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When I'm asked "Packard -Who makes that?" I tell them that Packard merged with Hewlett and they seem to go away happy

Hasn't got anything to do with identifying the year of our cars but it does reinforce the Packard name. I was caught up in the Packard legend long before I ever owned one and I was completely mystified by their prominent contribution to the war effort. Whenever the opportunity to discuss the subject did present itself and folks wanted to know about Packard I usually started out by telling them that other than Rolls Royce themselves, the Packard Motor Car Company was the only company that Rolls Royce trusted to build the Merlin...Most of the time the interest is coming from a generation at least half my age...the conversation usually goes something like

"What's a Merlin?"

A European bird resembling a a hawk but also the name of the Rolls Royce engine that powered several of the allied forces aircraft.

"And Packard built the engine for Rolls Royce"?

In a way...they gave Packard the patent rights while the war was going on because Rolls couldn't produce them in adequate volume to meet demand...you ever heard of a P-51 Mustang?

"uh...no, can't say I have"

Well, I'll just say this...it was a superior U.S. built aircraft that Packard engineers designed and built the Merlin for with a Wright 2 stage Supercharger and when they stuck it in the P-51 Mustang...it was so fierce and affective in the skies over Germany it had that tyrant Hitler's German Shepards howling the Star Spangled Banner...

I haven't had any of them ask me who Hitler was yet so at least some things are not being politically corrected to the point of escaping identity...

Also tell them that even today, 65 years later, the P-51 with the Packard engine is still the fastest piston/prop airplane ever built and still dominates the racing circuit.

About 4 years ago i had the opportunity to ride in a packard powered P-51. It was a fund raiser for the Olympic Air Museum near Olympia Washington. The experience was amazing, fantastic and one i will never forget.

I get why pilots loved this plane. Packard missed a great marketing window with this engine.

John Meehan

I may be wrong but I remember reading somewhere that the Mustang was originally supplied by North American Aircraft Corp to the RAF with a V-12 Allison engine. They found this engine to have limitations either with power or ability to perform at higher altitudes so they first transplanted the Merlin engine into a few with great results and also fitted a bubble canopy as was fitted to the Spitfire for greater vision and these improvements transformed the Mustang into the great plane it is.
The Merlin has been quoted as ''The engine that won the war'' being used in so many different variants. Not to detract from Packard in anyway without whose ability to produce the Merlin in great numbers could mavbe have seen a different outcome to the war.
The sight of a Spitfire, P-51 or Hurricane in flight and the sound of a Merlin engine are things to behold...

Right you are about the RAF being the first to fit a Merlin to a Mustang. I don't think the Brits did the bubble canopy, it was most probably North American Aviation as this feature did not appear until the D models. I have two videos of the Collings Foundation's P-51C taxing and doing a low fly-by. They are too large to load here, but the sound is glorious. The C model still has the razor back styling, which I personally prefer.

(o[]o)

Even our oldest Packard driver, Margaret Dunning (age 101) bemoans the same phenominum in this video

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/07/08/automobiles/collectibles/100000000895665/two-classics-one-car.html

She tells how people approach her with her 1930 740 Roadster and say "Grandpa had one just like that!" when it wasn't even the same make.