Re: '66 Packard Model Car

Posted by BH On 2012/8/27 9:20:14

In addition to Teague, AMC had another Packard alumnus, but one with a sales background - Roy Abernethy.

Abernethy, who replaced George Romney as President, decided to push AMC upmarket with larger, more luxurious cars, expecting that would also make its compact cars look more attractive to prospective buyers. Yet, despite improved sales and unit profit for the Ambassador line, there were problems with quality control. Overall production actually decreased, and development costs exceeded the return on investment - putting Abernethy in untenable position. He left after only five years in the chair.

So, your choice of platforms does have some additional merit, beyond the lines (including a 122-in. wheelbase). Bill Allison even did some development work with the T-L suspension for unitized body construction for Ford in the late 50s, using an AMC vehicle for prototyping. Although Ford decided not to proceed beyond that, I bet there would have been some licensing issues in bringing that work out of the mothballs. Nevertheless, I have strong doubts that AMC ever had the wherewithal to build a vehicle that was up to Packard standards. AMC was lucky to have Teague, who was able to do so much with so little.

Meanwhile, regarding Ex's 66 Duesenberg (a completely different design than the one in the original Revival Series), the basic lines remind me more of a 67-69 T-bird. Hmm...