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Video shot from the passenger seat, of the Predictor being driven at the Amelia Island show last month. The driver is Studebaker Museum archivist Andrew Beckman. Beckman is about 6 feet tall and notice how cramped he is. His head is sticking out of the retractable roof and he is several inches short of adequate legroom.

vimeo.com/125516631

Thanks for posting. No car for me then ...

What's wrong with the windscreen? Is it made of perspex?

Regards,
Clemens

good article about Predictor tells why windshield not repaired or replaced
hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2006/05/01/hmn_feature4.html

Hi

Thanks for the video link, must have been nerve-racking to drive such a rare, irreplaceable artifact on the public roads even a short distance. I recall watching it being slowly, carefully driven at the Centennial for display.

The Predictor is the typical concept car i.e. created for maximum visual impact but a mass of compromises that would make it impractical for production or customer use.

Steve

Quote:

If you find this Hemmings article of interest, then certainly the bigger and more detailed article that appeared in The Packard Comorant magazine regarding the Predictor history would also be of interest. This Packard Club publication reveals and interviews the one of the original men who built the scale model of Predictor and the black 1957 Four Hundred.

Regarding videos... The Packard Club has for many years had a video on the web site of the uncrating of the Predictor at the Packard Plant on East Grand Blvd. in Detroit after receipt from Ghia in Italy.

As for driving the one-of-a-kind Predictor out on public streets in traffic and through busy intersections... this as a very careless and extremely dangerous activity. Hardly the respect that the car deserves.

Regarding possible shortcomings of a dream concept car such as Predictor... This concept car was built in 90 days from a scale model. There was never the time, nor money to do all of refinements necessary to make Predictor on the level of a production vehicle (such as seat positioning, etc). Flippant critique of the car not meeting 90-percentile seating positions, etc. is certainly unfair. It was a miracle that it even got built and actually runs to this day. Most concept cars of that period by far bigger manufacturers never even ran! Something to think about with discussing the wonderful Packard Predictor.

Any word on the Predictor's engine cooling? It's the one thing about the concept and '57 design that made me wonder. Edsel's '58 grill was basically a big hole. The '59 seemed more constricted so maybe the engine folks had been too cautious initially. But the Packard appears to have had little or no air inlet through the slim verticle grill so the air had to come in through the bottom portion of the bumper and through the horizontal slots that wrapped into the side foil. Seemingly not much air opening overall.

The Predictor's vertical grille was not a "grille" at all-certainly not in the way that the Edsel was. The Predictor actually had a spring-loaded vertical bumper guard rather than a grille.

As for cooling, it was common that many V-8 Packard ran rather cool when new. In the case of Predictor the airflow in front was actually directed bout around the upright and under the bumper. WIth one of those huge Packard radiators (Predictor's was painted white, by the way)... the cooling was quite adequate.

Of course, again, as a concept that was rushed to finish, this car never had the chance to reach a stage where it would be refined and production ready... and therefore suitable for driving in traffic. It is a miracle that such a thing has actually happened and the Predictor actually moves and drives under its own power. Much of the credit for this goes the Creative Industries who remedied so many problems with the completed car. But Ghia also deserves immense credit for completing the Predictor in such record time.

Again. most concepts from that period were not even operable!

To quote the source behind the link from Al (acolds):

"...The rear window was set at a reverse angle, as with Teague's Balboa show car of 1953, but could be rolled down partway at the touch of a button...."



image source: carstyling.ru

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I visited the Studebaker museum right after the car had been "freshened" It was sitting out on the main floor, not behind glass as it was later. The fellow mopping the floor said that they had driven it around the block (or two) with a vehicle in front, one behind and two on each side. I asked if I could take some pics from inside and he said sure. I took many pics of the interior, overhead console etc. When I got home and sent the film to be developed, I learned the battery was dead and all the film was black. !@#$%^&

Hi

Something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day: that the Predictor exist at all and is now in the hands of professional conservators, housed in a facility where its protected and available for all to see.

Steve