Carl Taylor worked as a mechanic at Al Rademacher's Ford dealership on Washington St. in St. Louis, Michigan until 1934.  In that same year he built an auto repair garage next to his residence at 212 North Bankson in St. Louis and went into business for himself.  In 1946 with the promise of all the cars they could sell from Packard, Carl Taylor moved his business from its Bankson St. location to 'The City Garage' that was located on the South side of Washington St. in downtown St. Louis.  The first Packards arrived on September 21st 1946 with wooden bumpers because of the lack of steel and then sold the same day they arrived.  Real steel bumpers arrived later and were retrofitted.  Because of steel supply shortages 1946 and 1947 cars were in short supply and the dealership did not receive anywhere near all the cars they could have sold.  In looking through the old dealership records, cars sold within 3 to 4 days of receipt during this period.

 

By 1948 and 1949 cars were becoming much more available and sales at the dealership were taking off.  The dealership being located in the middle of Michigan's agricultural area, most sales were made to farmers and almost always for cash.

 

The dealership seems to have flourished during the early 50's and in 1953 a Willys/Jeep franchise was added.  The Taylors also ran a taxi service out of the dealership and they were the AAA towing service for the area, as well as being the Greyhound bus station stop for the city of St. Louis.

 

In the fall of 1954, when Packard merged with Studebaker the Studebaker franchise was acquired from Orrin Cochran who was located in the Palmer building.  So now the Taylors found themselves selling Willys/Jeep and Studebakers in addition to the Packard line.

 

For the 1956 model year Taylors Sales & Service moved to a new location at the corner of Genessee and Second in Saginaw, Michigan.  The facilities included a Showroom for five cars and service space for about 20.

 

Although the Taylor Packard dealership had always been successful in selling its allotment of cars, by the summer of 1956 Packard was not doing as well and production of the Packard automobile ceased in Detroit.  As a result the Taylor Packard garage also ceased doing business and was closed.