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Some side foil. First at Executive location, second at Patrician and with fins dropped a bit. Fury's shorter decklid could have probably been used, saving Packard more money. One benefit of a Chrylser tie-up over the '58 Lincoln is that a thoroughly modern Packard could have been readied by early '57.

Geez, if Colbert and Nance could have struck a deal, Packard could have ridden this thing for 20 years. 1960 would have brought New Yorker's unibody, an improvement. Had Packard offered an independent torsion rear, extended greenhouse and lengthened hood/wheelbase all the while, would have made for quite a run of luxury cars. At some point Packard could have perhaps perfected and introduced fuel injection. Studebaker could have borrowed Plymouth's medium and/or small cars the whole time to keep the dealers afloat. Packard could have offered sporty coupes and convertibles based on the Charger/Sebring platform. The parts bin was almost endless.

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I like it! Ready to tackle the grille?

About as ready as I am to jump out of a plane. Everyone who's tried this since '42 only got themselves tackled.

OK, what theme? Has to be legit for the times, nothing that cheats by knowing the future. We got:

- '56 Packard, evolved to fit wider lower car
- '55 Request, evolved to fit wider lower car
- '57 Packard Schmidt Team proposal w/Predictor grill and hooded double lights
- same but with hidden lights
- strong cohesive shape like '57 Chrysler 300 and '54 Firearrow 3 & 4, done up in ox yoke shape and double lights on each side located TBD
- same but with hidden lights
- '57 Packard Hawk and '58 Packard
- same but with hidden lights
- wasteland of goop like '57 Imperial, '58 Lincoln and too many other cars of the era
- something else

My skills aren't that good with front mods but will try. Some of the themes above I refuse to entertain. What are your preferences?

Botch job #1... the 4th option, which is also the Lincoln hidden headlight theme I posted earlier. Looking past my inability to bring it to life, there might have been some opportunity. In a batmobile sort of way.

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I think it's working. I can see the fron bumper wrap around becoming the top edge of the reynolds wrap, and the rear bumper wrap around flowing from the lower edge.

An alternate to the Predictor/Futura front might be a Ghia design with the headlights inboard of the leading fender edges.

This is pretty competitive for 1958-59. The Lincoln was a pig, the Imperial a decent shape with as you said an overly busy front, the Cadillac hangs together but is hardly restrained elegance.

Maybe you can replace the origami folder in Warren doing Cadillac these days

Maybe you can replace the origami folder in Warren doing Cadillac these days

The Aztek guys had to go somewhere when Pontiac folded.

Great thoughts and suggestions. Try these Ghia themes on for size. Included the 300 for reference, toggle between to see the changes. The first attempt brings in the ox yoke but keeps the 300 grill's inner mesh. The second moves further from the 300 with a toned down mesh and a strong chrome inner grill surround like the Firearrows. At the center is a shrunken version of the Predictor's beautiful chrome shield. The whole ensemble has, I think, a distinctive jeweled appearance that is more tasteful and restrained than Cadillac.

Doing the mental gymnastics to arrive at how this design might have come to pass, consider this storyline: Nance urges Colbert to share a platform or Packard won't be able to finish paying Chrysler for Conner. Ike throws in a kicker in the form of new defense work for Chrysler. Colbert reluctantly agrees but threatens to bail a dozen times over the next dozen months. What keeps him on board is the master himself, Virgil Exner. You see, Ex may work for Chrysler but his love of the great marques transcends all. The moment he gets wind that Packard is a partner he takes a keen, if time-limited, interest. When Schmidt and Teague show up at his studio to get briefed on the 57's, Ex pulls them aside and says "Look guys, I understand what you are attempting up front in trying to reintroduce and modernize the classic Packard grill but the whole thing - lights, bumper, grill, foil, everything - is fighting each other. Consider this... the '57 Imperial is going its own way up front which means the 300 will have a one-off grill completely different from the rest of our line-up. As you can see, it's much more like my Firearrows. It just might work for you so long as you keep some distance between the 300 and Packard. You also need to keep in mind that our '60 Chryslers are moving in this direction too. I really like your Predictor's chromed grill motif and it got me thinking the other night. Take a look over here, I worked up a few drawings for you to think about..."

Over the next year, every time Colbert wavers it is Ex who brings him back on board, feeding him every reason under the sun why Packard is important.

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Hmm, #1 looks too much like the '60 New Yorker, #2 like the '60 300. Somehow there's got to be a way to use this theme for Packard, something lasting.

May have been opportunity to finesse the chrome elements inside the grill.

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bkaz - foil as you suggested, plus skirts.

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