Re: '57 Packard What-If based on Turnpike Cruiser
Posted by Mahoning63 On 2011/8/14 16:19:32
Here's an update that gives a better idea of how the Predictor theme might have looked on the TC. And well it should... I cut and pasted elements from an actual Predictor image!
Maybe this is the type of polarizing design that Packard needed for '57 to stay afloat. Hopefully they could have finessed it such that it would have turned off few and turned on many.
Assuming Ford would have required Packard to stay clear of Lincoln's turf, this car would have needed to be priced in Cadillac Eldorado territory, maybe slightly less at around $6,750. The Eldorado series - coupe and convertible - sold around 3000 units in 1957. Packard probably needed 5000 to 10,000 sales to stay afloat so the question is, how? Well, besides head turning styling with an exclusivity only the Eldorado Brougham possessed, the car would have had Torsion-Level Ride and a 440 V8 while the competition still had largely conventional suspensions and sub-400 V8 displacements.
Had Packard somehow been able to close South Bend and bring Studebaker production to Conner, even if it meant fewer Studebaker sales, there might have been a chance.
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Maybe this is the type of polarizing design that Packard needed for '57 to stay afloat. Hopefully they could have finessed it such that it would have turned off few and turned on many.
Assuming Ford would have required Packard to stay clear of Lincoln's turf, this car would have needed to be priced in Cadillac Eldorado territory, maybe slightly less at around $6,750. The Eldorado series - coupe and convertible - sold around 3000 units in 1957. Packard probably needed 5000 to 10,000 sales to stay afloat so the question is, how? Well, besides head turning styling with an exclusivity only the Eldorado Brougham possessed, the car would have had Torsion-Level Ride and a 440 V8 while the competition still had largely conventional suspensions and sub-400 V8 displacements.
Had Packard somehow been able to close South Bend and bring Studebaker production to Conner, even if it meant fewer Studebaker sales, there might have been a chance.
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