Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Hmm,


Packard was a smaller car builder compared by Chevrolet and Ford, so it's also normal that more Chevies are around then Packards.
The negative side for us is that our cars maybe aren't so 'popular' as the others, but we have the advantage to have something special in our garage, let's say 'more exclusive'.

It's just pitty that for example the 1/18 scale models for Packard are limited to a few models. I'm looking for a '56 Clipper and till yet... nope... .

Xavier

I own a 56 Super Clipper and while it is a nice looking car it just isn't proportioned as well as a 56 Chevy. It looks kind of fat. Now, if you want to talk engineering, I think the Packard suspension takes the cake, but that is secondary to most people, especially in the 50's. I'll also think the 57 Ford is ugly, just like the edsel and I wouldn't want to own one. But the GM cars of the late 50's are all pretty nice. I like the BOP cars as much as the chevies.

to me 50s chevies have nothing on the Packard for style. i see the chevies on barrett jackson and i just don't see anything in them. show me a Packard any day and i will DROOOLLL!

my perspective having not grown up in the 50s.....i like the Packard way better. maybe i would have thought different if i had grown up then. idk.

Hank

Interesting question that this April 23, 1956 Time Magazine article sheds some light on. I have my own personal thought on what cars from those years look good / better / best but defer to those who voted with their money at the time the cars were new. The Time article seems to indicate two key factors in answering the original question as to why people these days prefer a tri-five Chevy over the S-P 55 / 56 offering being General Motors in a big upsurge and S-P producing 30% less than in 55. Interestingly, in the face of producing 30% less the author goes on to say that the backlog in dealers hands [indicating unsold units] is [was] big. Clearly, even in a reported shrinking market, for whatever reason, GM had what the people who were buying automobiles wanted in those years.

I suppose the only way to truly understand why would be to ask those who purchased the tri-fives as new vehicles why they chose to do so.

Jim

Quote:

1. Everybody was doing it, so go with the crowd.
2. With their volume, GM could simply offer a better car for the same money.
3. Packard was obviously circling the drain and any intelligent, value-conscious buyer knows an orphan car takes a huge hit on trade-in. (My parent's perfect '56 Hudson Hornet with the Packard V8 and TwinUltramatic was traded in for next to nothing on a '63 Ford and the dealer sent it straight to the scrap yard.)

jack vines

Agree with Jack. I grew up in small town 50's and GM - mostly Chevy was the big thing with my crowd in our neck of the woods. They were new, stylish, affordable, had the V8 but still economical and plenty of dealers. Fords and Mercs were still considered somewhat stodgy--even the 57's. Chrysler styling and the hemi was well received but still considered another old mans car and expensive.

My father had two 51 Packards and there was a third older one around town but not something any teen in good standing would even consider--unless it was free as the one I drove sort of was. The dealer being 150 miles away so we couldn't see them didn't help. Nothing else was around save the occasional AMC product also driven by old people.

One thing Jack mentioned was the circling of wagons and he couldn't be more accurate. I have several issues of Motor Trend from the era which was almost akin to the authority with each new issue being devoured and discussed. Almost every one starting mid 55 seemed like it had something in the Detroit report column about Packard and Studebaker issues and looking like they would not last the year.

Comparing Packard (and Clipper) to Chevy and Ford is like comparing apples to oranges.

The Packard-Clipper lines were intended to compete with brands like Cadillac-Buick-Oldsmobile, Lincoln-Mercury, and Chrysler-DeSoto. I'd venture a guess that Packard's dealer count was more on par with that of their intended competition, which were also lower in sales volume than the bread-n-butter Chevy and Ford cars. Also, keep in mind that Chevy and Ford were engaged in a fierce sales war and were literally dumping cars to outsell the competition.

Meanwhile, Packards and Clippers should look "fat" as they were supposed to be a BIG car. Of course, their infrastructure dates back to the 1951 (24th Series) cars.

Agree to a point. I took the competition into account. Doubt anyone would know what a Clipper was in my area so you might have a point there. Being so sparse, no Packard advertising I can remember seeing or reading but was undoubtedly mentioned in car mags. Normal teenage boys just didn't spend much time looking at anything Packard. I saw my first actual Clipper (a 56) in early 60's on the Chevy dealer used car lot but only knew it was a Packard. Asked about it and found out it had been traded in on a 60 or 61 Impala. Was priced under $500 but might as well have been 500 thousand to a poverty stricken teenager.

Even though a small town of around 5000, we had almost all the dealers locally or fairly close except Packard. AMC, Studebaker was in other nearby small towns as was VW and other foreign cars. Full line Chrysler was local and did fairly well with a large dealership. GM had two outlets and a funny split there now that I think about it. Chevy-Olds and Buick-Pontiac. Cadillac was out of town. Lincoln, Merc, Ford represented locally but not very large.

In the mid-late 50's GM was still king with sales to match. Lots of ads both local and on TV--same with Ford & Chrysler products. All makes were pretty well represented in the school lot. There was even a TBird, a kid with a new Corvette from dad every year and an Opel even appeared when those came over but no question mid 50 Chevy outdid them all.

the reason chevy and ford are more appealing to the market today is the fact that they made so many of them compared to packard . chevy's and ford's are pretty easy to find and restore. they where cheaper car back in the day so during the hot rod boom that was the common car and along came the following for that style, also many movies of that era portrayed the rebel kid driving a 55 chevy or a ford. and everybody likes that image of days gone by. packards are seen more as a family or a grandpas car. but that aside i for one love the looks of a packard

Here are vintage pictures of the mid 50's to the early 60's. There isn't a Packard to be found. Maybe this was the problem.

It's like playing Where's Waldo,...except you never find him.

How could Packard compete? They were drowned in a bunch of Fords/Chevys/Chrysler!!!

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