Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

This has evolved into a really interesting thread!

The device is much more interesting than I thought. I just thought that round cylinder has to be an electric motor.

It seems that Trico's vacuum wiper motors are quite similar in design but the paddle rotates less than 180 degrees and they aren't very long compared to this one.

Owen_Dyneto: I posted the wood gas Packard picture to the pre-war side.

kanadanmajava, Don't sell the taxi based cars short. They have many features that regular production cars lack. They are built very heavy duty. Heavier springs, heavy duty clutch, heavy duty brakes, commercial rear end, special generator and voltage regulator, crankcase ventilation, large capacity radiator, special interior that could be hosed out if necissary ( no cloth or carpet ) Special frames around the side glass to prevent accidential breakage, opening rear window for better ventalation, shorter turning radius than regular passenger cars, they are lighter weight and easier to manuver with less effort.
The biggest drawback that I have found is the low rear end gear ratio and parts availability. I have owned my 47 taxi for 18 years and drive at legal highway speeds 65-70 mph and have not encountered any major problems. I had a water pump failure and voltage regulator malfunction. One other thing that the taxi I have it was not equiped with turn signals. The car you pictured looks like a good survivor and should provide someone good service. Packardtaximan

It seems that Packard really put some effort to conquer the taxi market. I wonder why they gave up after 1950?

Some sources blamed it for being too expensive but I couldn't find any MSRP for any taxicab models.

I looked that Trico cylinder again with fresh eyes. The paddle doesn't turn 180 degrees in that either. And if it's operating the window with a lever more than 180 degrees wouldn't even work...

I also noticed that in '48-'49 short wheelbase taxicab was actually the same model as a six cylinder export model. Now I need to find some photo an export model in Finland. It would be quite interesting if those would have an opening rear windows too.

The 21st series (combined 1946 and 1947) taxi production is given in the Neal book as 2000 of the partition type and 3783 of the sedan type. Factory price range for the partition type (2184) ran from $1838 to $1952, and from $1945 to $2341 for the sedan style (2186), depending on optional equipment.

As to why Packard gave up the taxi business, you might think about getting a copy of the Neal book, there's about 15 pages to the story. By far the largest taxi market was New York City and the whole Packard-Federal business revolves around their needs and requirements, and of course stiff competition, mostly from DeSoto.