interesting the 55 Caribbean video did not mention where the original dual carb setup is at???

this is a STEAL at $300

very nice collection! did these originally come with a windshield?

I'm not buying that 1932 Grille idea, especially when some of the 1934 Packards are universally accepted as being one of the most beautiful cars ever made, now and then

also the post title "What SINGLE factor MOST contributed to the demise of Packard?" has been well proven by some of these great posts to be an unanswerable question, There were SO MANY factors that contributed to the demise of Packard

also, ever looked close at a 1938 Senior Packard? these are some of the most gorgeous cars ever made

the grand merger idea was indeed no myth, only the probability of it actually happening with egos as large as James Nance and George Romney was a myth. Both men would never accept anything less than the number one slot as head of any combined entity. George Mason played James Nance like a fiddle by talking the merger informally to get needed parts from Packard, Nance took the bait hook line and sinker and sold Nash Packard's Ultramatic transmissions and V8 engines, and they were used in 1955 Hudsons and Nashes. When Mason's successor, Romney, gave Nance the cold shoulder on continued merger talks, Nance stiffed AMC and Packard did not reciprocally purchase parts from AMC as promised. AMC then quickly built their own V8 engine and stopped buying parts from Packard. There was no marriage let alone engagement. Just corporate flirting that went really nowhere.

so you found red paint on the undersides of the fenders or when sanding off the black paint on the topsides of the fenders?

normally on a rougher car the door plate paint code stamping is long gone and usually unreadable, you are fortunate

I do also agree that the "grand merger plan" was a myth cooked up posthumously by Nance to explain some of the failings of the Studebaker Merger that should have never happened. Mason also used merger plan "conversations" to get more parts out of Nance and Packard like engines AMC vitally needed until they could produce their own. The #2 AMC guy George Romney (Mitt's daddy) was NEVER behind ANY merger plan and said this also was just a ploy by Mason to buy more needed parts from Packard. Romney and Nance hated each other from their first meeting which ended any possible chance of any merger. They both wanted to be King and there was only room for ONE King. Nance reemerged for interviews back in the 1970's and 1980's to save his legacy, which in turn was very effective. Nance was shrewd and intelligent and he wanted his legacy to be safe and protected.

it's hard to give just one. If I had to give JUST one I would say that Harley Earl's 1938 introduction of the Cadillac 60 Special was the main reason for Packard's demise. They brought out this beauty when Packard was selling their 115's/Six's, This was "subliminal murder" to Packard's reputation. Even a sixteen year old kid knew who the new luxury leader was now ....and it was now Cadillac.

In my opinion the ten main final nail-in-the-coffin demise factors (primarily postwar mistakes/circumstances) were:

1) Packard should have had a V8 ready to roll by 1952 or even earlier, Packard was always the engineering leader, not follower, the 1951 Chrysler Hemi was a marvelous achievement and Packard should have done a similar rollout
2) Packard should have had Henney build hearses and ambulances for the 1946-47 model lines. People want to live in the cars that you die in. Funeral cars are subliminal great advertising. Cadillac had them, Packard also should have in 46-47.
3) Styling- Starting in 1940 the senior and Junior Packard's looked too much alike. Nance realized this and took steps to try to remedy this when he assumed command. The 48's through 1950 models were very well built but not very good looking in the eyes of the hungry to buy postwar consumer, All Eight through Custom Eight models looked very similar to each other also. They still sold well due to the car buying public was still hungry for new cars and Packard had the cars to sell, they should have done a mild facelift to the 41 through 47 Clipper design and skipped the bathtub and invested in tooling a new V8 instead, I remember talking with folks years ago who saw the new 48 Packard's arrive and were not too pleased with their looks, many of them bought Buick's, Cadillacs and Hudson's instead, the strong influence of GM's Styling Master Harley Earl strikes again!
4) Bringing out the 1951 Convertibles and Mayfairs on the 122" junior wheelbase and planning them as "junior" models was downright stupid, only a turdblossom could have come up with an idea this stupid.
5) The loss of valued defense contracts, thus losing key revenue
6) The loss of Briggs as a body supplier and the subsequent error of using the Conner plant for body production
7) Design and production flaws in the 1955's, these cars were "rushed" to production and this error was probably the final hard nail in Packard's coffin
8) The Studebaker acquisition was monumentally stupid, hiring outside firms to audit Studebaker's books instead of their own folks was basically malpractice
9) The 120 was a great idea and a great car, the needed car at the needed time that helped save Packard. However the 110 and six was too drastic of a low priced offering that really hurt Packard's image
10) Cadillac made some wise choices a) their 1938 and onward 60 Special was a styling home run! b) The V-16 sounded more impressive on paper and in conversation than V-12 c) They offered an automatic transmission earlier

Post Mortem: The more I read I believe that Nance tried very hard to save Packard and rebuild their prestige, Reintroducing 7 Passenger models, introducing the glamorous Caribbean, and building some key showcars for the auto show circuit were great steps at trying to rebuild their image. He did make some mistakes and suffered from bad timing on events also. They should have hired someone as energetic as Nance in 1946 though. Christopher and Ferry were asleep at the wheel. They needed a visionary in 1946 and did not have one. The early 50's Ford and Chevy pricing wars are always mentioned as big factors. I don't agree. These brands were not in competition with Packard anyway.

A lot of folks take offense in these posts where they think people are slamming the 120's, 110's, 1951's, 1955's , 1948 - 50's, etc.. Most of these were GREAT cars, a lot of companies in history made GREAT products and still went broke! Your 110 is a great car! Your bathtub is a great car! this is not personal, it's just business, Packard business.... and it's just opinions, and many good ones at that!

I do agree on the line from the ad "Outrageous deal on this sleek 1948 Packard Von Rudolph Roadster Convertible", they would be doing good to get even half of their asking price, When you hear the word prototype you think "factory built", this was a custom chopped car non-factory made car in all probability and not too good looking at that. Packard would have published photos of this if this was a "true factory" prototype. Red 356 engine? 1950's Motor wire wheels? I'd rather have a real 22nd series Custom Eight convertible any day of the week over this creation