Re: Nash-Hudson-Packard merger: observations and work-up

Posted by Rusty O\'Toole On 2019/1/31 3:35:46

In those days car buyers wanted the latest thing. Any car that was a carry over from the previous year would see sales drop no matter how good it was. This is why GM went to a 3 year, then a 2 year model cycle with heavy face lifts in the years in between.

By 1955 the Hudson body was 7 years old, Nash was 4 years old, Packard was 5 years old. Studebaker was only 3 years old but was an avante garde design that never clicked with the public (except for the Loewy coupe).

All the independents saw sales fall in the fifties, partly because of obsolescent styling and partly because of the forceful sales tactics used by Ford and GM in their battle for top selling car.

If they had listened to Mason and gotten together in 1949 it might have been possible to have all new bodies by 1955. To compete with GM Ford and Chrysler as full line car companies they would have needed at least 3 different body shells or some variation. There are ways to stretch a body for higher priced models by replacing part of the body, in other words sharing some parts but not all.

On the good side Studebaker had an excellent small V8 and Packard had a big one under development. Studebaker also developed a good automatic trans in cooperation with Borg Warner while Packard had the Ultramatic, both state of the art for the times. Nash had expertise in unit body construction and heating and air conditioning systems while Hudson was known for handling and performance.

Packard did develop 320, 352 and 374 cu in V8s for Nash, Hudson, Studebaker and Packard while the Studebaker V8 was made in sizes from 224 to 289 cu in for smaller cars.

I don't see the possible 55s as being versions of existing cars, but all new. If they had started planning earlier it might have been possible.

I already described a possible Packard V12 based on the Studebaker V8 that would have been similar in size, displacement, horsepower and cost to Cadillac, Chrysler, and Lincoln V8 and could have been developed quickly with a small expense for tooling but that is another story. If they had taken that route it would have saved Packard 2 years and $5 million that they could have used elsewhere.