Re: 1955-57 What-If Line-Up

Posted by Mahoning63 On 2010/12/11 16:25:53

The scale is indeed correct and your comments get, I think, to the nub of Packard's challenge with the Reinhart body: it's height to width ratio became increasingly uncompetitive as the Fifties wore on. At over 62 inches high and around 76 inches wide it was tallish compared to the '57 Chrysler at about 57 inches high and 80 inches wide. In fact, the front of the Packard is even narrower than 76 inches because the widest part of the body is the flared out rear fenders.

I don't know what the '57 Packard prototype dimensions are but I think the Predictor show car was 54 inches high and 84 inches wide. Teague went a bit over the top with the width as American cars never got wider than 80 inches throughout the Sixties and Seventies except for the early Sixties Imperial at 82 inches. If he dialed into the prototype a width and height approaching the Predictor, the distance between the headlights would be quite widely spaced.