Re: The Second Packard "Twin Six"

Posted by PackardV12fan On 2008/9/20 22:41:12
Big Kev - you are wrong about this "delay in getting a V-8" excuse.

I was "there", and you werent. The simple fact is that ever-worsening "build quality" drove away Packard customers, and created an atmosphere of contempt by which they couldn't get new customers. The sales figures towards the end are not debatable. The figures are a fact. "New" unsold 1956 Packards sat out in the open in various dealers lots that I am personally aware of, clear into summer of '57. Have no idea how they finally got rid of them.

And dont try and tell me the '51's and later didn't have an axle-breaking problem. I broke enough of them myself, and I changed dozens more.

The sad fact is, while Packard in its "glory" years set standards for excellence, and pioneered all kinds of interesting engineering, towards the end, it pioneered failure. Sadly, our entire industry has copied that "suicide" method of doing business that Packard "pioneered" towards the end.

Yes, I remember those lying promo statements Packard put out after the war, saying over-head valve engines were "too complicated". What a crock. SHAME on Packard.

Packard was mass-producing quality, reliable over-head cam and over-head valve engines back during World War One.

Later on, Packard took the Rolls Royce "Merlin" (which RR CLAIMS originated with the famous "SuperMarine" racers of the early 30's, but was in fact copied from Packard's aircraft engines) re-engineering the Merlin from a motor that had to be over-hauled every 200 hours, to one that would run way past 1,00 hrs before TBO.

But after the war, new and ever-more-greedy management just wanted to make a fast buck without "wasting" money on product development & quality. Sound familiar ? I call it the "suicide gene".

Outmoded designs ? So what! Make em right, and people will buy them. Damiler Benz's post war Mercedes were obsolete pre-war designs too. But THEY had quality, and customers came back for more.

You folks can huff and puff, wish all this wasnt true, try and close your eyes to the simple facts, but there they are. Your attempts to find excuses for the simple obvious facts are just plain silly.

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