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Packard V8-- Refer to my first response on this thread--the Utica engine plant was built by Packard to be a defense plant, it's cost was to be borne by the considerable defense work Packard did, that building was constructed for the J-47 jet engine manufacturing that Packard did under contract from the gub-ment. "Engine" Charlie Wilson was successful in getting the contracts away from everyone else and over to GM, his old employer. I believe that in the case of the J-47 it was retired and Packard did not get the contract for the replacement. As part of a larger plan to get out of the East Grand Boulevard plant, and with plans to build a modern assembly plant in Utica they decided to shift production of the engines, transmissions and (for '55) the rear end assemblies in this modern plant they owned and had no other use for.
The Connor plant was a serious screw up, I have friends who worked for the company at the time and they were all convinced that Nance was out to kill the company as fast as he could.
Packard planned on adding on to Connor, they knew that it was undersized and saw that there was room around the plant to build "when things get better".
In my first response I cite Chrysler as the one company that held on to its multi-story factories longer than others, at the time of the end of Dodge main (pronounced "Dodche Main" to the Stosh and Wadju's who worked there) Chrysler was also operating the former Briggs Mack ave. body plant and the massive Jefferson Ave. Assembly plant.
I watched them demolish Dodge main, I have slides I took of it and the Packard plant back then, 1981.

PackardV8 wrote: Quote:

Except that you misspelled it, Keith.

apropos: Adjective: Very appropriate to a particular situation

Craig

Mr PB. Thanks for the more detailed explanation.

Craig. Thanks for the spelling correction.

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I've never gotten the impression that Nance was out to kill the company; seems to me he was juggling crises and simply ran out of time/money/made some bad decisions.

Am I correct that Connor was used because suddenly Packard found itself back in the body business? And because Nance was convinced he needed a 1-story plant?

Would things have been any different if he'd ignored that and somehow used East Grand to make bodies?

Or is there too much I don't know about Packard's facilities (not to mention I was born in the year of the "true" Packard's demise... )....

In the "Random Photo" feature here there was a picture of the Conner Plant. That plant looked to be a city block long and was not one-storied. At least it was three or four storied. How much room does a manufacturer need to produce bodies? And if the Conner Plant was multi-storied, why not use the Packard facilities on East Grand?

What ever happened to George Christopher's "twin-production lines" that were supposed to increase output to two hundred thousand cars a year? Were they left to rot or not used at all?

As for what ifs, I think if George Christopher spent Packard's postwar money on buying the Willow plant after Tucker's demise (around 1948-49)then the possibilities of what happened would be changed. The new '51 model could have been moved to 1950 as well as setting up Packard for the fifties through the sixties.

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You're probably right - I don't remember if James Ward's book mentions whether Conner Ave. was 1-story or not. I'm going to have to review it - I don't recall the reasons for the Conner move now...

But I agree - why not use E. Grand? I'm sure Ward touched on that as well...

Look at picture #46 from "Packard Factory Exterior" in the photo archives. Briggs manufacturing plant on Conner Avenue.

Hi

Thanks for all your responses, interesting reading.

The interactable inertia within management precluded any swift action when an opportunity did present itself. Nance seemed to be groping out a direction in the first years of his tenure. The idea of production in a one-story facility took root in that time. It was clear by this time that more efficient, lower cost production was easier to achieve in that type of facility. The old multi-story concept had saddled most auto companies with outdated facilities by then.

As I recall, Connor Avenue fit the bill, for the most part. The confluence of events begun by Walter Briggs' passing, the family wanting out of the body business, Chrysler their dominant customer just steam-rolled Packard into leasing a facility to build their own bodies, at last. It was the least felicitous circumstance for management to deal with.

Still, the lack of square footage should have prevented them from cramming everything into that crackbox, with all the attendant drawback it would create.

The objective of a new one-story factory appended to the Utica facility for 1960 was the ideal. Bridging that period with the existing set-up i.e. Connor for body production and East Grand for final assembly until then would have prevented so many of the problems that beset them in those unfortunate days.

Steve

Connor was a single story plant with a partial second floor located at the front (Connor ave.) side. Assembly of seat frames took place in the upper floor during Packard production there.
It looked somewhat like a four story building but had very high ceilings inside.
Steve--good responses, spot on. Chrysler originally intended on operating Briggs for the independent customers, at least until they found out the P/L side of it, then they changed their minds. Packard could have moved all of the equipment back to EGB, but there was some problem over who owned what (from what I read once)much of the equipment was purchased by Packard in the 120-110 expansion days, was sent to Briggs to be used there and there was no solid record of these events, this many years later, and Chrysler felt that they belonged to them and the easiest thing to do was to lease the facility from Chrysler and stay out of court over what may have been a decision made between Alvan Macauley and Walter Briggs over lunch at the DAC and no paperwork was created.
Nance did not set out to kill packard, but that was an opinion shared by many old-timers who weren't used to much changing, and Nance changed a lot in a short period of time. I have a friend who is now about 90, he holds fast to that opinion, and I leave it at that when discussing Packard with him.

Hi John

Thanks for the insights about the plant equipment, it makes sense those type of deals took place between principals in those days. That is an insight only a man with insider connections would have, great to have it shared.

Do you have any information about how long the EGB dual assembly lines were employed? One would think that would have been the prefect set-up to separate the middle-priced from the luxury model production given the differential in labor content to create each.

Nance certainly had the long-term objectives of survival and revival for Packard. Unhappily, his lack of auto industry experience caused him to assume everything could be done at once to correct the problems he found. And he seemed to operate as if Packard had an endless bottom to its finances to execute those needed changes. Drain the money, kill the company.

Steve

PS: P/L?