The Packard Patrician is an automobile which was built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, from model years 1951 through the 1956. During its six years in production, the Patrician was built in Packard's Detroit facilities on East Grand Boulevard. The word "patrician" is Latin for a ruling class in Ancient Rome.
1953–1954
For model years 1953 and 1954, the Patrician continued to represent Packard's highest trim level sedans and rode on the 127" chassis. The Patrician also was used for the basis of the custom bodied Henney passenger models, including the 149" wheelbase 8 passenger Packard Executive Sedans and Limousines, the difference being that the latter had a partition window between the front and rear compartments. During these years the Patrician received annual trim changes and improvements associated with model-year change-overs in the 1950s.
The Henney professional cars (hearse, ambulance, flower car, service car) built on the 156" wheelbase commercial chassis generally used Patrician-like trim except for 1954, which used Cavalier-like trim, and was offered in a hardtop bodystyle called the Packard Pacific. Since the professional cars were fully coachbuilt bodies (not conversions) built on Packard's separate commercial chassis, their trim level had little to do with the Patrician except for the general appearance. The Henney Junior, a short-wheelbase hearse or ambulance was built on the standard Cavalier-Patrician chasses (but with stronger, heavy-duty rear suspension) but had the 5-main bearing Cavalier engine rather than the 9-main bearing engine of the Patrician.
For 1953, the Patrician used the same 327-cubic-inch (5,360 cc) 9-main bearing straight eight engine that used for 1951 and 1952 but for the first time added a four barrel carburetor for an increase in power. For 1954, the new 359-cubic-inch (5,880 cc) 9-main bearing, aluminum head 212 hp (158 kW) engine was standard and also featured a 4-brl carburetor. 1954 was the first year to add a start-position to the ignition key - earlier years were started by a switch built into the carburetor which was actuated by depressing the accelerator pedal to the floor.
A general description implies that all Patrician models were fitted out with standard equipment when in fact they could be built to order. If a customer wanted a manual transmission then that is what he or she would be given by the factory.
Source: Wikipedia