaction should you be the winning bidder. This vehicle is being sold with a clear Alberta vehicle registration (title) document and bill of sale. The car is located in Mossleigh. Alberta. Canada. about 3 hours north of the Montana border. Please be aware of your shipping costs before bidding. quotes can be provided upon request if necessary. We can help make this a smooth. hassle free experience by arranging all inclusive international transportation and brokerage for you. References relating to similar transactions are available. Cars Gone By has sold and shipped numerous collector vehicles to the USA and worldwide. the majority through Ebay transactions. Please do not ask us to disclose the reserve price. In fairness to all bidders we will not do so and request that you simply place a bid that is comfortable for you. Thanks for looking!