Re: '66 Packard Model Car

Posted by BH On 2012/8/27 17:55:47

Of the four major automakers of that timeframe, it certainly seems like AMC was the one that needed a luxury brand, like Packard, to hang a halo on. However, it would have taken so much more than a great designer, and they didn't seem to be interested in that direction, especially in the financial wake of the Abernethy years. Heck, their cars were still fitted with tapered rear axle shafts well into the 70s.

The 69 GP that you brought up had so much additional front-end length that they had to add a signficant extension to the stock A-body radiator fan shroud. No wonder that car was picked as the foundation for the Stutz Blackhawk revival.

Meanwhile, FoMoCo had taken the Mustang platform and stretched the wheelbase 3", also ahead of the firewall, to create the 67 Mercury Cougar - the beginning of a new class of sport-luxury cars.

No doubt about it - the long-hood/short-deck look was an attractive style.