Re: Clippers at the Motor Muster.
Posted by Mahoning63 On 2015/7/27 19:14:19
Hi Steve,
Thanks as usual for the education... and the motivation to dig deeper into this what-if.
You're right, Packard needed to spearhead advanced innovations, and some of what you mentioned could have been hurried for the 1958 transformation.
Read the new caption in the ad below to see what else Santa could have brought. And see if you can find a few styling tweaks, one of which would have allowed a wider track, which the Ford-suspended Mercury sorely needed and Torsion-Level would have allowed.
Consider this: Mercury and Lincoln execs have a meeting with Nance in mid to late-1956. They ask what he had planned for '57 and are shown the fiberglass full scale models. They also learn that Packard engineers had been seriously investigating a V12 based on the new V8 and had envisioned an independent rear suspension, even mentioned it in a Predictor fact sheet. Then the execs discover that the V8 tooling will be sent to Conner and sold for pennies on the dollar.
"Click" goes the light bulb in each of their heads!
They advise The Deuce to definately buy Packard and inform him that Ford will not only get the V8 tooling on the cheap but that for a few million more, the Packard engineers could finish the V12. No they admit, such an engine would not be needed in a late-50's car. Yes they boast, such an engine would help Ford finally one-up Sixty Special, with Lincoln taking on Sedan DeVille. And they finish the pitch by explaining to him that because the new Packard's body structure and front doors will come for free courtesy Mercury, and that Conner, with suitable expansion to build the V12, will be relatively inexpensive to operate, the business case will show a profit on as little as 5,000 units per year.
"Do it guys" is the only reply, and off to the races they go. First step: they cancel the '58 Park Lane... there is now bigger fish to fry. Second, they halt the Wixom Lincoln, convincing MacPherson that a T-Bird based Mark III will give him the same volume and can be paid for with the money allocated for '58 Park Lane. Third, they focus on the new Packard for 1958, paying for it with the money that had been allocated for the Wixom Lincoln. And finally, they scheme how to pay for the all-new Mercury-based '59 Lincoln, the '58 Lincoln now going back to the originally planned carryover '57. Ultimately they combine the money that would have created the '59 Park Lane with the money allocated for the aborted '59 Mercury-based Edsel.
Confusing? Perhaps a wee bit.
Attach file:
(67.01 KB)
Thanks as usual for the education... and the motivation to dig deeper into this what-if.
You're right, Packard needed to spearhead advanced innovations, and some of what you mentioned could have been hurried for the 1958 transformation.
Read the new caption in the ad below to see what else Santa could have brought. And see if you can find a few styling tweaks, one of which would have allowed a wider track, which the Ford-suspended Mercury sorely needed and Torsion-Level would have allowed.
Consider this: Mercury and Lincoln execs have a meeting with Nance in mid to late-1956. They ask what he had planned for '57 and are shown the fiberglass full scale models. They also learn that Packard engineers had been seriously investigating a V12 based on the new V8 and had envisioned an independent rear suspension, even mentioned it in a Predictor fact sheet. Then the execs discover that the V8 tooling will be sent to Conner and sold for pennies on the dollar.
"Click" goes the light bulb in each of their heads!
They advise The Deuce to definately buy Packard and inform him that Ford will not only get the V8 tooling on the cheap but that for a few million more, the Packard engineers could finish the V12. No they admit, such an engine would not be needed in a late-50's car. Yes they boast, such an engine would help Ford finally one-up Sixty Special, with Lincoln taking on Sedan DeVille. And they finish the pitch by explaining to him that because the new Packard's body structure and front doors will come for free courtesy Mercury, and that Conner, with suitable expansion to build the V12, will be relatively inexpensive to operate, the business case will show a profit on as little as 5,000 units per year.
"Do it guys" is the only reply, and off to the races they go. First step: they cancel the '58 Park Lane... there is now bigger fish to fry. Second, they halt the Wixom Lincoln, convincing MacPherson that a T-Bird based Mark III will give him the same volume and can be paid for with the money allocated for '58 Park Lane. Third, they focus on the new Packard for 1958, paying for it with the money that had been allocated for the Wixom Lincoln. And finally, they scheme how to pay for the all-new Mercury-based '59 Lincoln, the '58 Lincoln now going back to the originally planned carryover '57. Ultimately they combine the money that would have created the '59 Park Lane with the money allocated for the aborted '59 Mercury-based Edsel.
Confusing? Perhaps a wee bit.
Attach file:
(67.01 KB)
This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=164681