Re: '66 Packard Model Car

Posted by BH On 2012/8/28 9:13:40

WRT to tooling cost vs. return, there's always that risk of using sales projections to justify the development outlay. Wouldn't be the first time that an automaker found itself upside down on that count, eh?

You have to also consider that the company may have painted itself into a corner WRT to its target customers - that there wasn't a sufficient number of AMC customers interested in that kind of car. Consider it "Romney's Legacy".

As for the Javelin, I don't have the talent or resources to analyze financial performance model by model, but I've read that, in some years, it outsold Plymouth Cuda and Dodge Challenger. Today, the Javelin is highly coveted among AMC enthusiasts. Body mechanicals (and rust issues) aside, the 74 AMX that I referenced earlier, though equipped with only the 360 V8 (but 4-speed gear box), really hauled ass - would have given the Camaros, that I preferred, a run for their money.

With the Ambassador, it seems to me that Abernethy was targeting full-size models from Chevy, Ford, and Plymouth. I'd go a step further and hold that model up against full-size offerings from Pontiac and Dodge. Yet, in spite of some luxury trim packages, ads featuring chauffeurs, and even that limo, I wouldn't carry it much farther.

So, I'm NOT saying that a Packard revival could not have been executed, technically, by AMC, but in spite of any gaping hole for a luxury brand, I don't believe that it would have succeeded with the the prevailing mindset of management and customer base that had been cultivated. The diversity of new models, as developed, seems to indicate that they weren't interested in that niche.

AMC may have missed a great opportunity, but you know the old saw about leading a horse to water.