Re: Late to the Party - The Packard V-8
Posted by Packard5687 On 2018/8/28 22:18:54
Stuart Blond provided this interesting insight into the genesis of the Packard V-8:
"Packard's management authorized production of the V-8 engine in March of 1953. Serious discussions were taking place before then, however. Robert J. Neal quoted the minutes of the Operating Committee meeting of January 2, 1951 in his book, Master Motor Builders: "A preliminary cost study of the V-8 engine for use in the 26th Series [1953] has been completed by the Manufacturing Division, and Mr. Reifel reported that it indicated a tool cost of approximately $13 million with a slight increase in piece cost." "By January of 1952," Neal wrote, "the committee had approved spending $1.2 million for the development of the necessary machine tools to set up a modern new engine production facility. By the end of 1953, $3 million had been spent on design, tooling and prototype production of a new V-8 engine, and the company was contemplating further outlay of some $14 million before complete production facilities would be in place. Necessary funds to complete this process were not committed until 1954... There is ample evidence that the engine was designed and prototypes built by early 1953."
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