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Recently came across my late father-in-law's American Heritage magazine from Feb/Mar '86. In it Brock Yates listed his Top 10 American Cars. Can't say for sure but he may have seen the Cadillac, Marmon and Packard as equals and listed them in alphabetical order or in the order that they first appeared. For some on the list he was probably assuming the entire model run but only listed the intro year.

Where would Packard fit on your list? Which Packard(s)?

Brock's list

1. 1932 Duesenberg SJ
2. 1932 Stutz DV-32
3. 1932 Lincoln KB
4. 19XX Ford Model T
5. 1933 Pierce-Arrow 1247
6. 1930 Cadillac Sixteen
7. 1931 Marmon Sixteen
8. 1932 Packard 906 Twin Six
9. 1937 Cord 812
10. 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air V8

Paul

Even though the Model T and Chevy outsold the others by probably 10000 or more to 1 and are significant cars, I'm not sure they are deserving to be in that awfully high class company they are keeping.

Another way to look at that, Howard, is that the Model T made it POSSIBLE for the higher end cars to sell...

Perhaps they made the list from the perspective of the impact they made on popular culture and transportation.

Top 10 cars in terms of what criteria??? Since 80% of the list is 1930's cars i'm not sure how the T and 55 chev fit in. In terms of price luxury and power T and chev don;t fit the rest of the list. IT simply looks like a list of personal favorites that someone came up with.

For popular culture and transportation criteria the very expensive cars listed would have had little or no place in the list. Model A Ford 1928 - 31, Ford v8 beginning 1932, Chevies thru 1970's, Mustang begining 1965, would have to be in any list for culture and transportation impact.

Brock chose the T because it brought transportation to the masses and the 55 Chevy V8 because it brought power to same. Otherwise, here's what he said: "...the harsh truth is this: The American automobile industry experienced a massive surge of creativity practically hours before plunging into the Great Depression. But following 1955, it fell into a thirty-year slumber, from which it is now just awakening."

He often mentioned the "care and feeding" provided these cars, and quality and technology were the watchwords.

Mahoning. THank u for the explanation and insight to the list selection.

I've never been much of a Ford man however F has always been the world leader in providing revolutionary cars for the world. Model T, Model A, V8 (model B???), Mustang all were FIRSTS that the rest of the industry followed.

I'm not sure that the 55 Chevy V8 was anything that caused the rest of the industry to follow. 1955 is just a good bench mark for birth of the horse power revolution that has lasted to this day or at least thru 1972. F, C and all of the rest came out with OHV short stroke V8's too very close to the 1955 benchmark. The only claim to fame that the chevy v8 has is that there is no other engine that has a good balance compromise between power, cost, weight, etc, etc. Nothing else in the world even to this day comes close to the SBC for all characteristics that one would use as criteria to judge and engine.

The effect of the depresion era gave rise to manufacturers to build cars that gave a man plenty of car for his dollar. It was the depression. They had to in order to sell cars.

Great points all. Am not sure any 2 people could ever agree on the same list.

Ever since Brock's list came out I have had the habit of occasionally writing a top 10 list while laying in bed before I turn the lights out. Helps settle my mind. In the last 25 years it has changed hundreds of times. Its greatest value has been to force me to explore and learn about automotive history. After almost every car show I come home saying "Wow, THAT beautiful car I saw today goes on the list!" And there it stays. For a while.

The Duesenberg was on top for many years because it was "officially" the best, like AFI's long standing top movie "Citizen Kane." When I finally saw the movie I said: "Yes, it is technically brilliant but it doesn't move me like other movies I have seen". The Duesy is currently still on the list but down low. Price has a bearing, styling has tremendous importance (no surprise from this group!). So does corporate pedigree. A company like Packard worked hard for years to fine tune the art of car making while Cord chose to exit the industry relatively early. Score one for Packard, it showed in the refinement of its products.

Different companies hit their stride at different times. Different technical and styling geniuses came of age at different times. Each phase in car evolution produced outstanding efforts. For me, Packard and Pierce Arrow figure greatly pre-war, Cadillac and Lincoln post-war. Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell cars have a place. The ability to mass produce quality has a place too. I grapple with the extent to which custom cars should play a role. Not just from the Classic era but even today. There are wonderful creations being executed by talented pros these days, mostly restomods. Why shouldn't such cars have a shot at the list? Especially if an OEM left lots of room for improvement. Isn't that why some foks bought customs back in the day? And yet, price does matter. That's my big rap on customs. Some of the cars on my current list have mods - actual or theoretical - but most are minor. Except for the Pierce, whose body styling struggled to keep pace with its chassis refinement.

Try to explain all this to the typical product planner in today's car industry. You get a glassy gaze.

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"Try to explain all this to the typical product planner in today's car industry. You get a glassy gaze."

That's because the automobile no longer represents any sense of adventure to J.Q. Public. The automobile has become something more akin to a refrigerator or a swimming pool.

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Exactly. Back then (and for some of us still now), picking a car was a lot more serious and personal than deciding on a serious girlfriend. You not only considered how it looked, but what was under the hood, how it would handle, how you would feel driving it, and how other people would react when they saw you with it, how you saw yourself in your minds eye. For guys, it's just a very personal and serious experience.

Now, it's more like ordering a meal at a restaurant. If you're feeling adventurous, order something you haven't had, and if you don't like it you can ask for something else, or suffer through it and decide not to get something like that again.


"I've never been much of a Ford man however F has always been the world leader in providing revolutionary cars for the world"


I'd say that ended with the first mustang. After that, their cars were copies of more daring automakers (torrino styling copying gm a bodies like chevelle and GTO, all the way up to cars today that are pretty much copies of toyotas) Their engines were always kind of base and lackluster, with a few exceptions. With GM and Mopar, you could always order a big fast engine and handling package with some mundane car, not so with ford. They just seemed to think that a 5.0 liter was just SUCH a power upgrade. You're talking the same company that put an 88HP 4 cycl carb motor in a chevette looking hatchback and called it a mustang. The same company that almost put the mustang name on a mazda car and luckily changed that car tot he probe. Even today, most of their vehicles are just copies of other popular vehicles in the market segment. They just have good marketing. I love their F150 tagline:

"Best selling truck for howevermany straight years."

Really? So if i sell 1,000 trucks for 10 dollars and chevy or dodge sells 10 trucks for 1,000 dollars, you really think the 10 dollar truck is better? That's like saying the model t is a better car than a packard because it was cheaper and more were purchased. Blah, ford. Sheep company selling sheep cars to sheep. Just happens to be working for them.