1956 Packard Patrician

Since 1953 Packard had been keeping their medium priced Clipper line clearly separate from the luxury Packard models. This 1956 Packard Patrician sat firmly in the latter camp.

This Dover White over Aegean Blue Patrician is a lovely example with just over 32,000 actual miles.

After a big restyle in 1955 there weren't too many changes to the external appearance of the '56 models except a new grille and a few trim changes. The reality was that this was the last year of the true Packards. They were only to last a couple more years and the '57 and '58 cars were really re-badged Studebakers.

Inside is the stunning blue and beige interior still has the plastic covers from back in the day. They were all new fabrics and fabric designs for the 1956 model year were the most striking and luxurious that Packard had used so far.

The instrument panel is a work of art although similar to the 1955 offering. The machined look looks every bit its luxury image and is absolutely full of round dials and knobs with everything located within a tight space behind the steering wheel.

Under the hood sits a 374 cubic inch, high compression overhead valve V8 outputting 290 horsepower. It was a new, larger engine for 1956 and came standard on the Patrician and 400  and was paired with a Ultamatic Drive automatic transmission.

Options / Extras on this Packard Patrician

Packard sold a total of 3,775 Patrician 4-door Sedans for the 1956 model year. They were relatively expensive cars sitting around the same price as a Cadillac Sedan at $4,160 base price. See options table above for the accessories that were ordered with this car.

This Packard is currently for sale on eBay. (follow the link for even more photos)