Re: Continuing the Packard

Posted by Mahoning63 On 2012/9/10 17:25:57

Thanks and totally agree about the Packard Seniors getting the Predictor front. In thinking about your suggestion for the reverse canted window, first thing I thought about was packaging. The roof and window would have needed to be sufficiently set back from the rear seatback. For my mod it would have been tight, Packard would have needed to widen the C-pillar to extend the roof rearward. Not a problem had they tooled a new roof.

I think the key issue with Packard this year, had they offered a car such as what I have shown or you are suggesting, would have been basic proportions and design details. This vehicle would have needed to represent what the '37 Twelve was to '37 Cadillac: a previous generation design that compensated by being perfectly executed. Packard did well in '37 so all was not hopeless.

This '57 Packard would have been almost 3 inches taller than Lincoln, 4 taller than Cadillac and 6 taller than Imperial. In 1958 the Lincoln and Imperial would be similar. Quite the challenge for Packard. How might they have dealt with it? First, I would say their advertising would have needed to rag on the others by showing how folks had to fall into these cars where they could simply slide into the Packard. Might have gained some favor with those who found this admirable. Am recalling the 1940 dealer videos where Packard trumpeted their flat rear floors and ragged on the trans humps in the competition, i.e. Cadillac. Of course Packard forgot all about this with the Clipper!

What else to compensate for this narrowish, tall '57? I would argue that this is where proportions could have helped. Everyone was going cab-forward in those years with long decks and comparatively short hoods. I understand that this topic always opens a big debate about which is best so will simply say that to my tainted and subjective eye a front-engine/rear wheel drive car almost always looks better with a longer hood and comparatively shorter deck. This was how Packard visually differentiated its Seniors through most of the Twenties and Thirties. From 1940-56 their Seniors basically used Junior hoods, maybe "Junior+" at best. For the '57s I would argue that this is where they could have caught folks attention.

The reverse cant rear window, to my eye, didn't help proportions though it didn't need to hurt too much. '57 Turnpike Cruiser looked fine, '58 Lincoln looked OK, mid-60s Mercurys looked awful. For this particular Packard am a bit uneasy. The car is a bit rounded. Reverse cant is an abrupt shape change, seems to work better with extremely angled/squared cars. This is why I think the Balboa concept didn't' work aesthetically. Will kick around a few mods at home to investigate...