Re: 1954 Packard What-If Showroom
Posted by Mahoning63 On 2013/3/30 15:39:47
Agreed they were not keeping pace. Wouldn't have begrudged them for standing pat if they had had a timeless design that needn't have been tampered with, but the contour cars, though nice, left the door open for classic Packard tailoring.
That rule of diminishing sales seems to be true unless a marque is on a roll, and boy did Packard need to get on a roll! Cadillac sales went up most of the years in question whether their design was new or carryover. Have posted this sales chart before but might be worth posting again. Had Packard simply kept pace with Cadillac from 1954 on it would have consistently sold 100,000 units annually. That's with the low priced cars included, which I would argue should not have been offered. With only $3000 and up cars beginning in 1954, and with a much more refined design and a properly proportioned series of seniors, the company might have sold 40,000 or more cars that year and made a lot more money on each. That was the key.. max margin, not max volume. The what-if line-up would have cost them no more to developed than the 55s. The limo roof was already done... was probably simply an insert welded into a standard roof. The middle doors were also done. Nance just needed to cut a deal with Feldmann at Henney to get the tools. New tooling wasn't what was needed to improve them, just good old fashioned cutting and welding. Same with the speedster... 99% labor, 1% new tooling. Price them as cost plus, take whatever volume comes and make as much hay with the advertising as possible. Certainly a company that could take the complicated Merlin engine and build it efficiently and improves its performance could figure out how to efficiently make some clever low volume cars.
The hardtop that you mentioned on the long wheelbase was absolutely in the cards. That's what the Four Hundred was. Lots of things were possible.
Was thinking about how the '56 Executive sales took off immediately. That was getting closer to the type of entry Packard that the company, imho, needed to work towards. Nance and his team fought this tooth and nail but in the end the market told them what to do.
Will post a '57 what-if showroom soon that is based on the planned Predictor-sytled cars and follows the logic of the proposed '54 showroom. Fascinating possibilities, the basic design having much to offer.
Attach file:
(40.79 KB)
That rule of diminishing sales seems to be true unless a marque is on a roll, and boy did Packard need to get on a roll! Cadillac sales went up most of the years in question whether their design was new or carryover. Have posted this sales chart before but might be worth posting again. Had Packard simply kept pace with Cadillac from 1954 on it would have consistently sold 100,000 units annually. That's with the low priced cars included, which I would argue should not have been offered. With only $3000 and up cars beginning in 1954, and with a much more refined design and a properly proportioned series of seniors, the company might have sold 40,000 or more cars that year and made a lot more money on each. That was the key.. max margin, not max volume. The what-if line-up would have cost them no more to developed than the 55s. The limo roof was already done... was probably simply an insert welded into a standard roof. The middle doors were also done. Nance just needed to cut a deal with Feldmann at Henney to get the tools. New tooling wasn't what was needed to improve them, just good old fashioned cutting and welding. Same with the speedster... 99% labor, 1% new tooling. Price them as cost plus, take whatever volume comes and make as much hay with the advertising as possible. Certainly a company that could take the complicated Merlin engine and build it efficiently and improves its performance could figure out how to efficiently make some clever low volume cars.
The hardtop that you mentioned on the long wheelbase was absolutely in the cards. That's what the Four Hundred was. Lots of things were possible.
Was thinking about how the '56 Executive sales took off immediately. That was getting closer to the type of entry Packard that the company, imho, needed to work towards. Nance and his team fought this tooth and nail but in the end the market told them what to do.
Will post a '57 what-if showroom soon that is based on the planned Predictor-sytled cars and follows the logic of the proposed '54 showroom. Fascinating possibilities, the basic design having much to offer.
Attach file:
(40.79 KB)
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