Why no Packard in a "Packard"?

Posted by 55PackardGuy On 2012/4/3 23:45:41

I've had some contentious words at times with folks about how to try to tell a "Packardbaker" from a Studebaker if you removed all the "bolt-ons" and badges that supposedly transformed a Studebaker into a Packard. Some might get the impression that I don't like the '57 and '58 "Packards" but I think they are interesting. But I think that one needs to put quotation marks around all of them, because they lack practically any Packard engineered and produced parts, save for tail lights (in some cases) and instrumentation.

My question is, why didn't the new Studebaker-Packard corporation at least take a stab at making a more realistic Packard offering by actually putting a Packard ENGINE in a Packardbaker? It's just so weird to me. The Packard Hawk was a perfect example. A real 352 that said Packard on the valve covers would've given it a lot more bona fides in the mind of the motoring public that may still have wanted to buy an actual Packard. This would have required no special tooling or effort (sorely lacking on the part of the South Bend production facilities) but just to drop a 352 or even a 374 into the chassis.

What were they thinking? I think a lot more Packard enthusiasts would still be interested in one of the '57 or '58 offerings if they at least had a "marque correct" engine. I know I would be. But if you want a lightweight Stude body and chassis with a Packard engine, you have to buy a complete Studebaker Golden Hawk to get it.

Was Studebaker simply using the '57 and '58 Packard models as mules fro their supercharged V8? For instance, if the engines didn't work very well, the Studebaker name wasn't really on the line, was it? Notice that in '57 and '58, ONLY the "Golden Hawk" Studebaker got the supercharged 8, but ALL the Packard models had the engine, and in '59, where is Moses? No more supercharged 289. All of them apparently "remaindered" in the last "Packard"s.

Of course, in '56 the Studebaker Golden Hawk got the Packard 352... maybe they would've liked to continue that arrangement, but, alas, no more real Packard V8s were being produced.

The first part of the hyphenated term for this arrangement would seem to be "cluster-"