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Hemmings Article
#1
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Ozstatman
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Article from Hemmings.

Posted on: 2020/11/23 18:42
Mal
/o[]o\
====

Bowral, Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia
"Out of chaos comes order" - Nietzsche.

1938 Eight Touring Sedan - SOLD

1941 One-Twenty Club Coupe - SOLD

1948 Super Eight Limo, chassis RHD - SOLD

1950 Eight Touring Sedan - SOLD

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Put your Packard in the Packard Vehicle Registry!
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Any questions - PM or email me at ozstatman@gmail.com
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Re: Hemmings Article
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Packard Don
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Interesting article although it mentioned the introduction of the One Ten. It was actually the introduction of the Six that was probably meant as the 110 didn't come out until 1940.

Posted on: 2020/11/23 18:55
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Re: Hemmings Article
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Packard Newbie
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Mal, Don,

I always wince when I read these articles blaming the Sixes/110's for the demise of Packard. There was so much going on pre-war, and the 'Junior' cars really helped shore up Packard's ailing finances. I guess they DID 'water down' the high-end perception of the marquee name, but when I look at things like Mercedes introducing the 'B' class here in North America, (a veritable go-cart) I wonder why that isn't exactly the same tactic?!?!?! I doubt it will portend Mercedes' failure as a company or hurt their market perception as a luxury brand. I admit to being totally biased, owning a Six, but it seems to me that the 120, Six/110 cars might have saved Packard's bacon, rather than being the death knell of their demise. The significant sales dollars they created, provided Packard with some much-needed working capital with which to plot their future as a company. The market for the hand-built Senior cars seemed to be waning and maybe it was the war, or maybe it was the way the company was managed, but it seems patently unfair to blame it on the Sixes/110's. Chris.

Posted on: 2020/11/23 20:40
'If you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right!' Henry Ford.
1939 Packard Six, Model 1700
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Re: Hemmings Article
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John
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Not sure what happened after the war, but it seemed all the independents lost market share after the seller's market through roughly 1949. All the independents were pretty much gone by 1958 or earlier.
Without the additional sales of the 6's and Jr. 8's, I doubt Packard would have survived the 30's. Agreed maybe they should have given them a different name than Packard, much like Cadillac had LaSalle.
Kaiser and Willys cars gone by 1956, Nash and Hudson names gone by 1958, Studebaker was in the red by 1954. Packard saved it for a few more years.
What would have happened with Packard had they stayed independent in 1954. I'm not sure they would have still made it out of the 1950's. At least the money they spent on Studebaker might have allowed them to restyle in 1957. We'll never know....
John

Posted on: 2020/11/23 21:49
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Re: Hemmings Article
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ECAnthony
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There is an article by Ed Ostrowski in "The Packard Cormorant" (3rd quarter 2020, #180), about what might have happened in 1955 if Packard never purchased Studebaker in 1954. Well worth reading.

Posted on: 2020/11/23 23:20
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Re: Hemmings Article
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Packard Don
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Actually, if I remember correctly, Hudson and Nash became part of American Motors.

Posted on: 2020/11/24 2:10
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Re: Hemmings Article
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bkazmer
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The Junior cars didn't ruin Packard, they saved it. All the other independent luxury car makers died in the Depression. Cadillac and Lincoln brought out LaSalle and Zephyr, and received corporate welfare. Imperial survived as a brand, but wasn't much more than a New Yorkerand also had corporate support.I do agree that the name and probably the grille of the Six should have been different.

