Franklin Mint 1955 Packard Caribbean Convertible- Nbr Ltd Ed of 2500

Aside from the plethora of two-toned paint choices, over and above the sea of single colors that were available, the buyer had five three-toned schemes from which to choose. The Packard buyer for 1955 had many decisions to make if he or she was to make a colorful rolling statement. FM has made two of the five already. The first was the white, rose and gray car and the second, the Pebble Beach version, was issued in the green scale. This is the blue baby. Specifically, the five all started with White Jade. This was the upper body color scheme. The center, or as Packard calls it, middle, section was offered in Jade, Zircon, Fire Opal, Rose Quartz and Rose Quartz. The lower sections were available in Emerald Metallic, Sapphire Metallic, Onyx, Gray Pearl Metallic and Gray Pearl Metalli-Chrome. This is the White Jade/Zircon/Sapphire Metallic scheme.

Equally as lovely as the first and last FM '55 Caribbean issues, it is still good to see one of these large land cruisers released again. It will be interesting to see if the green or the blue version meets with equal collectibility. The green version, as you recall, was the Pebble Beach release and it was made in a limited edition of 3000. This one is scarcer by 500 pieces so it will be fun to watch any speculation.

The model still boasts great detail for its origin. The suspension works well, there is great detil in the engine and interior compartment and the fit of the up-top and boot is excellent. Paint is great and the fit of the panels are all good. The issue price is $135.

-Tony Perrone