Never heard of this car. What does it look like?

[Jeff Gordon]

Anybody know what kind of car this is? I've never seen it before, or even heard of it.



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1995,97,98 Winston Cup Champion, 1997 Million Dollar Winner!

[Steveo]

Here it is.



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The Artist formally known as Ahkmid Lickachicken.
http://psxi.tripod.com

[unite@af]

Jeff,
I would think that a man of your stature would know about the Packard... Kinda funny that you dont if you ask me... I would think anyone that gets paid like you would know about cars in general... anyways...

[enzo@af]

Ever hear of Air conditioning? The '31 Packard was the first car to offer this option.

Thanks Chris V, wherever you are.

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"Ferrari isn't a car, it's a lifestyle"
-Enzo Ferrari.

[Lizard King]

There were more than one Packard. They were around up until the 50s, I can't remember when they died. But they made perhaps the best cars in the world at their peak in the 20s and 30s.

[Seb928S@af]

That reminds me we should get Chris V on AF his knows a lot of stuff about cars.

[i_rebel]

would be nice to see what the Packard looks like . . .

[Adam]

isn't there a modren packard concept?

[Lizard King]

Here are some Packards:

http://www.cars-on-line.com/25packard2660.html

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/selec....asp?id=164714

[PACwebmaster]

Packards were produced from 1899 (started in Warren, Ohio) through a partnership between J. W. Packard, W. D. Packard and G. L. Weiss. In 1903, Packard moved to Detroit, MI and produced motorized vehicles there through 1956, the last year for Packard production. Studebaker/Packard produced the Packard marque in 1957 and 1958, the last year for Packards.

The Packard Motor Car Company manufactured one of the greatest marques in world history; on land, in the air, or on the sea: Automotive, Truck, Commercial, Aeronautical, & Nautical. Today, The Packard Club promotes the famous marque. To learn more about Packards and see what models were produced 1899 - 1958, check out The Packard Club website.

[Porsche]

Somebody should get Chris V. On here. I've see him at CF and he is Cars!. The guy is never wrong and knows next to everything about cars.

[Hudson]

That's a decent outline of Packard history...quick and to the point.

As for the "modern Packard," there have been a few attempts to relaunch the brand. The most recent was a gentleman in Arizona who bought the automotive rights to the name and proposed a new car. He had a prototype built, but was more interested in licensing the name. The car was put on ebay to be auctioned off. He wanted a million dollars...but top bid was closer to $260k.

[vectorclub]

The Packard name should be left alone. No car built today would be fitting of the great Packards of the 20's and 30's. It is a great part of history and should be left there. If you ever want to see some rare packards swing by the Blackhawk Automotive Museum in Danville, California. visit www.blackhawkautos.org for more in on the museum.

[delamothe]

Packard was the quintessential automotive manufacturer for the first half of the twentieth century. They were one of the first car companies to focus on customer satisfaction, which is why Packard enjoyed a 90% loyalty from their customers. That is, whenever a Packard owner would trade or sell their car, chances were they would buy another Packard. There are many documented tales of Packards running in generations of families here and abroad.

This obsession with customer satisfaction is what started Packard in the first place. Mr. Packard had bought one of the first high end cars in the States, the Wynton. The only problem was that he would suffer a breakdown at least once every couple of weeks. So he would go to the Wynton factory (back then you could do that) to have the car repaired. One day he was fed up and talked with the owner, Alexander Wynton. He complained about the car's reliability and how some improvements could be made. Wynton got hot under the collar and told him; "If you think you can make a better car, then build it yourself!" And that's how Packard began around 1899.

Most Packard dealerships were outfitted with two sets of garages. One that had its regualr mechanics on duty, and the other was catered for customer / owners (more than likely the chaffeur) who were proficient at fixing things. You could drive into any Packard dealership in the USA in your Packard and fix something in it yourself. They even provided the tools for you, all you had to do was buy the parts.

Around the early 1910's, someone promoted the Packard as a high quality car, and said; "Just ask the man who owns one!" This became the catch phrase or slogan for Packard all the way to the last day.

The last Packard to roll out of the plant was in 1958. By then , it was just a Studebaker Hawk with funny looking add ons here and there. Studebaker bought Packard (and Pierce Arrow) during the depression, and they did a fine job of leaving the company alone (yet floating their boat). But after the war, the economy changed, and so did the philosophy of mass production. Even though Packard introduced the 120 in the thirties as an entry level car - and one to save the bottom line when money was tight - they had a very strict discipline on building and testing cars. One which was no longer cost effective after WWII.

By the mid 1950's the name of the game was volume mass production. Not hand crafting. This killed the Packard ideal.

There is an important lesson to be learned from all of this. The lesson is about arrogance getting the better of a business.
Pierce Arrow and Packard were too arrogant and proud to build an introductory car ( one that is more affordable for most)
and it hurt them in the end. (Pierce Arrow was divested by Studebaker in the mid 30's)
Studebaker had the arrogance of thinking that since they were the oldest manufacturer of vehicles in the US (They started by building the famous covered wagons in the 1840's) they knew how to do things.

[tigermiata]

I just finished reading a history of Packard I rceived as a Christmas gift. I particularly found it interesting as my grandfather drove this marque, including 1950, 1956 and 1958 models (I remember him driving the last two), all 2-doors.

One thing I found fascinating in the book was the contention that Nance intended to attempt a second merger, blending Studebaker-Packard into the fledgeling American Motors (Nash & Hudson); that would have indeed given us a Big Four instead of a Big three -- today the US car industry might look dramatically different had that happened.

What used to be the local Packard dealer around here is now a laundromat.:o