Re: What a shame

Posted by Craig the Clipper Man On 2014/2/10 10:06:08

Well, I understand your point of view. As I said, I am not particularly fond of it either. My point about giving its builder his due comes from the standpoint that at least he was thinking in terms of the present (i.e. 1999) as opposed to "tributes" to the past such as Avanti IIs, Excalibers, and Zimmers. He was trying to fashion something that could exist with a Packard badge. Had Packard survived until today, I am certain that what he came up with would not be what the company would be building. He created his concept car literally from a vacuum; whereas a continuing automobile manufacturer would develop its future models from existing ones. He build the car from the ground up, including its V-12 engine. That is no small feat and it certainly was not cheap. Since it is a one-off car, I am not surprised that there were quality and engineering issues. Packard faced those problems with its cars at various times as well, particularly in the mid 1950s and I would suspect when the company first started in 1899.

My point here is that the 1999 Packard is what it is -- an attempt by an individual to create a current model of an extinct brand. While it may not meet everyone's expectations in terms of styling and quality; this was his vision. He deserves respect for at least being willing to put his money where his mouth is; which is a hell of a lot more than most of us would be willing to do.