Packard Caribbean History
History
The Packard Caribbean debuted for 1953 as a low-production luxury convertible, Packard's answer to the Cadillac Eldorado and Chrysler Imperial — a halo car meant to cast a modern, fashionable glow over a marque some had begun to see as stodgy. The first cars used Packard's 327-cubic-inch straight-eight 'Thunderbolt' engine.
Each year the Caribbean grew more powerful and more striking: a 359 straight-eight for 1954, then Packard's new OHV V8 — 352 then 374 cubic inches — for 1955–1956, the 1956 car making 310 hp, among the highest-rated US engines of its year. A hardtop joined the convertible for 1956. Production was always tiny (just 750 in 1953, 400 in 1954), making the Caribbean one of the most collectible of all 1950s Packards.
Generations
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Packard Caribbean · Caribbean (halo convertible)
Photo: “1956 Packard Caribbean Convertible (7833868298).jpg” by Mustang Joe / Wikimedia Commons — CC0 1.0
Packard's low-production halo car, answering the Cadillac Eldorado — from the 327 straight-eight of 1953 to the 310-hp 374 OHV V8 of 1956, with a hardtop added for the final year.
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1953 Photo: “1953 Packard Caribbean Convertible (34809384375).jpg” by Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA / Wikimedia Commons , licensed under CC BY 2.0
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1954 Photo: “1954 Packard Caribbean (7017913563).jpg” by Spanish Coches / Wikimedia Commons , licensed under CC BY 2.0
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1955 Photo: “1955PackardCaribbeanConvertableFrontLeft.jpg” by Infrogmation of New Orleans / Wikimedia Commons , licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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1956 Photo: “56 Packard Caribbean (6087804826).jpg” by Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA / Wikimedia Commons , licensed under CC BY 2.0
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Body styles
- Convertible
- Hardtop
Notable special editions & performance variants
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Caribbean (1956 dual four-barrel V8)
Final-year Caribbean with the 374-cubic-inch OHV V8 making 310 hp (twin four-barrel carburetors) — among the highest-rated US production engines of 1956; offered as both convertible and hardtop.
Related models