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1952 Packard Pan American

Packard Pan American, 1952
Packard Pan American, 1952
Packard Pan American, 1952 - M.J. Kollins behind wheel
Packard Pan American, 1952 - M.J. Kollins behind wheel
Packard Pan American, 1952
Packard Pan American, 1952
Packard Pan American, 1952 - Interior: top grain oyster white leather on seats, dash, door panels, sun visors & steering wheel, contrasting leather on steering wheel spokes, door trim panels, door handles, pleated seat sections, rear panels of seat backs, this first Pan American exhibited International Motor Sports Show opened 29 March 1952 at Grand Central Palace, New York, N.Y.
Packard Pan American, 1952 - Interior: top grain oyster white leather on seats, dash, door panels, sun visors & steering wheel, contrasting leather on steering wheel spokes, door trim panels, door handles, pleated seat sections, rear panels of seat backs, this first Pan American exhibited International Motor Sports Show opened 29 March 1952 at Grand Central Palace, New York, N.Y.
Packard Pan American, 1952 - Interior
Packard Pan American, 1952 - Interior
1952 Packard, the Pan American, the hit of the 1952 Los Angeles Autorama
1952 Packard, the Pan American, the hit of the 1952 Los Angeles Autorama
1952 Packard, grand prize winners, Pan American, 1952 New York International Auto Show
1952 Packard, grand prize winners, Pan American, 1952 New York International Auto Show
Packard Pan American, 1953
Packard Pan American, 1953
Packard Pan American, 1953
Packard Pan American, 1953
Images: National Automotive History Collection
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This 1952 Packard Pan American 'sports car', built for company president Hugh Ferry to a design by Richard Arbib, was a stock Packard 250 convertible reworked by hearse and ambulance specialist Henney.
1952 Packard "Pan American" sports car, twenty-fifth series, model 2531 (modified 250 convertible, 6-person, body type #2579), 8-cylinder, 185-horsepower, 122-inch wheelbase, special show car, first of six built by Henney (designed by Richard Arbib), the 250 was sectioned 4-inches & otherwise lowered by suspension, hood had functional air scoop, the grille was standard, with its outer bars shaved & mesh inserts added, Hudelson-Whitebone continental spare tire added by shortening the rear deck lid, by adding to the splash pan & by moving the rear bumper aft slightly, round tail lights matched parking lights, back seat eliminated; top boot covered by metal lid (although the original Pan American had no top fitted!), Henney made wire wheels out of old ones, new wheels being then unavailable, exterior; metallic gold, interior: top grain oyster white leather on seats, dash, door panels, sun visors, & steering wheel, contrasting leather on steering wheel spokes, door trim panels, door handles, pleated seat sections, rear panels of seat backs, original Pan American shipped to New York 24 March 1952 for opening on 29 March at Grand Central Palace of the International Motor Sports Show, where it was awarded a first place trophy for "Outstanding Automotive Design and Engineering Achievement," this car later sold to Macauley family.


The Packard Pan American is a concept car produced for the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan in 1952.

Conceived as a moderate-performance two-seater by Hugh Ferry, president of Packard, it was built by Henney, which was responsible for fitting custom hearse and ambulance bodies on Packard chassis. A status symbol for a carmaker at the time, this sort of car was a very unlikely project for Packard.

With styling by Henney, it was based on the 1951 Series 250 convertible, and ready in time for the 1952 New York International Motor Sports Show. Sectioned and channelled, in a fashion reminiscent of the 1953 Skylark, and wearing the trademark Packard grille, it "was elegantly trimmed throughout".

Packard spent US$10,000 building the Pan American, and management tried in vain to imagine, let alone develop, a market for a roadster projected to cost at least US$18,000, at a time when the top-line Lincoln Capri six-passenger convertible went for US$3,665, the premier eight-place Cadillac Series 75 Fleetwood US$5643, and even Packard's Patrician 400, their most expensive production model, was only US$3,767, and a six-seater.

As many as six examples were built. The Pan American did inspire a successful six-place model, the Cavalier, which debuted in 1953.
Source: Packard Public Relations Department; wikicars.org
Comments
Bill McCoskey
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Correction: The Pan American resulted in the limited production Packard Caribbean convertible, 750 cars in 1953, 400 in 1954, 500 in 1955, and 276 in 1956. The name is Caribbean, not Cavalier, also known as the 300 sedan, a standard production car in the senior Packard range.
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