Re: 1953/4 Caribbean 4-door hardtop sedan exploration
Posted by Mahoning63 On 2020/3/30 7:55:41
Given that Packard shared its door uppers between its 122 and 127 sedans, realized an opportunity enabled by the Caribbean Sport Sedan's new side glass: a 122 Clipper 4-door sport sedan.
The challenge would have been the roof and backlight because cost pressures might have forced use of exiting 122 hardtop coupe's roof, which tapers inward where the new side glass/frames would intersect. To connect roof to frames the solution would have needed to be a rain channel that got wider as it went rearward, which might have looked a bit odd.
The other hurdle would have been the backlight. The supplier for the hardtop backlight would have needed to provide Packard with a second, notched version that somehow used the same tooling as the first. Packard would have needed to tell the supplier to "make it happen" and see if they could answer the challenge.
Have labeled the car Sportster to catch the wind of what would have been the outgoing 2-door model. The new car would have needed to be priced similar to what Panama had been or even lower. Because of the structural B-pillar there would have been no reason for it and the Caribbean sedan to add the weight and cost that the hardtop coupe did to strengthen its chassis.
In this new model Packard would have had a hip volume car to take on the new 1954 Oldsmobiles and Buicks. One of the reasons the company got creamed that year is because it didn't.
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The challenge would have been the roof and backlight because cost pressures might have forced use of exiting 122 hardtop coupe's roof, which tapers inward where the new side glass/frames would intersect. To connect roof to frames the solution would have needed to be a rain channel that got wider as it went rearward, which might have looked a bit odd.
The other hurdle would have been the backlight. The supplier for the hardtop backlight would have needed to provide Packard with a second, notched version that somehow used the same tooling as the first. Packard would have needed to tell the supplier to "make it happen" and see if they could answer the challenge.
Have labeled the car Sportster to catch the wind of what would have been the outgoing 2-door model. The new car would have needed to be priced similar to what Panama had been or even lower. Because of the structural B-pillar there would have been no reason for it and the Caribbean sedan to add the weight and cost that the hardtop coupe did to strengthen its chassis.
In this new model Packard would have had a hip volume car to take on the new 1954 Oldsmobiles and Buicks. One of the reasons the company got creamed that year is because it didn't.
Attach file:
(28.29 KB)
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