Re: The Packard Request

Posted by HH56 On 2016/9/15 16:18:47

I think he has made some valid points regarding the Packards lack of luxury status by the early 50s--and even before that according to many. While there were some decent cars, IMO Packard had chosen to shoot more toward the Olds, Pontiac, Mercury etc market than Cadillac and Lincoln. The quality of materials was still excellent but in creature comforts and finish, when compared to Cadillac they had a lot that could have been improved. AC, vents, and heat was more refined in Cads for most models but I will give the 55-6 Packard in dash AC setup the edge for convertibles. Cad's 55-6 convertible AC was still the trunk unit with outlets in the top well. Otherwise, Packard seemed to be playing catch up in that department. There was a thorough examination of a 56 Lincoln Premier on one of the car shows recently and even that looked to have a better grasp of what luxury buyers would tend to expect in an expensive car.

Whether maintaining the vertical grill would have upscaled the senior cars is something that will never be known. I rather doubt it unless they also addressed the other shortcomings -- real or perceived. While I like the Request, to me the narrow grill is too tall and just doesn't quite look right on what is essentially a horizontal body. Maybe something scaled a bit wider and more in size to the 48-50 grill with the vertical prewar style bars would have worked better -- particularly in the 51-4 era. That would get more in the consistent Mercedes look the author mentioned. IMO, the Predictor and proposed 57s had a much more pleasing vertical grill on an even more horizontal looking body. It looks to be about the same size but maybe the lack of the narrow vertical bars makes the difference.