American carmakers launched several luxury-sporty convertibles for the 1953 model year. These included the Oldsmobile Starfire, Buick Skylark and Cadillac Eldorado. To my mind, the most attractive was the Packard Caribbean (background
here).
It was derived from the 1952 Packard Pan American show car that I wrote about
here.
Caribbeans were built by Mitchell-Bentley of Ionia, Michigan. Packard shipped them chassis and basic sheet metal stampings along with dashboards and other stock Packard items. Mitchell-Bentley then added what was needed to create finished Caribbeans, of which 750 were built for 1953.
Gallery
1952 Packard Pan American - via Consumer Guide
A few Pan American show cars were built to a design by Richard Arbib. Packard convertibles were sectioned to reduce their height and otherwise served as the Pan Am's basis. I like the chromed grille outline: modernized classic Packard brand identity.
The Continental spare tire kit was a major carryover to the Caribbean.
1953 Packard Convertible Coupe - for-sale photos
Caribbeans were not sectioned production convertibles. Minus hood and side trim, this is what Mitchell-Bentley worked from.
1953 Packard convertibles used entry-level Clipper tail lights, whereas Caribbeans received upscale Patrician tail lights.
1953 Packard Caribbean - Mecum auction photos
Grilles were stock '53 Packard, but the hood air scoop was not.
Fender chrome strips were eliminated, replaced by rocker panel strips. The most distinctive Caribbean side feature is the chromed, rounded wheel openings fore and aft. Richard Teague is credited with the styling.
This shows the Continental kit and the Patrician tail lights.
1953 Packard Caribbean - RM Sotheby's auction photos
Now for two dramatic, overhead views.
This car has a chromed, spare tire cover edge not found on many Caribbeans.
1954 Packard Caribbean - Barrett-Jackson auction photo
1954 Caribbeans got two-tone paint jobs and lost the rounded rear wheel opening. These changes were detrimental.
2 comments:
Tripping down memory lane...when I was a kid the son of the family across the street had a white 1953 Caribbean. It parked on the street because the driveway was full of their two black Cadillacs. I remember stopping my bike to look inside and the beltline was higher than other cars, noticeable because that was at near my eye level.
I bet the open rear wheel openings were cut and formed from normal fenders, and the hood scoop added onto a normal Packard hood as well. Probably a lot of hours of hand work and pounds of lead in these.
I believe that the '53 Olds was the Fiesta, not the Starfire. Curiously, the Fiesta name was later applied to station wagons.
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