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Re: 1931 Packard FWD
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Forum Ambassador
 
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I think several of us would enjoy seeing the pictures. Perhaps they will provoke some comment.
Posted on: 2011/11/8 18:29
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Re: 1931 Packard FWD
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Just can't stay away
 
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I have a few more but there are pretty large and shows the X pretty good. One not here shows the back (front) of the engine sitting within the X fork. The one I have attached shows where the X seems to stop where the cross rail under the engine area runs between the side rails. Another not here is a different shot looking towards the rear and can see the same there. Please don't use these photos without giving credit where credit is due. Thanks. Eric Attach file:  (128.21 KB) (135.58 KB) (141.44 KB)
Posted on: 2011/11/8 18:53
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Re: 1931 Packard FWD
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Just can't stay away
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Hmmm... people aren't exactly crashing the servers posting follow ups to this post??? 
Posted on: 2011/11/10 8:55
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Re: 1931 Packard FWD
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Forum Ambassador
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well for one thing i have no idea what i am looking at, so i have nothing to say.
Hank
Posted on: 2011/11/10 9:17
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1937 Packard 138-CD Deluxe Touring Limousine
Maroon/Black 1090-1021 [url=https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/registry/View.php?ID=232]1955 Packard |
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Re: 1931 Packard FWD
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Just can't stay away
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Hank, what you are looking at is the frame of the only built front wheel drive Packard which also still exists. It is a 1931 model and Packard was going to build FWD cars to compete with the Cord L-29 but it never got off the ground. The questions are about the X member of the frame design and history behind it being unique to this car as opposed to production Packard's of 1932 onward that started using the X brace? And also why the 1932 903-906 had its own unique X design for only one year since it was supposed to be this FWD car? Eric
Posted on: 2011/11/10 9:24
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Re: 1931 Packard FWD
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Forum Ambassador
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I really couldn't make out much from the photos either. But being a one-off prototype I suppose you could expect almost anything although it was built to be a driving prototype and not an engineering prototype.
What might help understand the situation is knowning more about the timing of events. On what date did Packard abandon the front-drive plan, and on what date was engineering completed for the Twin Six? I believe both these dates are known from Packard board meeting minutes, though I don't have them handy. I've always thought the time span was very short so to find a frame design in the Twin Six that was replaced a year later with a revised (improved?) design wouldn't be all that surprising. I sort of question your comment that the 903-906 was supposed to be a front-drive car. I had assumed that, had the front-drive come to fruition, it would have been the low-end car line, not the top-end. Just an assumption. You seem really keen on this topic - perhaps reviewing the Packard board meeting minutes of this era would be worthwhile to you.
Posted on: 2011/11/10 10:14
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Re: 1931 Packard FWD
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Just can't stay away
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I know that at least the Twin Six models were going to be FWD cars. And that when it came to show time when the FWD project was scrapped, the RWD prototype was rushed and came up with a completely different frame that looks more like the low end Eight cars of 1932. The high end Super 8 and Twin Six had a different chassis so there were two chassis production styles for 1932 and only one for 1933. Part of the puzzle was why the short lived smaller X design of the high end 1932 cars? At first I thought it was initially designed for the FWD cars but not used and altered for the RWD design but after seeing the prototype, they don't match at all. Yet, there could still be a connection between the 903-906 frame and the FWD going into proposed production? I am not a club member so don't have access to minutes so any help would be appreciated. Eric
Posted on: 2011/11/10 12:49
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Re: 1931 Packard FWD
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Just can't stay away
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Just wanted to add that the X frame connections are not by chance, or at least I don't think so. There were some of the same people who designed the Packard FWD prototype that also designed the Cord L-29 it was supposed to compete with.
There was a reason behind the Cord's X frame design and is part of Automotive history (though I may have even disproved that claim of fame recently) and wondered about the background with the Cord design connections as well as the variances mentioned above. Eric
Posted on: 2011/11/10 13:49
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