Re: Survival revisitted

Posted by 58L8134 On 2016/4/2 16:08:15

Hi Paul

That would have been one sweet '57 Predictor four door pillared hardtop!

Before I launch into my usual diatribe, for those who find these speculative explorations tedious and/or pointless, a gentle reminder that we all find our own ways to exercise our Packard fascinations, happily do so whether anyone else shares our enthusiasms. For us, our enjoyment of Packard in all its facets, includes not only what was and is but also what might have been.

For 1957, more than anything else, current trend proportions i.e. longer, lower and wider plus fresh, appealing styling were what Packard had to present to have a competitive chance. Anything taller than 58"-59" was going to be out of step. If they couldn't arrive at that with an all-new car, lowering the existing body on a carrryover chassis was their only available route.

At the eleventh hour, such a concentrated, ambitious program would have been an all-in, hail-Mary pass to forestall demise. There was still a $25M short-term line of credit to call upon, which Nance could have been brought to bear. This could have been the product program to do so. Dramatically proportioned with Predictor-styled features would have caught the public's attention. Reducing models to just the core luxury offerings, putting their best cars forward, would put the public on notice that Packard wasn't to be dismissed yet.

"Also concluded that, were feasible, sectioning the tools was most cost-effective approach rather than sectioning every panel stamped from them."

As building method, sectioning was very labor-intensive, really only useful for the lowest-volume, highest-priced models. Though more costly up front, modifying the tooling dies would have been the way to reasonably enable volume production.

Given the all-new '57 Cadillacs and Imperials plus an economy sliding into the 1958 Eisenhower Recession, it was going to be one of the most competitively challenging environments to keep Packard alive. Still your '57's might well have saved their auto-making; if not, they would have gone out with a bang.....like the Cord 810/812, rather than a whimper! (No offense intended to the South Bend Packard enthusiasts.)

Steve