Re: The History of Packard

Posted by Dave Kenney On 2008/8/27 17:28:50

All of these examples go to show that ALL car makers occasionally make lemons. I worked at Chrysler in the summer of 1963 and I know that we created some pretty dismal cars. The 4.1 liter Cadillac engine was a poor one as was the GM 350 Diesel and ask me about the Vega if you want to hear a tale of woe about a poorly designed and built automobile. Ford certainly has had it's share of lemons (late V-12 engined Lincolns, Granada?) as has Chrysler (Volare-Aspen anyone?) It is no surprise that the 1955 Packard was a poorly constructed car given the fact that the cars were built at the infamous Connor Ave. plant. What is remarkable about Packard is that in it's long history was there any other model year where it can be said it was not as good or better than the competition in any given price range? Few if any car makers can make that claim and certainly not any of the Big 3. I haven't even got to Europe or Japan yet.