Sometime in the late '70s, the Bayliff Coach Company began building Packards based on GM models, but with highly customized bodies. These stylish cars' feature point was their front-end, which resembled that of a 1941 Packard. While we have never seen one in person, from what we have seen in photos, they are very nice.
What we didn't know was that there were still a few being built as late as 1987. Two were Professional Cars, based on a 1985 Riviera chassis, commissioned by John Long of Long and Folk Funeral Home, With Chapels in St. Marys and Wapackoneta, OH. Long felt the Cadillacs available in the late '80s didn't have enough room for combo purposes, so he commissioned these two coaches. The wheelbase was stretched to 160" from the Riviera's 114". Rear interior pieces were obtained from early '70s Superior Cads, as were the back doors. The rear side doors are the Buick's, while the front doors are from the bustle-back Cadillac Seville sedan. The mechanics are stock Riviera and the car shown here is still titled as an '85 Riviera.
Since Bayliff was doing Packard conversions of GM cars, it was decided to do the coaches as Packards also. The front end was designed to look like a '41 Packard. The Long and Folk Funeral Home was recently bought by a chain outfit, and was told to reduce the fleet so one of the cars was put up for sale - the other was still in use until recently when it was sold. These photos and historical data were sent to us by the current owner of this fine car.
When studied closely, the details of its heritage become obvious. The tail lights are from a Cadillac Eldorado, with the Cadillac emblem hidden by a red hex. Similarly, the Buick emblems on the wheel covers are hidden by Packard's traditional red hex. The upper structure is all steel, while some fiberglass is used below, though much less than one would expect. It has a Federal Interceptor siren and 4-bulb roof beacon. And, despite the size and weight, it comes with a small "doughnut" spare!
Bayliff apparently did a few other Professional Cars, including two Cadillac hearses that wore the Miller-Meteor name plates. Those were also front-drive, built on the Eldorado chassis. Other Bayliff Packards in the mid '70s were based on the Buick Electra, with a similar front end treatment as the one shown here.
Some Packard purists sneer at the Bayliffs, but this car is very much in the Henney-Packard mold. Bayliff supposedly owned the rights to the "Packard" name when he was doing these cars so there is some ground for calling them Packards.
Several years ago, another new Packard was announced by a different company and a prototype built, featuring a custom tubular chassis and aluminum body with a V12 engine. The prototype was a gorgeous car with styling something like a modern version of the '48 to '50 Packards! Sadly, financing could not be obtained so the car was still-born.
