Packard Caribbean

The Packard Caribbean was a full-sized luxury car built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan from the 1953 to the 1956 model year, conceived as the halo car that would give a stodgy marque a modern image. Its styling drew on the Pan American show car of 1952. It was a convertible only until 1955, and a hardtop joined it for 1956. The first cars, based on the Cavalier convertible, had cutout rear wheel arches, a hood scoop and Mitchell-Bentley bodies, and 750 were built. From 1954 it was a senior Packard, and in 1955 it received Packard's own overhead valve V8 and torsion bar suspension. The 1956 car, with a 374 cubic inch V8 rated at 310 horsepower, had the highest power rating of any American car, and the model ended when Detroit production closed.