Re: Ex-Packard Designers

Posted by Leeedy On 2014/7/18 10:13:48

Regarding Dick Teague, Mitchell-Bentley and Creative Industries of Detroit... and speaking of books... you will see some surprises in a new book due out next year on Creative. It was a closely kept secret, but Dick Teague actually had a studio at Creative.

Also RE: John Reinhart...actually John had some very futuristic ideas that never saw metal...uh, largely because they were originally intended to be made in fiberglass. He intended these cars as Packards. And this was over a decade before the appearance of a Corvette. Some of Reinhart's future Packards appeared in an article in Esquire magazine in 1941. World War II prevented any of them from happening and after the war, the so-called "bathtub" styling was considered passe (for some reason there were and ARE those who make fun of such design theme on 1948-50 Packard, but then gush praises over the same thing in a Porsche. Go figure).

The beautiful Continental Mark II indeed had some Reinhart DNA in it. But others were involved too. Of course, that car was conceived as an open car and thus the explanation of how and why the roof and header were designed as they were.

But had Jim Nance succeeded in pulling a rabbit out of a hat with Packard and continued on through the 1957-58 new Packard model years (with real Packards) you can rest assured that there were plans to make a new 12-cylinder luxury personal car. And this one would have made you forget all about the Mark II-as lovely as it was.