Re: The absolute last Packard manufactured.

Posted by Fish'n Jim On 2015/2/2 16:29:59

Fuel injection, like the supercharger, was invented back in the teens. I don't know why it wasn't adopted earlier, but suspect it wasn't perfected to the level of the carburetor and the price of fuel kept it from adding value. The GM 50's fuelie units didn't help the image. At the same time, they tweaked carb design about every year until the use fell off.
Turbocharging was another invention that should have been in common use, based on efficiency, HP gains, etc. It was in use only in heavy engines. We wouldn't have had all the gas consumption that we had(aka oil addiction), if it had been adopted earlier, now today's "eco boost". But the stories go, the oil guys were in cahoots with the detroit boys - scratching each others back. Back in the day, there were always stories/rumors about a patent or patent holder for mileage improvement being "bought out" by GM. Packard may have also fell to some Big 3 "tactics", like Tucker, etc. But that's like the Yeti and UFOs, more mythology than proof.