Re: Nash-Hudson-Packard merger: observations and work-up
Posted by Mahoning63 On 2019/2/1 20:54:13
Because Packard would have been looking at volumes of around 15K for '55 had they priced their 2 and 4 door Hudson-based cars at Four Hundred/Patrician level, dueled Packard-Hudson dealerships would have been a must. Perhaps offering T-L on the high end Hudson V8 might have enticed Clipper buyers to switch. This is where a good dealer would have helped, talking up the Packard content to a current Clipper owner wanting to trade but not finding a '55 upper-medium Packard on the showroom floor.
Looking at it all more broadly, in the lead-up to 1955 the bottom line was that between Packard, Hudson and Nash they needed to deliver one good family of V8s and one good body shell as basis for three differentiated series of cars. They made one attempt at the engine and succeeded, and had three chances at the body and failed.
Packard's Contour was not fully competitive in appearance by '55, really wasn't everything it could have been even in 1951 which is too bad because it had tremendous potential as a Cadillac competitor.
Nash's '52 Airflyte was an engineering tour-de-force but deficient in appearance, probably screw-ball to some though it did have its following. Seems the real problem was that Mason wasn't going to abandon it for '55, had too much invested. Given that Mason (appears to have) felt that Nash's car and construction method were superior (he was always pushing his car as basis for merger), it may not have mattered how early he got Packard to merge, the end result was destined to be a styling dud.
Just like Barit over at Hudson. Or maybe not...
Step-Down was stylistically outdated at the start of the 50's and certainly not the car to gamble the merger on in 1955, but it did have lowness going for it and even as late as '54 was selling fairly well against Packard and Nash. Which brings us to the third and final opportunity P-H-N had to create a winning body: the Jet. No, it wasn't a large car but by all rights should have been given the age of current Hudson.
Consider the work-up below, which lengthens Jet to Clipper size, kind of even looks like the Clipper. Wheelbase increases from 105 to 122 inches, height is about 59.3 inches or 1.5 inches lower than Jet and one inch lower than '48 Step-Down. Backlight leans forward a bit and width would have increased 10-12 inches over Jet. Had such a car launched as the new Hornet in Spring, 1953 (which is when the Jet had launched) and demonstrated its sales potential over the next 6 months, I think everyone at P-H-N would have realized they had the competitive body shell needed to win in '55 (by which time a wrapped windshield would have been added). Ironically, it may well have been Mason and not Nance or Barit who balked at merger.
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Looking at it all more broadly, in the lead-up to 1955 the bottom line was that between Packard, Hudson and Nash they needed to deliver one good family of V8s and one good body shell as basis for three differentiated series of cars. They made one attempt at the engine and succeeded, and had three chances at the body and failed.
Packard's Contour was not fully competitive in appearance by '55, really wasn't everything it could have been even in 1951 which is too bad because it had tremendous potential as a Cadillac competitor.
Nash's '52 Airflyte was an engineering tour-de-force but deficient in appearance, probably screw-ball to some though it did have its following. Seems the real problem was that Mason wasn't going to abandon it for '55, had too much invested. Given that Mason (appears to have) felt that Nash's car and construction method were superior (he was always pushing his car as basis for merger), it may not have mattered how early he got Packard to merge, the end result was destined to be a styling dud.
Just like Barit over at Hudson. Or maybe not...
Step-Down was stylistically outdated at the start of the 50's and certainly not the car to gamble the merger on in 1955, but it did have lowness going for it and even as late as '54 was selling fairly well against Packard and Nash. Which brings us to the third and final opportunity P-H-N had to create a winning body: the Jet. No, it wasn't a large car but by all rights should have been given the age of current Hudson.
Consider the work-up below, which lengthens Jet to Clipper size, kind of even looks like the Clipper. Wheelbase increases from 105 to 122 inches, height is about 59.3 inches or 1.5 inches lower than Jet and one inch lower than '48 Step-Down. Backlight leans forward a bit and width would have increased 10-12 inches over Jet. Had such a car launched as the new Hornet in Spring, 1953 (which is when the Jet had launched) and demonstrated its sales potential over the next 6 months, I think everyone at P-H-N would have realized they had the competitive body shell needed to win in '55 (by which time a wrapped windshield would have been added). Ironically, it may well have been Mason and not Nance or Barit who balked at merger.
Attach file:
(86.53 KB)
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