Re: A Marketing Anomaly to Ponder

Posted by Kevin On 2014/8/1 11:30:56

IIRC, in 1947 when the convertibles first were built, Packard had a twin assembly line that was intended to accommodate the 200,000 cars a year that George Christopher had promised the dealers. So, it was easy to start building the new snazzy convertible while the older style 1947 sedans and coupes were still being built as well.

I think they timed it like that because Packard had previously always sold a higher percentage of convertibles in their model mix than their competitors, and a drop-top had been missing from the product line for 5 years. It was supposed to add excitement to the brand and increase the traffic in the dealerships.

From a production standpoint, it also gave you a lower volume model to work out your bugs before full production began on the entire 22nd Series.

Too bad Packard couldn't have worked the bugs out somewhere before commencing the production of the V8s!