while the woodgraining was standard, I believe the optional "color interior" with the two tone seats and coordinating color plastic trim could be had with painted garnish moldings - not sure on dash finish with this. Not certain and there are some very knowledgeable 41 owners in this discussion, so I'd ask 'what about the "color interior option"? some place I've got the trim options list.

And Dave if all this has discouraged you I can give the car a happy home.

stop filling in those Chrysler C-pillars

the light roof is a very nice part of Exner's Forward look. Some Reynolds wrap, perhaps?

I agree on the suspension - I think you have to just go with Lincoln's.
The overall Predictor-based look risks looking a bit 59 Edsel

The Chrysler Torsion bars and Packard ones worked completely differently. Your discussion relates to the Chrysler design where they suspend one end of the car. Packard's longitudinal bars were what allowed the leveling since they connected the front and rear.

If sharing with Lincoln, wouldn't it seem logical that something based on the Predictor would see the light of day?

good point in the engineering work to mount the torsion bar suspension to the huge Lincoln monocoque.

my point on scale is that Lincoln calculates the unit cost of running the factory based on the Lincoln volume only. They charge Packard at that rate, The overhead absorbtion is Lincoln's gain.

also a good point in smoothing the sides would require stamping dies for fenders and door skins, limiting the savings, Hmm, sounds like the Clipper-bathtub and 55 facelift.

your rendering makes a much better looking car than the grotesque 58 Lincoln. The plan using the '57 Lincoln seems easier to do even though it would be an older platform. 25% seems too high a differential and really all that Ford would need to do is keep the economy of scale for Lincoln as their advantage.

I like using Torsion Ride as a differentiator. When Ford bought Jaguar, they used head and suspension design to differ the S-type from the Lincoln

have a list of Packard needs - the Dayton "dealership" has a parts department. I've found the conversations with the folks in Dayton add to the visit.

Well put.
The analogy to GM divisions is breaking down because the positioning of the GM division became increasingly overlapping and blurred as time went on. For 1938, here's a stab at where the Packard products might compete:

Six vs Pontiac/Oldsmobile
Eight (120) vs Buick/LaSalle
Super Eight vs Biggest Buicks/Cadillac 62, 60S
Twelve vs Cadillac 75, V16

The GM makes still have some shared styling cues at this point - they all look similar for 1938 except for Chevy.

I'd say before you judge the price , be clear on whether this is to do an authentic interior, a period interior, or something else

I had talked to the (maybe previous?) owner when the car was for sale locally in Rockford, MI - he had little idea what it was, didn't know difference 110-120-160-180. I suspect this owner is perhaps flipping it and it appears doing well on it. Still, no need to rod it.