Re: Brown Bomber article

Posted by Craig the Clipper Man On 2016/4/13 8:27:56

The Brown Bomber hints at Packard "concept" cars to come. Su8 hits the nail on the head with his observation about the "anything from Packard was wonderful" crowd. It is not at all easy to come up with new designs that are a) not shocking to the public's sensibilities and b) within the realm of actually being built in the future. Being able to anticipate trends and convincing buyers that your company is driving (pun intended!) those trends comes around only once in a while.

Ford did it with its Mustang in 1964 and Packard succeeded in 1941 with its all-new Clipper.

Although I have grown to like and appreciate the 1948-50 Packards, I think Packard could have taken a lesson from the 1948 Cadillac. At that time, the Cadillac looked modern; so modern, in fact, that the company continued to use the basic styling through 1957. But in 1958 Cadillac also offered cars with the popular V-8 engines and Hydromatic transmissions.

I have always thought that Packard's answers to GM and Chrysler stylists in the 1950s not directed at moving the company in any particular direction. The Request was an ode to the past, with its antiquated grill cobbled to a 400 body.

The Saga revived the Brown Bomber's deVille roof to an otherwise nice design. Worse yet was the Predictor, which left all subtlety in the dust with its "Jetsons" styling. And look! There is the Brown Bomber's contribution to Packard's posterior -- oops, posterity -- that damned deVille roof once again!

Of all of its concepts that really deserved consideration, I think the Panther was Packard's most appealing.

Too bad Ed Macauley didn't have Edsel Ford's since of style, as evident in the Model A, Lincoln Zephyr, and Continental. While nepotism often results in unforeseen or negative consequences, sometimes genius also occurs.