Re: Great Packards

Posted by Charles Neuhaus On 2008/12/11 16:01:46

To get back to the 56's. I wrote a letter to the Rolls-Royce Owners Club (RROC) that argued that the 1956 Patrician was the finest production sedan of the year, technologically heads and shoulders above the 1956 Rolls-Royce. For some reason they never published it. Looks are always in the eye of the beholder, but I find my Patrician to be truly beautiful compared to Cadillac and Lincoln. On the subject of the merger, it is well documented that Studebaker carefully masked their financial condition. They claimed that their break even point was 100,000 cars, when it was actually about 200,000. Packard did not need to lie to Studebaker since they were the buyers. What I have never understood is why Packard hired a consultant firm to analyze Studebaker. If they had sent a team of their own engineers, accountants, etc. they would have quickly seen that Studebaker (despite good engineering and design) was an anchor that would sink Packard (or Nash/Kelvinator for that matter). I have always thought that Studebaker bribed the consultants for a good report.