Hemmings Classic Car – October 2019

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID CONWILL

I

f the 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air represented rock and roll, perhaps in the form of Bill Haley

and the Comets, then the 1955 Packard Four Hundred’s soundtrack was something

more like traditional pop from the likes of the McGuire Sisters or The Four Aces. Both are

classics equally representative of the 1950s, but the Packard and pop represent the adult

Able Aristocrat

Combing luxury, style, and performance, the 1955 Packard

Four Hundred was as contemporary as its competition

side of the equation—the men and women in gray fl annel that

set the overall tone of that decade. That’s not to say, however, that

the Packard gives up anything to “The Hot Ones” from Chevrolet.

The 1955 Packards looked remarkably fresh, especially

considering that their body shells dated back four years already.

Thank Richard Teague for that, as it was his pen that redrew the

28 HEMMINGS CLASSIC CAR OCTOBER 2019 I Hemmings.com