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1956 400 2 DRHT

 

Owned by Greg Terhar

I purchased this car as a restoration project in 1996 from a fellow in Denver CO., who had purchased it from a fellow in Los Angeles.  Unfortunately, that’s all I know about the history of the car.  However, I believe it lived in California until it went to Denver in 1992.  It still had one of it’s original license plates—CA ‘56 JYX 859 on the front.  According to the trim tag, it was originally painted Scottish Heather and Maltese Gray.  A previous owner painted it Tangier Red and Dover White.  Options are power steering, brakes, seat, windows, deluxe radio with twin rear antennas, push button gear shift, dual heaters, the 2.87 differential, and a set of original Packard wire wheels. 

The list of things I had to fix is too long to get into here, but a previous owner had installed a new engine and transmission, and that gave me a good starting point.  Luckily, the body had very little rust.  Jon Carson at Fenders & Fins in Woodinville, formed some new pieces and welded them in where needed.  He did  a really good job.  In the interest of getting a little more power out of the engine or just making me a little more comfortable driving in today’s traffic, I have made some mechanical modifications, all of which can be easily returned to stock (for all the purists out there).  It has: a Crane cam, breakerless ignition with an MSD coil, an Edelbrock 4 barrel carb (copy of an old Carter type, but with larger secondary barrels) with a K & N air filter hiding under the original air cleaner cover, a Delco 65 amp alternator, an Aeromotive electric fuel pump with a return to tank-type pressure regulator, a Spearco water injection system to prevent spark knock with today’s fuel, and a custom-made driveshaft that eliminates the front bucket-type U-joints.  It also has the Pacific Northwest Region’s electronic leveler control box and the 3 connector brake light switch conversion kit.  They work great. 

The only major project left to do is the interior, but I need to locate some parts before I can start on that.  The Packard Club has been a huge help for both parts and information.