This Car: "Charmaine"
Soon after I purchased this car, I attempted to research its history by ordering a build sheet from the Studebaker archives.1 Following their merger with Packard in the mid 1950s, they maintained archives for both Studebaker & Packard. Unfortunately however, I was told that they received the archive with those records missing. Undeterred, I found my first clue: some of the dates stamped on the instruments behind the dashboard indicate that it was assembled around late May 1956 - very close to the June 25th date when Packard ceased production. (After that any Packards were rebadged Studebakers.)
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Packard Motor Car Co. production line, Conner Avenue facility, dropping/fitting hypolon top onto
1956 Packard Caribbean fifty-sixth series, hardtop, 6-person (body type #5697). Credit: Detroit Public Library. 7
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Thanks to the wonderful people in the Packard Club, I've learned that this car's VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) was originally delivered to Philadelphia, PA. I've also learned much about factory production problems, how they contributed to defects and subsequent deterioration; and the variety of creative solutions employed by owners seeking to salvage their prized Caribbeans -- including borrowing body panels and other parts from donor cars.
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As anyone involved in automobile restoration will attest, varying degrees of cosmetic accuracy occur in the most thorough of restorations (particularly low production, highly customized vehicles for which factory records are limited or non-existent), often sparking debate about a car's authenticity. Thanks to strong club support, I've generously been given interesting information and photographs by people involved with this car over the years. This includes these 2006 photos showing the car undergoing restoration at Hibernia Restorations. It is wearing the correct "M.E.S." code color scheme. As for the interior, while it carries similarly corresponding colors (as well as the Caribbean-specific seat frames), it differs from the "official" Caribbean offering in that the rear side and door panels are fabric-covered rather than leather.
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Many thanks to the Packard Club's Caribbean Roster Keeper Stuart Blond for pictures of the car at Hibernia Restorations in 2006.
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Acknowledging Packard's renown for accepting customized requests, it's certainly possible that this was a special order. According to Richard Langworth, author of the Illustrated Packard Buyer's Guide, "...many 1956 variations existed, especially toward the end, when Packard was building to order....although four standard interior combinations were offered, many special-order interiors were produced..."8
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Through correspondence with Stuart Blond, Packard Club Roster Keeper for Caribbean models, I was told about his conversation with this car's former, Maryland-based owner, who, in the 1980s, claimed to salvage this car's VIN and other parts from a scrapped Caribbean; presumably using them to convert a 400 coupe. (This would have taken place before the Caribbean's VIN, original Body Number, etc., was captured in the Packard registry. Without those details or the original built sheet, we can't know the extent to which any conversion may have taken place.) Adding to the mystery, that owner reportedly passed away during the process; losing another vital link to the car's history. The above pictures may represent a continuation of that original conversion.
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Author, Richard Langworth cites Mr. Blond's claim of a 400 conversion as fact on page 138 of his aforementioned book.8 Current-day inspection confirms that the engine's casting numbers correctly match the VIN, suggesting either originality to the frame or a more laborious VIN & engine transfer. I continue to search for any other serial numbers elsewhere, that may help shed more light on just how much may remain of the original Caribbean.
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Famed Packard historian and author, Robert Turnquist was also equally well known as the owner of the now defunct Hibernia Auto Restorations, noted for specializing in restorations of pre-war Packards and other classics.6 (A small custom plaque is fixed to the cowl noting their restoration.). As a pre-war specialist, Mr. Turnquist consulted Mr. Blond (who then worked for the Packard division of nearby Kanter Auto Products) for his detailed knowledge of the Caribbean models. I've learned that this undertaking included a repaint in single-stage lacquer and interior carrying the correct leather and "boucle" fabric unique to Caribbean models. Mr. Turnquist passed away in late 2009. Therefore this project was among the last of approximately 120 Packard restorations touched by his celebrated hands.
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Around 2014, the next owner (from whom I purchased the car) undertook another (perhaps, now 3rd) restoration/refurbishment with Parkers's Packards, a Massachusetts-based Packard specialist. This involved largely mechanical and more cosmetic repairs, including rechroming work. I too, will continue the tradition of continued improvement.
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Her name? I'd like to think that this is how she introduced herself to me. I'd driven about 6 hours north to a remote island off the coast of Maine where the former owner lived. Forget about internet reception or mobile telephone reception - even the landlines were unreliable. After the then-owner let me take her for a ride, I sat and just admired her beautiful dashboard; gold and silver with jewel-like dials. Out of curiosity I turned on the radio - not expecting it to work. However, the dial began to glow and the speaker hum. I pulled the knob that raised the tall, dual, rear antennas. It was then that she told me her name.
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Coincidentally, there is an AM radio station that broadcasts very old songs (1930s-1960s) up and down the coast from Boston, Massachusetts to Bath, Maine: WJIB (Boston's Station). Perhaps as if to thumb a nose at modern technology, the old speaker crisply crooned The Four Freshman's 1955 song "Charmaine." Perhaps this was the equivalent of an eye flutter from across the gymnasium floor at a crowded high school dance. Perhaps it was nothing more than coincidence. Whichever it was, "Charmaine" she shall be to me.
