Re: Continuing the Packard

Posted by Mahoning63 On 2012/9/2 14:28:42

PV8 - great point about financing, totally agree and maybe we can explore this more. Didn't credit dry up around 1954 due to worries that too many bad loans were being made as a result of the Chevy/Ford battle? Didn't this hurt Packard and the others?

Steve - agree completely, great synopsis. Ideally such platform consolidations would happen at a major redesign so the public would never know. In the case of the '55 Hudsons, Mason had no choice but to close down shop and quickly graft enough "Hudson" into the large Nashes to reduce the market's laughter to acceptable levels. Note that the new Hudsons didn't hit the streets until Feb. 1955, four months later than the usual new car roll-out.

It should be noted that this and related matters exemplified a key difference between Mason and Nance. Mason thoroughly studied Hudson before merging, knew its weaknesses and took his time thoroughly working through the terms (negotiations took 6 months). Mason insisted that Barit liquidate his beloved Jet as a precondition to merger rather than include its investment in Hudson's assets. And Mason unceremoniously closed Hudson's vehicle operations (save for engine) with no attempt to try to save it. The merger was announced in Jan. '54, workers were notified of the shutdown plans in May '54 and the plant was closed in Oct. '54. Done.

Contrast this to Nance. Poor due diligence up front, quick negotiations, poor terms that somewhat favored Studebaker and no plant closings. Had Mason survived I could just hear his conversation with Nance when it came time for the entire combine to unite. "Well Jim, I know we've been friends but like I told Barit, business is business. I intend to pick up S-P for a song and there isn't much you can do about it. You can accept my terms now or wait a few years for me to pick S-P up in bankruptcy for 10 cents on the dollar. And by the way, I can't let you run this company once I retire. You've proven yourself a great sales guy but not the type of person I am looking for to handle white knuckled business matters."