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Guscha,

Thanks for the reply and clarification. So Maybach is now kind of a Rolls Royce engine-maker entity, whether or not they're making cars.

Your description of the array of parts and materials in the war surplus trucks reminds me of the old saying, "It's held together with tissue paper and spit."

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Yes, there was an odd statement by a German (I think) contributor to the YouTube video feedback that stated that the Russians, being in the cold north, decided that Diesel would be the way to go, and gasoline was more appropriate for the warmer climes of Germany due to fuel gelling qualities, when the opposite is actually true-- diesel gels more easily.

Were both the Russians (probably less familiar with Diesel engines, invented in Germany) and the Germans, thinking bass-ackwards?

I would suspect that Germany simply had a greater supply of gasoline than fuel oil from the refineries like those in Pelosi (famous in America for the costly but ultimately successful B24 bombings that occurred there).

This subject is interesting to me, but I always feel a bit sad about the animosity that existed back then. and how I wish it had never been so.

I think automotive marketing is different now, but not necessarily an inferior environment for new entries into the market. Look at the ones popping up in the last few years. (I won't name any here because it would probably start a war about whether they're "viable" or not). Just because they have never-before-heard-of names doesn't mean that someone won't adopt a traditional, unused name for their new specialty car at some point. Why not Packard? Beats Oldsmobile, IMHO.

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What, aren't we people? And which one of us would say we don't care about individuality? Or old-school? Granted, we're not a majority, but a large, dedicated minority can do a lot to move specialty products.

When I say

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I am referring to the cookie cutter SUV's and what few remaining automobiles that are mostly foreign rather than American made and hard to tell apart. There isn't any "individuality" as with the cars of the 1950s-1960s where all you had to do is look and can tell if it was a Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, Ford, Mercury, Rambler, Studebaker, etc... and what year from it's trim or lights. The Ford LTD that used the same body for 10 years started the demise of style changes.

As far as "old school" you are right, we are a niche but when you spend millions or billions on tooling, labor, and marketing... you want to appeal to the masses. Today's buyers in the age group under 30 have zero interest in things "old". I know... I have seen it in almost every area of sales from what brides register to home floor layouts, to movies, even cars. Old traditional values that our parents and grandparents and their parents on back believed in do not fit into today's society no fuss low maintainance lifestyle.

Eric

The market did respond well to the PT Cruiser, and the new Beetle, MINI, Mustang, Camaro, Fiat 500, and Charger. Also interesting that young and old buyers are attracted to these revived models. Granted, these models are for a more narrow market segment than the cookie cutter SUVs and sedans that predominate auto sales these days. It seems a small market still exists for individual and retro looking automobiles.

(o[]o)

The PT Cruiser was an exception since it started the retro craze and had a fan base but ran its course. It was introduced in 2000 and ended in 2010 with only 5,000+ cars sold that year.

The MINI and VW and Fiat 500 have been around for decades and have fan bases even if there were some hiatus.

Mustang... is getting old and tiresome to look at. It was great when introduced in 2005 but the novelty wore off quick. By the way, the Ford Probe (1989-1997) of was supposed to be the design replacement for the Mustang but fans screamed bloody murder so they made Probe a separate model.

Camero. This is the only exciting looking car of the bunch. It has a raw and yet sleek edge to it. But it was only gone as a brand between 2002-2010.

The bottom line is yes, there are some who will purchase these retros. Will they in today's market of uncertain value depreciation, possibly not. People tend to gravitate to cars that will sell to a general public quicker even as used cars. This also means more cookie cutter models.

And besides, ask a person born within the past 40 years what a Packard is and they will most likely point you to a computer!

Wanted to also add that the above cars such as the Mustang, falls in that lackluster list of "individuality" lacking vehicles. You really can't tell which year is which in the past 5-years.

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John, that's a good point. Young and old, male and female, across classes and cross-cultural.

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The so-called market segment already consists of two million sold Mini's (that means new Mini's). To illustrate the proportions by the help of a vivid picture imagine that the Mongolian hordes of Genghis Khan consisted of two hundred thousand warriors at the peak of his Empire.


Genghis Khan monument, 131 ft., stainless steel, not photoshopped





[picture source: Wikipedia]

Packard can be revived successfully, no question about it. Look at what VW has done with Bentley, a company that was all but gone. My pick for the OEM to do it is Honda. They have the technical know-how and are very independent-minded like Packard was. And what better place to build the new car than in Warren, Ohio where it all began. Honda's U.S. operations would only be 3 hours away in Marysville, OH.