Henney Packard questions

I've got a '53 Henney, I know a little about them. What do you want to know? Ask here, as there are other folks who know a lot about them, too.
 
Brady Smith has a 1954 Senior Henney-Packard Landaulet and George Hamlin is a Packard expert while Tom McPherson wrote the book on Henney and its products. Any one of the three would be able and probably willing to render any assistance required.
 
What Im looking for at the moment is 1 are there any tricks to opening the hood or is the one on mine just that stuck? 2 where would any data plates be besides the one one the driver side door pillar? 3 what do the different numbers mean on the Packard plate because thats the only one I have found so far. The only numbers on my plate are 5413 and a big space 2053 those two sets of numbers are in the vehicle number space.
 

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Interesting-looking vehicle. Congratulations on the purchase. This car, according to McPherson's Henney book, is a Model 5491 and, being a Senior model, is mounted on a Packard Series 5413 commercial chassis. It had a suggested retail price when new of $7,325 and would have been one of 205 Senior professional cars built by The Henney Motor Company in 1954 - their last year of production. The car deserves to be properly restored and would be a welcome and most apprecaited sight at a PCS meet. There are people that would be more than happy to help you in getting this car restored and back to "as new" condition. Please keep us all informed as to your progress.
 
Interesting-looking vehicle. Congratulations on the purchase. This car, according to McPherson's Henney book, is a Model 5491 and, being a Senior model, is mounted on a Packard Series 5413 commercial chassis. It had a suggested retail price when new of $7,325 and would have been one of 205 Senior professional cars built by The Henney Motor Company in 1954 - their last year of production. The car deserves to be properly restored and would be a welcome and most apprecaited sight at a PCS meet. There are people that would be more than happy to help you in getting this car restored and back to "as new" condition. Please keep us all informed as to your progress.

The plan is to restore it back to 100% original and definitely take it to the pcs events
 
Casey, here is a little info. 5413 is the Packard designation for a 1954 long wheelbase commercial chassis vehicle. ( the smaller Clipper-based commercial was a 5433. ) The specific number designation for a long combo was 5491, so maybe that number will pop up someplace. I don't know about the other number on the plate, 2053, but would guess is has to do with the build sequence, so maybe it is the 53rd such chassis? Starting in 1924, Packard used a series, rather than a model yr., to identify its cars. The 1953's were the 26th Series, for example. Since no one else was doing this, in 1954 Packard simply used the model year, and called those cars the 54th Series. I don't know where the Henney data plates are located. To open the hood, reach under the top grill section, where a long release handle is located. Pull it to the left and lift. Been awhile, but I think that is correct. There is no inside release.

The engine is the one-year-only 359 cid, so many internal parts are excusive to that motor, which is also in the Patrician, Pacific, and the 2 convertible models, and the long Henney-built sedans and limos. The chassis is a Henney, not a Packard, product and will also have components different from those on Packard-built cars.

Others on here can tell you lots more, but I hope this helps at least a bit. Looks as tho you have quite a project there. Good luck with it.
 
Ill have to check again for a handle to get the hood open, all I was able to find was a little lever but it diddnt do much! Ill have to check the 5491 and see what I can come up with.
 
Contact Brady Smith in Flint, Michigan. As I said, he's got a beautiful 1954 Henney-Packard landaulet that has been undergoing a complete restoration and is, I understand, nearing completion. He would be able to give advice, direction and assistance and he's a really great guy. He owns the Plumb-Smith Funeral Home in Flint.
 
Contact Brady Smith in Flint, Michigan. As I said, he's got a beautiful 1954 Henney-Packard landaulet that has been undergoing a complete restoration and is, I understand, nearing completion. He would be able to give advice, direction and assistance and he's a really great guy. He owns the Plumb-Smith Funeral Home in Flint.
Will do. thanks!
 
Nice Car with Great Potential!

This was the 53rd Senior Car built by The Henney Motor Co. in the 1954 model year out of a total of 205 sold. (They actually manufactured 230 but destroyed 25 that hadn't sold when they closed up.) Get us a photo of the Henney Build Plate and we can tell you more.
 
This was the 53rd Senior Car built by The Henney Motor Co. in the 1954 model year out of a total of 205 sold. (They actually manufactured 230 but destroyed 25 that hadn't sold when they closed up.)
Cool! I was just going to try and find you! Its funny you popped up at the rite time! Do you know the best place for finding pics or anything useful for these cars? Its pretty much a 100% car which is nice.
 
This was the 53rd Senior Car built by The Henney Motor Co. in the 1954 model year out of a total of 205 sold. (They actually manufactured 230 but destroyed 25 that hadn't sold when they closed up.) Get us a photo of the Henney Build Plate and we can tell you more.

Where would the Henney build plate be located?
 
The dismantled '54 Henneys ( the big Kimes Packard history with the commercial cars chapter written by Geo. Hamlin says there were 30 of them ) were chassis that had not yet received bodies. The owner, Mr. Feldman, was in the process of shutting the place down and elected to dismatle these chassis rather than complete the cars. He wanted to send the assembled chassis to Packard, but Packard insisted that the chassis be taken apart and the Packard parts sent back to Detroit, which took a lot of time and effort to do. Unlike Cad, which supplied the coachbuilders with a complete running chassis, Packard sent Henney a "kit" of parts and Henney assembled the chassis as well as the bodies at Freeport. It was a really sad end to what had been a great company. Two years later, Packard itself would expire under similar circumstances.
 
An excellent source for information and photographs of this as well as all Henney products is McPherson's book - The Henney Motor Company: The Complete History. It is available at a special price through the PCS at Amazon.com. This book has all the Henney models and prices listed as well as the different Model numbers and production statistics. Almost everything you would ever want to know about the cars and the company.
I was looking at that earlier debating buying it or not! I guess I will buy it.
 
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