- Pictures taken by me unless noted otherwise

The Packard story - with pictures

A bit about Packard

Packard have faded into history now, but once they made some of the best and most beautiful cars IN THE WORLD.

Their advertising slogan was "Ask the man who owns one"

Packard was founded by James Ward Packard, his brother William Doud Packard and George Lewis Weiss on November 6, 1899

They were first located in Warren, Ohio, taking until 1903 to produce their first 400 cars.

Below is a picture of William Doud Packard driving a single-cylinder Model A Packard in 1900. Only five model A’s were produced.

Image from "The Old Motor"

Image from "The Old Motor"

1903 Values Compared

At this time the Black Motor Company's Black went as low as $375, Western Tool Works' Gale Model A roadster was $500, the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout went for $650, and the Cole 30 and Cole Runabout were US$1,500, Packard concentrated on cars with prices starting at $2,600.

The marque developed a following among wealthy purchasers both in the United States and abroad, competing with European marques like Rolls-Royce and Mercedes Benz.

The video below shows a stunning 1910 Landau, and also gives an insight into pre-1912 motoring, prior to the invention of the electric starter motor!

Many Packard vehicles featured innovations, including the modern steering wheel and, years later, the first production 12-cylinder engine, adapted from developing the Liberty L-12, and air-conditioning in a passenger car. Packard produced its "Twin Six" model series of 12-cylinder cars from 1915 to 1923.

1915 Packard "Twin Six" Town car. Image from Flickr.

1915 Packard "Twin Six" Town car. Image from Flickr.

The 1920's

By 1920 Packard had hit their stride, and were starting to create really beautiful cars.

In the 1920s, Packard exported more cars than any other in its price class.

The late 20's were the years that firmly established Packard as a manufacturer of excellence, with models such as the below being produced..

1928 Packard 640 Super 8

and this 1928 4333 Limousine

Between 1924 and 1930, Packard was the top-selling luxury brand.

The 1930's

But the 1930's were really where Packard shined, building cars such as this 1930 model 740.

And because so nice.. here's another!

From this beginning, through and beyond the 1930s, Packard-built vehicles were perceived as highly competitive among high-priced luxury American automobiles.

The company was commonly referred to as being one of the "Three Ps" of American motordom royalty, along with Pierce-Arrow of Buffalo, New York, and Peerless of Cleveland, Ohio.

For most of its history, Packard was guided by its President and General Manager James Alvan Macauley, who also served as President of the National Automobile Manufacturers Association. Inducted into the Automobile Hall of Fame, Macauley made Packard the number one designer and producer of luxury automobiles in the United States. The marque was also highly competitive abroad, with markets in 61 countries. Gross income for the company was $21,889,000 in 1928. Macauley was also responsible for the iconic Packard slogan, "Ask the Man Who Owns One".

In 1930 Packard sold almost twice as many abroad as any other marque priced over $2000.

In 1931, 10 Packards were owned by Japan's royal family.

Some say that Packards were so advanced by the 1930's, and so thoughtfully designed so as not to be able to tow a caravan, but that can't be right?

1933 Packard Custom 8

1933 Packard Custom 8

The decade just got better and better... This is a 1935 12th Series Senior.

A 1936 120B Tourer - a piece of art of wheels.

At the the of the 1930's Packard was still the premier luxury automobile, even though the majority of cars being built were the 120 and Super Eight model ranges. Hoping to catch still more of the market, Packard released the Packard 115C in 1937, which was powered by Packard's first six-cylinder engine since the Fifth Series cars in 1928. The decision to introduce the "Packard Six", priced at around $1200, was perfectly in time for the 1938 recession.

Unfortunately, this model also tagged Packards as something less exclusive than they had been in the public's mind and in the long-run hurt Packard's reputation of building some of America's finest luxury cars.

In 1939, Packard introduced Econo-Drive, a kind of overdrive, claimed able to reduce engine speed 27.8%; it could be engaged at any speed over 30 mph (48 km/h).

The same year, the company introduced a fifth, transverse shock absorber and made column shift (known as Handishift) available on the 120 and Six.

The 1940's

Packard started the 1940's with stunning cars like this model 110 Convertible, which was based on the earlier Six.