Posted on: 2020/11/24 6:11
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Re: Hemmings Article
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Ernie Vitucci
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Good Morning...For me, the purchase of Studebaker...which was so poorly investigated that Packard did not realize what poor shape they were in...pretty much sealed the deal!
Otherwise, I think the 57s might well have made the street...and they should have stayed at Grand Avenue...In my business experience using consultants...is a bad idea...they just borrow your watch and then tell you what time it is...just my humble opinion...Ernie in Arizona

Posted on: 2020/11/24 10:37
Caretaker of the 1949-288 Deluxe Touring Sedan
'Miss Prudence' and the 1931 Model A Ford Tudor 'Miss Princess'
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Re: Hemmings Article
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Leeedy
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The first accusations made in court often seem towering in truth until the cross-examinations begin. When these kinds of histories are done, they tend to paint Jim Nance as if he had the power (or lack thereof) to make all things possible-or not. And if it's "or not" then whatever happened was Mr. Nance's fault. Or so it is made to appear. Everything is 20/20 hindsight and sheep-dipping of Jim Nance. This is (or ought to be) sad.

What somebody doesn't seem to know here is that Packard (perhaps you can say Mr. Nance) actually DID remove the Packard name from Clippers. This was done WELL before the Executive made its debut. But guess what happened? There was an uproar of protests from dealers and customers. So? The Packard name was added back on! They even issued a service bulletin to dealers. Yes. Dealers had a hand in this too. THEY wanted the Packard name to stay! So the history here was not cut and dried as it may seem without these facts.

Of course, the magic logic that arises in these histories always assumes that if one does A, therefore B will result. But in the real world-especially in automotive marketing, it just doesn't always work that way. Especially in the USA... and especially in the 1930s through the 1950s. And beyond.

Nobody seems to remember that when the Dino BY Ferrari (not the FIAT Dino-which opens up a whole new aspect to consider-or argue about) first appeared, there were NO Ferrari names on it. It was just Dino BY Ferrari, not a "Ferrari." So how did they get the "Ferrari" names on the Dino in the USA? Same thing.

And why is it that today even historians and the almighty auction companies insist on calling ALL 1958-60 Continentals as "Lincoln Continentals" or "Lincolns" when they certainly weren't? Heck there were even different grilles, different roofs, different wheel covers, different hood ornaments, different badging, rear ends, tail lights, even the gauge clusters were anodized different colors to distinguish "Lincolns" but nahhhh! Let's ignore all that!

And... why did FoMoCo itself take those three years to blur one into the other by 1960?

FInally when these Op-Eds appear bemoaning the snob image of Packard supposedly dilluted by junior cars, why do none of these ever notice that Mercedes makes and sells all kinds of roller skate econo-boxes? A third of the world uses Mercedes for taxicabs and work trucks. But none of this sure hasn't done a thing to dillute snob appeal of Mercedes in the USA. NONE of it. The junior cars were Packard's bread & butter during the depression years and the company would not have survived without them. There are huge lists of independent luxury car marques that tried to survive on snob appeal (even when they deserved it). Why didn't they continue? There was no James Nance to blame for Duesenberg!

As a Packard fan from when they were still making cars and as an old Detroiter, it hurts my eyes and ears to see and hear some of the things said when "histories" that have all the answers say things and name things that just were not happening. By the way, the last Detroit Packard plant was on Conner Avenue, not "Connors" and it was not as small as people who never saw it seem to think. And no matter whose "history" says what, Conner was absolutely, positively NOT a single-story plant. Furthermore, "Grand Avenue" was somewhere else and NOT where the big Packard plant was located- which was East Grand Boulevard. HUGE difference to an old Detroiter even though it may mean nothing to people today.

In the case of Packard and James Nance and Clipper...better go back and look at the REAL record of what James Nance actually did (and tried to do) to separate Packard and Clipper. Take a look at the company magazine for dealers, "Packard News" for 1952 and see what it said and what was being done then. Actually look at when Nance started the process and what happened along the way before claiming he "waited too long." That's certainly just not what happened at all and a terribly mistaken thing to say.

Posted on: 2020/11/24 11:24
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Re: Hemmings Article
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JWL
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The junior Packards saved the company that built the engines that powered the aircraft that won the air war over Europe.

Posted on: 2020/11/24 11:37
We move toward
And make happen
What occupies our mind... (W. Scherer)
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