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

Posted by BH On 2009/12/29 20:48:07

I loved the '55 Request grille from the moment I first saw it, but it would have been impractical anywhere outside the show circuit. By the time Larry Dopps rediscovered the show car in the 1970s, only two grill bars were left unbroken. I don't believe that was merely the result of abuse under previous drivers. Even if the one-off front bumpers had been made of stamped steel rather than cast bronze, they offered insufficient protection. Yet, I can't envision how they could have changed that without spoiling the long full look of that grille.

While the vertical element of the proposed '57 might seem large, take a look at the Predictor in profile, and you'll see the '57 proposal is actual a bit more subdued. If you can find a close up detail, you'll see that the top of that vertical element embodies the familiar ox-yoke shape, and I believe the familiar crest would have been placed just below.

While the Predictor has what some people here are now calling "basket handle" fins, I don't believe that exact detail ever appeared on the full-size clays of the proposed '57 Seniors or even "Black Bess". The leading edge of the fin on those cars had an embossed area gvies the appearance of it being scooped out, which could have been accomplished through in the stamping press. While I can't provide pix, there are a few in some of the better Packard books to support that position.

Meanwhile, I think Teague did a masterful job of working on a limited budget in everything he did. While I am not particularly a fan of AMC products, I think a lot of Teague's styling kept people coming into AMC showrooms and kept the company afloat a lot longer than they might have been otherwise. Look what happened after Renault got involved.