Re: Continuing the Packard

Posted by Mahoning63 On 2012/9/30 20:40:17

Agreed Howard. Only concern with the '57 Packard design would have been the severely protruding nature of the grill, which I think you had also mentioned in the thread about the Turnpike Cruiser-based Packard last year. Maybe in those GM Dagmar days Packard felt it needed a male symbol? :) Whatever it was thinking, having never seen these cars in the flesh we are left having to trust those who created and knew them intimately, like Schmidt when he wrote to Nance in mid-55 that the Packard design was looking very good. It should be said that this was the same guy who mucked up the early 60s Chryslers and arrogantly claimed that S-P had the best design dep't in the industry.

The basics of the '57 Packard proposal appear sound except for perhaps the severe lateral overhang, i.e. the body hanging way outboard of the wheels. The industry has since learned this to be a design no-no. At the time though it was common and accepted by the public. I would sum up the '57 Packard's prospects by saying that if Nance had learned his lesson from the '55 about quality and made this an inviolable despite what would likely have been another product development and manufacturing rush job, the cars would have done well. The fact that they would have come out a year before the Lincoln would have helped, the Lincoln looking like the one that copied while giving the 4-square theme more momentum. And as phsnkw pointed out, the Packard's basic design could have been toned down in the early Sixties to keep it in times with the competition.

The '57 Clipper concept that Schmidt's team created was, imho, the biggest risk. Just can't see any value in it. Had Nance decided to drop Clipper that year, dual his Hudson and Packard dealers and let Wasp and Hornet cover the Olds/Buick segments, which design would Hudson have used? They needed a stunner that would generate volume.