Re: The Greatest Packards of Them All

Posted by Kevin On 2022/7/16 19:58:09

Packard had capability to do the smaller stampings like radiator splash shields and core supports, etc., but starting with the 1941 Clipper program, they let all body stampings go to Briggs. The last body stampings they did on East Grand were for the traditional non-Clipper bodies. When those models were not brought back after the war, Packard had de facto exited the body stamping and building business.

It might be discussed in the new Heinmueller book, but part of the problem with trying to move body stamping and production out of the Connor Briggs plant after 1954 was the size of the presses. There were almost insurmountable issues with trying to move the presses to East Grand from Connor, so Nance's people ultimately recommended that they move to the sort-of one story configuration of the Connor facility. According to Robert J. Neal, there were hardly any operations in the existing Packard buildings south of East Grand in 1954, so it wasn't an issue of floor space. They felt that the efficiency of the one story layout was the way to go. It ultimately may have been, but the problem is that they needed a lot more sales (and a lot more car output) to make money. I don't even know that Connor would have been capable of the kind of output Packard needed. Maybe an all-new plant at Utica would have been the ultimate answer?