I still wonder if the marketing practices of GM, Ford, and Chrysler would have doomed such an organization.

Not to mention economy of scale.

I'm re-reading the Ward book re Packard's fall.

Was horrible quality REALLY that much of an issue? Or was it all the teething troubles that come with new engineering, building everything at the Conner Ave. plant, etc?

Were most of the '55 issues solved by the time the '56's came out, or was it simply too late for Packard because of all its other issues?

Seems to me that over the last 50+ years the '55-'56 Packards have held up well. As I've stated in other posts, I think the re-design of the '51 body shell looks good even today. And for a brand-new V8/revamped Ultramatic, my perception is that they could have had MUCH larger issues, and did not.

Or are the remaining Packards the ones that DIDN'T suffer from awful build quality?

I think most of your points are well-taken.

Does anyone know whether the Packard Darrin/Clipper were initially designed/engineered to compete with Cadillac and Lincoln in the so-called high-end market?

Despite his detractors, IMHO Jim Nance was attempting to reposition Packard in the high-end market, but simply didn't have enough time or capital.

I'm going to make 2 of my (in-)famous sweeping generalizations... ...

1) The Big 3 SO dominated the American car market by/in the 1950s that NONE of the independents could compete due to economy of scale. Thus, they had to find a particular 'niche' and exploit it to the best of their abilities. Which leads to my next point, that...

2)...IF Packard had avoided the merger with Studebaker and concentrated on the high-end market, they MIGHT have survived. Yes, the 110/115/120 saved them PRIOR to WW2, but times changed and Packard didn't (or the changes that WERE made weren't good. I agree that there should have been more differences between Senior and Junior cars).

As I understand it, PMCC had a fair amount of operational capital as late as 1954. But as we all know, Studebaker's books weren't even examined.

I find a certain irony that the Big 3 NOW are in the same situation Packard was THEN. Times changed, they didn't, and/or any changes they made didn't work well enough.

Well, it IS in a suburb, so there's less of a chance...

I told my wife that since we're limiting ourselves to one gift for each other, THIS was the one I wanted... ...her response was 'I'll distract him, you get in the car and take off...'...

My dad had a '37 sedan when I was a little kid...either a 115 or 120. It never ran...

Well, today I had occasion to drive by the street where the Packard's been parked.

Either he was driving it, or had it in the garage, or someone stole it...

Thanks for posting the wonderful pictures!

I admit I'm a fan of the early iron, especially so-called 'brass era' cars.

I like the no-holds-barred approach some of the engineers/designers of the day had, where they were willing to try anything because no one was quite sure what worked and what didn't!

Are there any pics of it that someone can post?

I know the forum dates are from 1899-1942, but none of the 1899 Packards still exist, do they?

And if not, what IS the oldest Packard out there?