Re: Synopsis of forces and events leading to '48-'50 styling

Posted by Mahoning63 On 2020/3/20 14:10:02

Steve's analysis of Ed Maucaley's Phantom design explorations spurred me to take a closer look at that idea car. There is something very intriguing about its circa 1944 "mouth organ" grill and quad lights. What if Packard had chosen to do an all-new bathtub for 1949 after concluding that it was the best use of funds, and sought only to refresh Clipper using Phantom for ideas? Tooling two new hoods would have been expensive so let's assume these would have been carried over. The '46 Clipper grill appears to already have been influenced by Phanton though its center section is separate from the carried over lower horizontal elements. A minimalist rendition of the mouth organ needing only new front fenders and quad lights, see middle image ('46 Clipper is at left). A more extensive refresh could have redesigned the entire grill to be fully unified, which would have made the vertical portion wider. Along with that change could have been removal of the integrated running boards. See image on right.

Phantom images:http://theoldmotor.com/?p=156813

EDIT: Correction on image at right. Vertical portion of grill would not have been wider. Phantom transitions the vertical to horizontal grill sections with a radius, see updated image.

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