1953 Packard Balboa-X

P.M.C. Co. designer Richard Teague's' "Balboa-X" show car, built on 1953 Packard Caribbean, twenty-sixth series, model 2631, 8-cylinder, 180-horsepower, 122-inch wheelbase, 6-person convertible (body type #2678), serial number 2631-2006, modification carried out in Packard shops trimmed out by Mitchell-Bentley, note: standard 1953 headlamp trim rings, exterior Packard ivory below belt special maroon for "canopy top," interior basic Caribbean trim in maroon & white leather, with addition of embroidered Packard crest medallions on seat backs, winner of Fawcett publication, Cars Magazine's DSC (Design safety comfort) award for 1953

The 1953 Packard Balboa-X, as it was officially called, was a hardtop based on the Packard Caribbean convertible. The main point of interest on the car was the canopy-style C-pillar. Caribbeans never recieved a hardtop like the Balboa's, but they got a conventional one (covered with Hypalon) in 1956.

Drivetrain of the Balboa-X was stock Caribbean with a 327 c.i. Straight Eight that was distinguished from lesser Clippers Deluxe's engine by hydraulic valve train adjustment, and from the more expensive Patrician 327 by 5 instead of 9 main bearings.