1956 Patrician 5682 Sedan

Car information

Body/Engine # 5682 3692, Colour Maltese Grey , Club Permit Plate # 34156H

We bought this car sight unseen in 2007 (apart from a lot of photo’s) from the late Dick Benjamin of Southern California. The car hadn’t been advertised for sale but when I mentioned to Dick that I was looking for a ’56 he offered me the Patrician. Together we organised the shipping and after about 3 months the car arrived in Melbourne. Dick made sure I had no false illusions about the condition of the car by supplying a lot of commentary to go with the photo’s. I knew not to expect a car in pristine condition but one in which everything worked and was mechanically sound.

Unfortunately, the interior trim wasn’t in great shape and it was the wrong colour. I later found out that some years previously Dick had decided to transfer better seats and trim from another Patrician. Turns out he was colour-blind and didn’t realise his mistake until his wife pointed it out later. Fortunately, my son-in-law has a motor trimming business and together we re-trimmed the car in period correct fabric and leather and it now looks and feels great.

When Dick bought the car in 1987 the odometer showed 101K miles. He rebuilt the engine, transmission and radiator, and replaced the troublesome V8 oil pump with an improved modified one without the vacuum pump. This necessitated replacing the vacuum wiper motor with electric one out of a 1956 Chevy. Interestingly, when he measured-up the engine (he gave me the measurements), the bores and pistons were still within factory spec and so the bore was honed and new rings and bearings fitted. The car proved extremely reliable and was driven in a lot of car events in USA. It also participated in the funeral procession of Dick Teague, the Packard Exec responsible for the design of the ‘56’s. Dick B ran a Packard repair/service business and serviced Dick T’s ’56 and they became very good friends over the years.

When we acquired the car the odo was showing 142K miles and it’s now showing 180K miles, so we’ve done 38K miles of mostly trouble free motoring over 13 years. The engine and transmission haven’t given any trouble over this time and mostly all I’ve had to do is regular servicing and fluid maintenance. I’ve also fitted a distributor Pertronix kit, converted the air con over to a more modern system with a Sanden compressor, and fitted an alternator. I’ve fitted a condenser fan to the radiator, which was rebuilt with a modern core, plus fitted a 7 bladed flexi-fan. The headlights now have halogen globes and been rewired with relays to reduce voltage drop.

Overall, the car is extremely comfortable to drive, handles well with the torsion bar suspension and is great for long distance cruising. It’s not bad on fuel consumption either when cruising at a relaxed speed on the highways.