Re: One Story Assembly Plant What If?

Posted by Steve203 On 2014/5/15 10:46:52

<i>I believe Packard's offerings of the 120 and later 110 "junior" cars re-energized the company, brought middle-income buyers into its dealerships, and bolstered the company</i>

During the depression, cheap models helped everyone who offered them. Cadillac had LaSalle. A DeSoto was a cheap Chrysler. Studebaker finally crawled out of bankruptcy with the Champion.

The problem was, the cheap models degraded the brand. LaSalle was killed in 40. DeSoto died in 61. Studie let the Champion drag the entire line down until the only difference between a Champion, Commander and President by 56 was trim and engine.

Nance was aware of this and tried to break Clipper off as a stand alone brand by deleting the Packard nameplates, but the customers and dealers objected. That is where Studebaker could have had a role with Packard: providing a recognized nameplate for the Clipper platform, which, until the postwar years, was fully the equal of Buick or Olds, and leaving Packard to burnish it's reputation as a top line model.