Thoughts on Provenance
- personal8140
- Feb 6
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 7
Retracing a car’s history or in more elegant terms - provenance - can be as exciting as finding that rare or much needed part. Not surprisingly, an interesting history can make an otherwise common car unique. And while hard-to-find parts wait patiently to be found, historical facts can be more elusive; evolving over time and if not recorded, lost forever. So, consider documenting your car’s history however uninteresting it may seem – if not for yourself – for the next caretaker. Who knows what you may uncover or how your history may dovetail into some future significance. Just be sure to allow a little grace to those from whom you seek information. Keep in mind the famous quote by Mark Twain “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”
2023 was the fulfillment of a longtime dream: ownership of a 1956 Packard Caribbean. Since purchasing the car, I have been able to piece together a few details about its past. Ironically, the story began eleven years earlier when I would first see this car in 2012 at a local car show. It was however, not until a photo in my Facebook memories appeared that I realized it was the same car.
Soon after my purchase, I eagerly attempted to research its history by ordering a build sheet from the Studebaker archives. (Following their merger with Packard in the mid-1950s, they maintained archives for both Studebaker & Packard.) Unfortunately, I was told that they received the archive with those records missing. However, club support is strong for the Packard marque. I posted on a Packard forum and was able to connect with people able to point me towards various leads, including a copy of the original carrier shipping receipt. From this document I’ve learned that on June 12, 1956 (thirteen days before Packard would forever cease all production), the Connor Avenue facility delivered this car to Packard Sales on 1237 North Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Through subsequent research and correspondence with friends in the Packard Club, I've learned about factory production problems with this model and how they contributed to defects and subsequent deterioration. I have also learned much about creative solutions employed by owners seeking to preserve their Caribbeans, including borrowing body panels and other parts from donor cars. 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.
During my research, I was told about a conversation with this car's former, Maryland-based owner, who, in the 1980s, claimed to salvage various parts from another car. Adding to the mystery, that owner reportedly passed away during the process, losing another vital link to the car's history. During that same conversation, I was generously given interesting information and 2006 photos showing the car undergoing restoration at Hibernia Restorations. These depict the car clad in its correct "M.E.S." code (Dover White, Danube Blue, Roman Copper) color scheme. The interior shows similarly corresponding leather and "boucle" fabric reversible seats unique to the Caribbean models.
However, it differs from the "official" Caribbean offering in that the rear side and door panels appear to be fabric-covered rather than leather. Packard offered four unique tri-color combinations with corresponding interiors. According to Richard M. Langworth, author of the Illustrated Packard Buyer's Guide "...many variations existed, especially toward the end, when Packard was building to order.” Factory customization or parts swapping? Time may tell.
A small custom cloisonné plaque is fixed to the cowl noting a 2007 restoration by Hibernia Restorations. Famed Packard historian and author, Robert Turnquist was also equally well known as the owner of the now defunct Hibernia, New Jersey-based restoration shop; noted for specializing in restorations of pre-war Packards and other classics. As a pre-war specialist, Mr. Turnquist consulted the Packard Club member with whom I was fortunate to speak, for his detailed knowledge of the Caribbean models. This expert consultation resulted in 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 many Packard restorations touched by his celebrated hands.
Around 2014, the next owner (from whom I purchased the car) undertook another (perhaps, now 3rd) refurbishment with a local, Massachusetts-based Packard specialist. This involved largely mechanical and more cosmetic repairs, including re-chroming work. I learned this just by happenstance when I reached out to this same, local Packard specialist about some work I wanted to have performed. Fortunately, I was provided with more information and photographs of that work as well.
In 2024, I sent her off for what may be her 4th major refurbishment: the first beginning with the then-owner in the 1980s; the second (which may in fact be a completion of the first restoration) in 2006; the third in 2014 and most recently in 2024. This time around being a comprehensive updating of all mechanical systems along with some cosmetic improvements to aging chrome, paint, rubber, glass and stainless; in all, approximately 1000+ hours of work including a complete engine, carburetor and transmission rebuild.
Part of my efforts to document its history includes listing my car in the Packardinfo.com database; a helpful resource in the event my hard-copy documentation is lost. You might consider similar resources if such exist for your marque. Thus far I’ve found no famous owners, no use as a getaway car or things of that nature. Just names on a page, a few photos and repair receipts that --when looked at together --reveal a long-standing effort to maintain and preserve a vehicle for whom a growing list of caretakers have independently and collectively shared a common pride and joy.
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