Re: What SINGLE factor MOST contributed to the demise of Packard?

Posted by Rusty O\'Toole On 2013/10/16 0:32:57

Packard was doing fine up until the fifties. If you look at the record the lower priced 110 and 120 saved the company in the thirties, as LaSalle did Cadillac and Zephyr did for Lincoln. The prewar Clipper body looked stylish and up to date in 1947, considering everyone else reused their prewar tooling except Studebaker.

The 1948 - 1950 restyling may not seem so hot now but it was in the swim with such upside down bath tubs as the Nash, Lincoln, Kaiser and Mercury.

Another thing. In the early fifties the medium price and high price class was where the action was. Buick actually outsold Plymouth in 1953 and 54. Deluxe models sold as never before.

Packard should have been right in there selling like mad but they weren't.

Someone else mentioned their lame advertising which was certainly a factor. Another was letting the luxury market slide in favor of the medium price models. A mistake, not only in lost sales of expensive $$$$$ profitable cars, but losing the "halo effect" of being a prestige leader. BMW and Mercedes make smaller models that are no better than a Toyota but they sell at premium prices to people who would not be seen dead in a Toyota. Packard had the same thing going for them but they threw it away.

Another thing was the lack of styling changes. This was an enormous factor in selling cars in the fifties. If you didn't have an all new car at least it had to look new. Compare the 55 -56 - 57 Chevs, all built on the same body and chassis. Packard made less changes or at least less obvious changes from 51 to 54. They should have restyled the grille and tail lights every year.

Or, they could have had the 55 restyle in 54 and the 56 in 55. Then an all new car.

Another thing they missed out on was the trend to V8 engines. How they missed this is beyond me. Once they saw the Cadillac V8 in 1949 they should have had their own V8 no later than 51.

In another thread I suggested that if they had merged with Studebaker earlier, they could have made a V12 version of the Studebaker V8 in 1952. 1 1/2 times the 232 cu in 120 HP 51 Stude would have given them a 348 cu in 180HP engine for the senior cars at minimal cost. They would have needed new tooling for block castings, heads, manifolds etc but they could have machined everything on the same transfer lines and used the same internal parts.

Compare a 348 cu in 180HP Packard V12 to the 331 cu in 160HP Cadillac, 331cu in 180HP Chrysler Imperial and New Yorker, or the 317cu in 160HP Lincoln. Packard could have had a new engine at minimal cost and in a short time. The V12 with its wide power band would compliment the Ultramatic, and the 2 together would have been competitive on weight and cost.

They could have had the ultimate prestige power plant for no more than their competitors were spending on their V8 engine/trans combinations.

I know that Packard's sales strategy was to give their customers a real choice, not to ape Cadillac but to take a more conservative approach. In a word, they were willing to concede Broadway and Hollywood to Cadillac and take the rest of the country for themselves.

This was not a bad plan. I know in many parts of the country the rich would not be seen in a Cadillac, they bought Buicks and Chryslers instead. There was a definite market for a quality car that did not suggest the owner was an Elvis fan,a gangster or a profiteer.

They had a chance but they let it go. They simply did not keep up with the times. For a few years they got away with it but in the end they let their loyal customers slip away. Instead of pleasing their long time supporters, and bringing in new blood, they rested on their laurels too long.