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OR, they could have done what they did in '56, made the Clipper a separate make. They could have used the "Clipper" name in the early to mid '30s, can't be any worse than "Rockne" or "Terraplane" or "Lafayette". Don't even get me started on "Whippet"!!

Peter, Here in North America Mercedes Benz, BMW and to a lesser extent Volvo for many years had a reputation as a makers of luxury cars only since none of these makers imported the lower end cars, vans and trucks here. I suspect this was to maintain the image of luxury and exclusivity. Packard did differentiate between the junior and senior lines by naming them the Six (110), Eight (120) and the Seniors the Super Eight and Twelve and in 1940 the 160 and 180 much as BMW does now with it's 3,5,7,8 series. I always found Cadillac to have the most confusing nomenclature with it's numbering system Model 60, 62,63, 75, 90 etc. My view is that Packard would have died along with Pierce-Arrow, Marmon, Peerless and all the other luxury car makers had it not been for the 120. The Six was probably the car that should have been given a different look and name as it took the Packard name down market too far but we will never know.

You are probably correct is saying that the SIX diluted the Packard reputation , but the smaller Packards were received so enthusiastically and Packard was in such a strong position before WW11. I suspect that the reorganisation after the war was never really a success and Packard depended too much on facilities owned by other parties, such as Briggs. Packard and others suffered badly from labour problems after the war, but smaller non diversified Companies such as Packard felt the problems more acutely. We only have to look at modern computer or car companies to see how competitive it is out there. Peter Toet