Re: 1957 Packards, Predictor Style

Posted by 55PackardGuy On 2011/8/8 20:52:55

Poor old Black Bess was referred to as a "mule," and relegated to the scrap heap, cut to pieces. Why? I always wonder what was the reason for cutting her up? Losing secrets to competitors? Hardly seems likely, given that Packard knew they weren't going to be competing. Yet, the order was sent down to destroy it.

Seeing the car in white, 4-door form in the first post, I have to admit for the time it was pretty attractive and mainstream. Of course, Ford never would have been able to debut the Edsel if Packard had introduced this style front end first. it looks better than the eventual Edsel knockoff, IMHO.

P.S. I think a book like this is a great idea, and will help cement Packard's reputation as a cutting-edge engineering firm that would have had a positive impact on Detroit's offerings for throughout the late '50s, '60s... etc. It would've been hard for competitors to keep offering lame variations of the spring suspension for much longer, for instance. Instead, they hung onto it until, well, until forever!