How bad WERE the '55 Packards?

Posted by Dan On 2008/12/22 15:25:05

I'm re-reading the Ward book re Packard's fall.

Was horrible quality REALLY that much of an issue? Or was it all the teething troubles that come with new engineering, building everything at the Conner Ave. plant, etc?

Were most of the '55 issues solved by the time the '56's came out, or was it simply too late for Packard because of all its other issues?

Seems to me that over the last 50+ years the '55-'56 Packards have held up well. As I've stated in other posts, I think the re-design of the '51 body shell looks good even today. And for a brand-new V8/revamped Ultramatic, my perception is that they could have had MUCH larger issues, and did not.

Or are the remaining Packards the ones that DIDN'T suffer from awful build quality?