Re: Hemmings Article

Posted by cortes121 On 2020/11/26 22:58:29

Its always fun to imagine "what if" for the makes that faded away. I agree that so many of the intricacies of the decisions being made at the time seem to wash away over the years. Myself being fairly new to Packards in general must admit lots of what I read regarding postwar Packard and Jim Nance was not particularly flattering. Many sources even cite him as a furniture/interior design/whatever he was in his previous role exec with a comically low understanding of the automotive business. But being familiar with all the things said about Kaiser Frazer in its waning years lead me to take everything I read with a grain of salt.

In my incredibly biased what-if scenario, I'd have loved Packard to buy Kaiser Frazer. Overnight they'd have 3 models to choose from. Packard retains Luxury status, Frazer fills the Buick/Mercury tier, and Kaiser becomes the bread and butter. In my eyes its mostly win-win, Packard gets lower tier models for more volume, allowing the Packard brand to remain fairly prestigious, Kaiser is free to make the volume focused "people's car" he always wanted, and the V8 in varying states of tune could be used across the line. Perhaps even working on an F head conversion for the long in the tooth continental six or allows the lower makes the straight eight option. Even more fun to think about, a Kaiser Darrin fiberglass sports car with Packard V8 power beating corvette to market by one month? I salivate at the thought. Or even wilder, a bare bones Henry J with the 374 V8 as the kickoff to the muscle car era - though I doubt anyone would of have the foresight. But, a man can dream...