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Interested article about Durant, GM, Chevrolet, Nash,Chrysler and Packard.

hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/201 ... ld-have-doomed-chrysler-corporation

BDC, thanks for the interesting read.

So that's why Joy left..................He wanted the merger!

He was correct. In the end, being a lone wolf is what did Packard in. Without other brands at various price points Packard was like other independents, a sitting duck.

In those first decades of the industry, all kinds of mergers of various makes were in the works constantly. Most came to nothing for various reasons. The outlook was as an independent maker one could produce a car they conceived to be their best work without interference. After all, they could still point to an independent who was a blockbuster success: Ford! That situation would change during the 1920's as the industry matured and economies of scale came into play to a greater degree.

If Packard were to have joined with another automaker, Nash was probably their best choice. Charlie Nash was as savvy, experienced and conservative a manager as was found in the business. He steered his company through the Depression nearly as a profitable entity every year.

Famously frugal, his longtime friend and colleague Walter Chrysler used to like to chide him: "Hey Charlie, show us your first nickel, we know you've still got it!"

And who should Packard have avoided like the plague? Billy Durant!

Steve