Re: The Sudden End of the Detroit Packards

Posted by ECAnthony On 2014/1/25 17:06:02

A few minor points, perhaps. George Romney was NOT the head of the AMA in 1948, George Mason was. (Alvan Macauley had retired as president of the AMA in 1946.) Mason remained president of the AMA until his death in 1954. Romney was the head of the Detroit office of the AMA (Macauley had hired him in 1940 for the job). After not seeing Macauley - his old boss - for 2 years, Romney decided to pay him a visit at East Grand Blvd in February of 1948. After they talked for a while, Macauley, out of the blue, offered Romney a job at Packard "as an executive and a member of the [Packard] board of directors. Romney replied that he was honored and would certainly consider it. The next day Macauley had him see George Christopher... and they worked out the terms of the contract." [from The Story of George Romney, by Tom Mahoney] Two days later, a contract was drawn up by Packard's Henry Bodman, and Hugh Ferry was informed "We are hiring George Romney." Romney then called Mason, on vacation in Bermuda at the time, to inform him that he would be leaving the AMA for PMCC. Mason asked him not to do anything until he got back into town. Once Mason talked to Romney, Romney made the hard decision to join Nash.

At about the same time (!) the Packard board of directors turned down Mason's offer to "merge" Nash with Packard -- it would have been a takeover, as what happened in 1954 to Hudson. After these twin turndowns by Romney and his own Packard board, Macauley left Packard, never to return.