In 1942, the Packard Motor Car Company converted to 100% war production, and again built airplane engines, licensing the Merlin engine from Rolls-Royce as the V-1650, which powered the famous P-51 Mustang fighter, ironically known as the "Cadillac of the Skies" by GIs in WWII.

Packard also built 1350-, 1400-, and 1500-hp V-12 marine engines for American PT boats (each boat used three) and some of Britain's patrol boats. Packard ranked 18th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.

By the end of World War II, Packard was in excellent financial condition, but several management mistakes became ever more visible as time went on. Like other U.S. auto companies, Packard resumed civilian car production in late 1945, labelling them as 1946 models by modestly updating their 1942 models.

As only tooling for the Clipper was at hand, production of the Senior-series cars was not resumed. One version of the story is that the Senior dies were left out in the elements to rust and were no longer usable. Another long-rumored tale is that Roosevelt gave Stalin the dies to the Senior series, but in reality the ZiS-110 state limousines were a separate design.

Although the postwar Packards sold well, the ability to distinguish expensive models from lower-priced models disappeared as all Packards, whether sixes or eights, became virtually alike in styling. Further, amid a booming seller's market, management had decided to direct the company more to volume middle-class models, thus concentrating on selling lower-priced cars instead of more expensive—and more profitable—models. Worse, they also tried to enter the taxi cab and fleet car market. The idea was to gain volume for the years ahead, but that target was missed: Packard simply was not big enough to offer a real challenge to the Big Three, and lacked the deep pockets with which a parent company could shelter them, as well as the model lineup through which to spread the pricing.

As a result, Packard's image as a luxury brand was further eroded. As Packard lost buyers of expensive cars, it could not find enough customers for the lesser models to compensate. The shortage of raw materials immediately after the war—which was felt by all manufacturers—hurt Packard more with its volume business than it would have had it had focused on the specialty luxury car market.

The 1950's

Although the perception (and quality) of Packard had been diminished, they built some beautiful cars in the 1950's..

This is a 1950 Custom Victoria Convertible.

This is a 1953 2679 Convertible.

Here's a 1954 5479 Convertible.

Packard bought Studebaker in 1953 and formed the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana.

And here is a 1951 Packard 250.

In 1953–54, Ford and GM waged a brutal sales war, cutting prices and forcing cars on dealers. While this had little effect on either company, it gravely damaged the independent automakers. Nash president George W. Mason thus proposed that the four major independents (Nash, Hudson, Packard, and Studebaker) all merge into one large outfit to be named American Motors Corporation (AMC). Mason held informal discussions with Nance to outline his strategic vision, and an agreement was reached for AMC to buy Packard's Ultramatic transmissions and V8 engines. They were used in 1955 model Hudsons and Nashes.

One of my favourites, a 1955 400.

In 1957, no more Packards were built in Detroit and the Clipper disappeared as a separate brand name. Instead, a Studebaker President–based car bearing the Packard Clipper nameplate appeared on the market, but sales were slow. Available in just two body styles, Town Sedan (four-door sedan) and Country Sedan (four-door station wagon), they were powered by Studebaker's 289 cu in (4.7 l) V8 with a McCulloch supercharger, delivering the same 275 hp (205 kW) as the 1956 Clipper Custom, although at higher revolutions. Borrowing design cues from the 1956 Clipper (visual in the grille and dash), with wheel covers, tail lamps, and dials from 1956 along with the Packard cormorant hood mascot and trunk chrome trim from 1955 senior Packards, the 1957 Packard Clipper was more than a badge-engineered Studebaker—but also far from a Patrician. Had the company been able to invest more money to finish the transformation and position the car under a senior line of "true Packards", it might have been a successful Clipper. However, standing alone the cars sold in very limited numbers—and a number of Packard dealers dropped their franchises while customers stayed away, despite huge price discounts, fearful of buying a car that could soon be an orphaned make. With the market flooded by inexpensive cars, minor automakers struggled to sell vehicles at loss leader prices to keep up with Ford and GM. Also, a general decline in demand for large cars heralded an industry switch to compact cars such as the Studebaker Lark.

