April 3, 2023
AMHERST, N.Y. – A thought or two on this 1956 Packard Four Hundred and its stablemates. With the model name The Four Hundred spelled out across the trunklid in chrome script, you just knew this wasn’t a base model series. Surprisingly though, it also wasn’t the top o’the line. That would have been the Caribbean, of which only 263 two-door hardtops and 276 convertibles were produced for model year 1956. And those taillights! Commonly known as Cathedral-style taillights, they were found only on the upper-series Packard cars, while the lower series Clipper models had some of the most popular taillights used by customizers back in the day. I’ve included a couple of examples below, as well as the brochure illustration showing them in their natural habitat. For good measure I've thrown in a shot of the 1958 Studebaker-based Packard station wagon, which also used the ’56 Clipper taillights tucked below a pair of wild, add-on tailfins. Overkill? Just a bit, Lol. Today’s RealRide was seen at the 2014 Antique Automobile Club of America car show at UB’s north campus.
Jim Corbran, RRofWNY
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A new post appears daily on buffalocars.com, featuring old/interesting cars & trucks either seen in and around Western New York & Southern Ontario, seen by locals in their travels, or seen somewhere on the road by ex-residents of the area.