Re: Your Opinion Whether the New '57 Packard Vertical Grille Would Have Been a Marketing Hit?

Posted by R Anderson On 2009/12/29 11:43:02

IMO no, it was not inline with the tastes either of the time, which reached a zenith with Exner's beautiful Forward Look designs for 1957, nor would it have truly appealed to the 30s traditionalists: it was too much a pastische of conflicting design elements, the side view very heavy and slabby looking at the rear, the oddball basket-handle fins, the radical reverse slant roof, juxtaposed with the throwback grille (remember Jack Paar's comment about Edsel looking like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon?) and Plymouth looking headlight visors, it just doesn't work together, imho, especially after the relatively conservative 56s. It'd integrate much better without fender skirts and the basket handles and a more contemporary grille. Dick Teague did a good job of updating the '51 bodies for '55 with what he had to work with, but some of his later work was less than stellar, again imo, just look at his weird'74 Matador coupe for AMC, and he had a major part in the design Pacer and Gremlin, and the bloated Marlin. His record was spotty. I'm glad Packard ended its run in 1956 all things considered.