Through
the Great Depression and World War II, even as the economy suffered and the
bulk of Americans were struggling to make ends meet, the luxury car
manufacturer Packard was seeing strong sales and even growth.
As
an independent company, Packard had some glowing disadvantages to some of its
competition of the time. Cadillac had the rest of GM behind it to prop it up
and absorb any potential losses. The same held true with Lincoln with Ford. But
where Packard didn’t have a huge company to hide behind, they were also more
streamlined and able to adapt and use a single line with interchangeable parts
to maintain quality and keep overhead costs down. Packard was also able to
adapt rapidly and did so during the Depression, keeping up the high end cars
but also introducing some quality cars geared toward the dwindling middle
class.
Like
most American manufacturing, Packard turned their assembly lines toward the war
effort during the 1940s, making engines for the famous P51 Mustang fighter as
well as powerful V 12s for P.T. boats.
After
the war Packard was in good financial shape. But that was to change. While many
of the smaller independent companies saw the writing on the wall and started
merging to solidify manufacturing and marketing strategies (see AMC and
Kaiser-Willys), Packard continued to battle the Big Three from Detroit on their
own. Though Packard had been courted by AMC to join up with them they did
little more than supply engines and transmissions to them.
It
wasn’t until the early 1950s when they saw the real handwriting on the wall and
purchased another noble, reliable manufacturer, Studebaker. Though Packard was
a smaller company than Studebaker, they were on more sound financial footing.
What Packard didn’t realize at the time was just how bad Studebaker’s position
really was.
The
cost of absorbing and propping up Studebaker, a line more geared toward the
masses, put a dent in Packard’s armor and caused them to lose footing in the
luxury market. By 1959 the Packard name was all but abolished. Studebaker
itself didn’t make it more than halfway through the 1960s and as it closed, so
closed an important chapter in American automotive history.
For
regular readers of this blog you will realize that I’ve covered numerous
Packards. A beautiful 1946 Super Custom Clipper Henney was featured here http://turnerbudds-carblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/it-drives-like-ocean-liner.html.
Also, I’ve written about my friend Dale Schultz and his 1949 Super Eight here http://turnerbudds-carblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/this-is-way-to-do-it.html.
Here
are some more Packard pictures (yes, some of Dale’s beauty) to remind you of
the magnificence of this once iconic luxury brand.
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