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Think it was a d@mn good idea JW, good job! Agree with the others that profitability would have been elusive and the loss of all the techno wonders would have detracted. But still... style goes a long way in the auto industry. If the tooling were to have been acquired on the cheap, the business case might have worked. Maybe torsion level could have been resurrected and offered free of charge back to Ford. Perhaps Packard could have bought Lincoln powertrains too, FoMoCo seeing value in the rub off of its equipment powering what would have become a limited production Rolls-Royce type car. Packard could have become Ford's ally into the Sixties so long as it didn't directly compete with Lincoln. Who knows, one day a purchase might have been made.

Can visualize a sharing arrangement between Packard and Ford from '58 forward that both would have benefited from. Packard would have needed a cheap and steady supply of updated body shells and powertrains. In return they could have focused on suspension technology, which the American auto industry stunk at post-war, and kept Ford at the front of the pack across all its lines. Eventually torsion level would have been married to an independent rear. Lincoln could have boasted that it had a Packard suspension and everyone, most painfully Cadillac, would have known what that meant in the eyes of the consumer.

The Continental Mark II and the 1951 Packard shared the same lead designer, John Reinhart. If anyone could turn the Mark II into a Packard, Reinhart would know how. For those of us who love the look of the Continental Mark II and the 1951-1956 Packard, there's a reason.

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Mike (mlgrimes), then count me in. Below two less known drafts. In my opinion they don't touch the timeless masterpiece.


[source: The Continantel Mark II Encyclopedia, published on www.fordinsidenews.com; the caption reads: "Two mechanical prototypes for the Continental Mark II based on 1953 Lincoln bodies with all Mark II mechanicals. Photo courtesy of Elmar Rohn collection."]

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Hi

Interesting idea making the Continental Mark II into a Packard. Ford had originally decide it would be a cost-be-damned, no-profit image car, then either Breech or McNamara decided all company lines would be profitable or be scuttled. Lincoln itself was always in the balance, only the family sentiment for it as Edsel's favorite probably saved it.

Before the profitable-or-die edict came down, a four door Continental Mark III Berline was being developed as the Mark II's successor. The mock-up is pictured on post #24 and #27.

http://forums.aaca.org/f169/1958-continental-mark-iii-w-suicide-280996.html

Had the tooling for the Mark III Berline progressed far enough for initial pre-production builds to begin, Ford would likely have gladly sold the works to S-P as a basis for whatever Packard they wished to build.

Steve

Steve, thanks for sharing. We were about to reinvent it.

Thanks for the healthy discussion and all the photo renderings.

Now, here is something more to consider. The next Packards after the Mk-II based ones could have been based on the 1961-69 4th generation Lincoln Continental bodies. Another one of my favorites and still looks great today, especially the 4-door convertibles.

This would have by-passed the super ugly 1958-60 Lincolns and would have looked like a logical updating of the Mk-II design. Formal and elegant, not the Hussey looking design of the Cadillacs of those years.

(o{}o)