For both model years the 300 model was built as a four-door sedan only and was mounted on Packard's 127-inch (3,200mm) wheelbase.[4] The car included the basic trim appointments found in the 200 and 200 Deluxe model lines and included tinted windows, a robe rail for backseat passengers and striped interior fabrics. Exterior trim included full wheel covers as well as Packard's "Winged Goddess" cormorant hood ornament.[2] The 300 also received a wrap around rear window which it shared with the Patrician models. All Packards beginning in 1951 offered exterior door handles installed in the stainless steel beltline that ran along the bottom of the windshield, side windows and rear window.[2]
Power for the car in both years came from Packard's venerable Super Eight engine, the 327-cubic-inch (5,360cc) "Thunderbolt" inline eight which was shared with the 250 line. A three-speed manual shift was standard while Packard's Ultramatic automatic transmission was offered as optional equipment.
A total of 22,309 Packard 300s were built in the model's two years on the market with 1951's total of 15,309 representing the high sales mark for the 300 model. The 300 was $3,034 ($34,206 in 2022 dollars [5]) included with a heater and defroster, signal-seeking AM radio, windshield washers, rear wheel fender skirts, wheel trim rings, full wheel covers and white sidewall tires as optional equipment.[2] In 1953 the 300 was renamed the Cavalier as Packard moved away from its strict numeric model naming structure.
Packard Cavalier
The Packard Cavalier is an automobile produced by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan during 1953 and 1954. Produced only as a four-door sedan, the Cavalier took the place of the Packard 300 model that was fielded in 1951 and 1952 as Packard's mid-range priced vehicle, and was replaced by the Packard Executive.
1953 Packard Cavalier
The 1953 Cavalier was easily identified from other Packards by its unique chrome side spear trim and a "fishtail" chrome fin added to the tail light, shared with all Packards for 1953.[3]
Packard also created a Cavalier sub-series under which three other Packard models, marketed under various names were grouped:
Packard Mayfair which was based on the two-door Clipper Deluxe, but featuring higher interior luxury through fabrics and chrome trim.
A convertible model, using Cavalier trim, was offered during the 1953 model year and was priced lower than the Caribbean.[2]
1954 Packard Cavalier
For 1954, the Cavalier was again offered as a four-door sedan only, but the range also lost its sub series, and the Caribbean was moved into the senior Packard line where it remained until Packard transferred manufacturing to South Bend in 1956. The 1954 Cavalier featured "slash" trim on the rear doors. It used the same 127in (3,226mm) wheelbase as the premium level Patrician series, but with the straight-eight engine as in the Clipper. This 327cuin (5.4L) I8 with a four-barrel Carter carburetor was rated at 185hp (138kW; 188PS).[6]
For the 1955 model year, the Cavalier name was retired and the line was absorbed into the Packard Clipper Custom series.
Sources
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Packard 300.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Flory, J. "Kelly" Jr. (2008). American Cars, 1946 to 1959; Every Model, Year by Year. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN978-0-7864-3229-5.
1 2 Gunnell, John, ed. (1987). The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975. Kraus Publications. ISBN0-87341-096-3.
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