Re: 1953/4 Caribbean 4-door hardtop sedan exploration

Posted by Mahoning63 On 2020/4/19 19:44:06

I have a theory, newly formed.

Had Nance and Barit chose to commit in principle to merging and scrambling to tool a cleaned up version of X-161 for 1955, they could have gone on the offensive and brought the case for merger to Mason rather having him come to them dictating HIS terms. They could have said look, if you REALLY want to merge here is the strategy:

1. Hudson builds the big car bodies, Packard builds the big car engines, transmission and Torsion-Level suspension and Nash builds the small car bodies and engines, and all HVAC systems.

2. All three companies get a series of cars based on the big and small body shells. Hudson markets a Hornet and Jet, Nash an Ambassador and Rambler and Packard a Caribbean and Clipper (or other names).

3. All three companies go en masse to the investors to request a BIG LOAN to get the all-new large body and V8 into production for 1955. Total plant volume targeted at 150-200K predicated on low slung cars with most powerful engines in the industry.


What could Mason do other than accept? Turning it down would condemn his plants to insufficient volume, and Hudson and Packard could still go to the investors and make an argument that they could get scale without Nash.

This all came down to Nance. Barit was desperate and would have rather seen his plant and the Hudson name survive but was in no position to dictate terms, being the weakest of the three. He would almost certainly choose Packard over Nash. So Packard was in the catbird seat.

The worst thing Nance could have done was walk away from Hudson and let Nash gobble it up. By doing so Packard became the large car maker with no scale and no body plant, and therefore a weak case to bring to the investors.