Tuner Cars
No, not the Japanese kind. I mean real tuners, like a high end German car taken to near maximum performance potential like an AMG Mercedes. I love the concept if not most of their starting material. It's all about a balanced car.
The average traditional hot rod (the average hot rod, period, really) is set up for one of two things usually: to go fast in a straight line or to go quickly to the end of a quarter mile, also in a straight line. If there's anybody reading this with a dirt track or NASCAR themed rod, don't get cocky, there's more to life than turning left. A lot of people seem to think it's a cool show of your manliness to drive something that's a near deathtrap because it's a stock '30s car with bad handling and crummy brakes paired with an oversized musclecar engine. The Tuner Car is the antithesis of that. I know it's a catchphrase with BMW, but I think it applies here: Ultimate Driving Machine.
Why don't we do something like that?* There are plenty of good looking cars around from the 1950s and '60s that would seem to lend themselves well to the concept. One could even speculate that the Chrysler 300C was nothing more than a factory "tuned" New Yorker. Perhaps if the Mexican Road Race had lasted longer and had a larger following in the United States, something along these lines would have grown from that racing series.
One can see that the advertising illustrators were thinking along these lines when they drew the product as lower and in more exciting situations than reality.
Take our 1955 Caribbean, for example. Perhaps you see the basis for a custom, here, but I (perhaps because I'm a muscle car geek) see a Packard Tuner waiting to happen. It's already lowered, thanks to the illustrator, but our real-world example would benefit from dropped spindles and lowering blocks. While we're playing with the suspension, heavier duty shocks and springs and thick swaybars will take the handling far beyond what one would expect from a '55 Packard.
Of course, Packard never built (to my knowledge, but I'm far from an expert) a quick-ratio steering box, but we can help the factory out by sourcing one elsewhere (doubtless something intended for the Pro Touring crowd). We could cheat a bit and use whitewall radials, but I think it might be fun to limit ourselves as much as possible to 1950s technology. I realize this might seem a bit contradictory, to use a modern aftermarket steering box and bias ply tires, but in my mind our intent is to only subsitute parts that could have been produced by the factory back then, but weren't because they were too busy merging with Studebaker and going out of business.
Drum brakes? Let's keep them. Metallic linings existed in the 1950s, or perhaps a bit of kevlar is in order. In any case we've got to do something to slow this monster once we get that 352 in order. Tuner cars don't use radical cams, ordinarily, so I don't feel uneasy about retaining (or adding!) a power brake booster.
Speaking of the 352, I think the most important thing we can do to aide our performance is to replace the Ultramatic with something lighter and... shiftier? The T-10 four-speed was only two years away in the Corvette, so I don't think it's out of line to suggest that Packard could have asked Borg-Warner to develop it a bit early. If you're a real stickler, how about a BW T-85 with an overdrive? We'll adjust the gear ratio as necessary, replacing the stock rear with a Ford 9" if we don't have a source for Packard gearsets.
Finally, we've got to play with the engine, every hot rodder's favorite part. Dual exhausts with tubular headers (it would only be a few years before the factories were packaging them in the trunk for dealer installation) and a low-restriction exhaust. Smitty's, perhaps, could have been working with the factory. Factory dual-quad setups were around for the big Packard V8 and that seems a likely choice for our Tuner Packard (TP?). A few calls to the long-established cam companies will surely net someone who can still regrind a camshaft. Being as tuners are more civilized than your average hot rod, something with hydraulic lifters is probably in order.
Have I missed anything? Paint and body are, of course, at the builder's discretion. I would take my lead from Chrysler on the early letter series and offer my TP in a solid color and not the wild tri-tones that the fluffier cars used. Seatbelts were an option in '50s cars and I think the wise man would install them here. I would not even be opposed to a pair of square-back buckets and a factory-looking console.
Happy driving!
-David Conwill
*By "we" I mean traditional hot rodders. Although if some of you who read this want to do one with me, I'd be more than happy.
The average traditional hot rod (the average hot rod, period, really) is set up for one of two things usually: to go fast in a straight line or to go quickly to the end of a quarter mile, also in a straight line. If there's anybody reading this with a dirt track or NASCAR themed rod, don't get cocky, there's more to life than turning left. A lot of people seem to think it's a cool show of your manliness to drive something that's a near deathtrap because it's a stock '30s car with bad handling and crummy brakes paired with an oversized musclecar engine. The Tuner Car is the antithesis of that. I know it's a catchphrase with BMW, but I think it applies here: Ultimate Driving Machine.
Why don't we do something like that?* There are plenty of good looking cars around from the 1950s and '60s that would seem to lend themselves well to the concept. One could even speculate that the Chrysler 300C was nothing more than a factory "tuned" New Yorker. Perhaps if the Mexican Road Race had lasted longer and had a larger following in the United States, something along these lines would have grown from that racing series.
One can see that the advertising illustrators were thinking along these lines when they drew the product as lower and in more exciting situations than reality.
Take our 1955 Caribbean, for example. Perhaps you see the basis for a custom, here, but I (perhaps because I'm a muscle car geek) see a Packard Tuner waiting to happen. It's already lowered, thanks to the illustrator, but our real-world example would benefit from dropped spindles and lowering blocks. While we're playing with the suspension, heavier duty shocks and springs and thick swaybars will take the handling far beyond what one would expect from a '55 Packard.
Of course, Packard never built (to my knowledge, but I'm far from an expert) a quick-ratio steering box, but we can help the factory out by sourcing one elsewhere (doubtless something intended for the Pro Touring crowd). We could cheat a bit and use whitewall radials, but I think it might be fun to limit ourselves as much as possible to 1950s technology. I realize this might seem a bit contradictory, to use a modern aftermarket steering box and bias ply tires, but in my mind our intent is to only subsitute parts that could have been produced by the factory back then, but weren't because they were too busy merging with Studebaker and going out of business.
Drum brakes? Let's keep them. Metallic linings existed in the 1950s, or perhaps a bit of kevlar is in order. In any case we've got to do something to slow this monster once we get that 352 in order. Tuner cars don't use radical cams, ordinarily, so I don't feel uneasy about retaining (or adding!) a power brake booster.
Speaking of the 352, I think the most important thing we can do to aide our performance is to replace the Ultramatic with something lighter and... shiftier? The T-10 four-speed was only two years away in the Corvette, so I don't think it's out of line to suggest that Packard could have asked Borg-Warner to develop it a bit early. If you're a real stickler, how about a BW T-85 with an overdrive? We'll adjust the gear ratio as necessary, replacing the stock rear with a Ford 9" if we don't have a source for Packard gearsets.
Finally, we've got to play with the engine, every hot rodder's favorite part. Dual exhausts with tubular headers (it would only be a few years before the factories were packaging them in the trunk for dealer installation) and a low-restriction exhaust. Smitty's, perhaps, could have been working with the factory. Factory dual-quad setups were around for the big Packard V8 and that seems a likely choice for our Tuner Packard (TP?). A few calls to the long-established cam companies will surely net someone who can still regrind a camshaft. Being as tuners are more civilized than your average hot rod, something with hydraulic lifters is probably in order.
Have I missed anything? Paint and body are, of course, at the builder's discretion. I would take my lead from Chrysler on the early letter series and offer my TP in a solid color and not the wild tri-tones that the fluffier cars used. Seatbelts were an option in '50s cars and I think the wise man would install them here. I would not even be opposed to a pair of square-back buckets and a factory-looking console.
Happy driving!
-David Conwill
*By "we" I mean traditional hot rodders. Although if some of you who read this want to do one with me, I'd be more than happy.