Hemmings Motor News Blog

I was lucky enough to drive these when they were new and i had just turned 16. I also got to drive 56 lincolns and a 57 cadillac. Packard out handled and out ran them. I loved their big V-8. the Ultramatic was far more versatile than the hydramatic. Ultramatic for 56 had a double kickdown. you cold drop it back to second or actually back into the torque converter by pressing accelerator about 1/2 to 3/4 down, but if you floored it yoiu went back into geared range comparable to a first gear. At the same time the pushbuttons offered some interesting versatility playing with shifts. Hydramatic which had gone to a fluid coupling in 56 was only responsive from a dead start. after that you could easily get caught out of downshift range. With the posi-traction, it was really hard to stop the Packard in the snow and ice. another feeature not mentioned was the articulated windshield wipers. they wrapped around the glass by virtue of a cam in the arm. But the real feature was the adjustment that cut the span of the wiper travel As result they operated so fast you couldn't follow them with your eyes. then of couirse there was the suspension. No other big car handled as well. The cadillacs, lincs and imperials were too softly sprung. They wallowed. the packard on the other hand minimized lean and dive. go to you tube to see a great commercial showing what these cars could do on a hle filled dirt road. and the more you loaded them up the better they got because the weight thightened the winding on the torsion bars. I loved these cars, did things with them that the factory hadnt intended and got away with it. The brakes were poor and heated ukp quickly, Discs would have been the answer on these heavy cars. they were distinctive, solidly built and no where near the problems the 57 caddy had. the cadillac that my father go new was riddled with nagging stuff, windows ouldnt work, brakes were defective, wiring problems and out and out poor performance. but then it w made no difference GM oulcd have sold roller skates teh pople would have thornged to get them.