Re: '53 Cavalier - appearance exploration

Posted by Mahoning63 On 2019/5/5 17:12:23

Great example Steve. From a marketing perspective Nance hit the ground running in mid-1952. Problem was, from a product perspective he crawled.

Throughout 1952 the Buick 70 sedan was outselling Cavalier 6-to-1 while Cadillac 62 sedan was 10:1 over Patrician. Both ratios stunk. Packard reduced them to 5 and 6 respectively, in 1953 but that was partly because they oversold into 1954, of which year the numbers tanked to 10 and 13. They needed to do something much more dramatic with the upper models and it had to be for 1953 because they needed the rich luxury profits to pay for 1954 and beyond.

Replacing 300/400 3-piece backlight with '53 Clipper's more modern 1-piece wrapped glass would have been straightforward if roof shape at rear had been common; the dies were (presumably) being modified anyway at the forward section to accept the new windshield. Adding chrome trim to the wide B-pillar would have given that cluttered wall of painted metal some needed definition. Developing an OHV version of the 327 would have been helpful, Nash did it to Rambler's Six a few years later with no drama, is barely a footnote in the historical records.

There were other options available to Packard for 1953 that would have really moved the needle.