One unusual prototype, the Studebaker-Packard Astral, was made in 1957 and first unveiled at the South Bend Art Centre on January 12, 1958, and then at the March 1958 Geneva Motor Show. It had a single gyroscopic balanced wheel and the publicity data suggested it could be nuclear powered or have what the designers described as an ionic engine. No working prototype was ever made, nor was it likely that one was ever intended.

Packard's last major development was the Bill Allison–invented Torsion-Level suspension, an electronically controlled four-wheel torsion-bar suspension that balanced the car's height front to rear and side to side, having electric motors to compensate each spring independently. Contemporary American competitors had serious difficulties with this suspension concept, trying to accomplish the same with air-bag springs before dropping the idea.

Predictably, many Packard devotees were disappointed by the marque's perceived further loss of exclusivity and what they perceived as a reduction in quality. They joined competitors and media critics in christening the new models as "Packardbakers". The 1958 models were launched with no series name, simply as "Packard". New body styles were introduced, a two-door hardtop joined the four-door sedan. A new premier model appeared with a sporting profile: the Packard Hawk was based on the Studebaker Golden Hawk and featured a new nose and a fake spare wheel molded in the trunk lid reminiscent of the concurrent Imperial. The 1958 Packards were amongst the first in the industry to be "facelifted" with plastic parts. The housing for the new dual headlights and the complete fins were fiberglass parts grafted on Studebaker bodies. Very little chrome was on the lower front clip. Designer Duncan McRae managed to include the 1956 Clipper tail lights for one last time, this time in a fin, and under a canted fin, a wild—or to some bizarre—mixture. Added to the front of all but the Hawk were tacked on pods for dual headlights, in a desperate attempt to keep up with late-1950s styling cues. All Packards were given 14 in (36 cm) wheels to lower the profile. The public reaction was predictable and sales were almost nonexistent. The Studebaker factory was older than Packard's Detroit plant, with higher production requirements, which added to dipping sales. A new compact car on which the company staked its survival, the Lark, was a year away, and failed to sell in sufficient numbers to keep the marque afloat. Several makes were discontinued around this time: Packard, Edsel, Hudson, Nash, DeSoto, and Kaiser. Not since the 1930s had so many makes disappeared, and it wouldn't be until the automotive industry crisis of 2008–10 that so many makes would be dropped at the same time again.

Studebaker-Packard pulled the Packard nameplate from the marketplace in 1959. It kept its name until 1962 when "Packard" was dropped off the corporation's name at a time when it was introducing the all new Avanti, and a less anachronistic image was being sought, thus finishing the story of the great American Packard marque. Ironically, it was considered that the Packard name might be used for the new fiberglass sports car, as well as Pierce-Arrow, the make Studebaker controlled in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

In the late 1950s, Studebaker-Packard was approached by enthusiasts to rebadge the French car maker Facel-Vega's Excellence four-door hardtop as a Packard for sale in North America, using stock Packard V8s and identifying trim including red hexagonal wheel covers, cormorant hood ornament, and classic vertical ox-yoke grille. The proposition was rejected when Daimler-Benz threatened to pull out of its 1957 marketing and distribution agreement, which would have cost Studebaker-Packard more in revenue than they could have made from the badge-engineered Packard. Daimler-Benz had little of its own dealer network at the time and used this agreement to enter and become more established in the American market through SPC's dealer network, and felt this car was a threat to their models.

Aborted revival

In the late 1990s, Roy Gullickson revived the Packard nameplate by buying the trademark and developing a Packard Twelve for the 1999 model year. His goal was annual production of 2,000 cars, but lack of investment funds stalled that plan indefinitely. The only prototype Twelve made was sold at an auto auction in Plymouth, MI, in July 2014 for $143,000.

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Comments (8)

  • Good story Dave. Nice comfy old things.

      2 years ago
  • Beautiful cars and a really great automaker up until WW2.

      3 years ago
  • Dedicated to

      3 years ago
    • Excellent history. This is really good.

      And a bit sad. But I knew it would have to be.

        3 years ago
  • Hi Dave, I am looking for more information on the two tone green Packard with South Australian Rego WRV 004 featured in your story

    My Major interest is the colours

    Do you have any contact with the owner I would realy appreciate information and if possible paint codes

      1 year ago
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