Packard, founded in Warren, Ohio in 1899 and soon moved to Detroit, spent the first half of the twentieth century at the top of American luxury motoring. Its prices kept it exclusive, its engineering kept it desirable, and its wartime production of Merlin aircraft engines made it nationally important. Through the 1920s it was consistently the best-selling luxury car in the country, the carriage of presidents and tycoons.
The postwar decade turned against it. Cadillac had a modern overhead-valve V8 by 1949; Packard did not until 1955, by which time its quality had slipped. In desperation, management merged with Studebaker — a struggling mass-market maker — on 1 October 1954, and the deal drained Packard’s cash. The last car that was genuinely a Packard was built on 25 June 1956. For two more years the name was stamped on rebadged Studebakers, the so-called Packardbakers, until production ended on 16 July 1958. The name was dropped from the company itself in 1962.
Worth remembering
- During the Second World War Packard built more than 55,000 Merlin V-12 aircraft engines under licence from Rolls-Royce — the engines that powered the P-51 Mustang and Spitfire variants over Europe.
- From 1924 to 1930 Packard was the best-selling luxury car in America, exporting more than any rival in its price class; US presidents from Woodrow Wilson onward rode in Packards.
Sources
- The last fully Packard-designed car was built on 25 June 1956; the final Studebaker-based 'Packardbaker' came off the line on 16 July 1958; 'Packard' was dropped from the corporate name in 1962. Wikipedia
- Packard acquired the failing Studebaker Corporation on 1 October 1954 to form Studebaker-Packard, a merger that proved crippling as Studebaker's finances dragged Packard down. Encyclopaedia Britannica
- During the Second World War Packard built tens of thousands of Merlin V-12 aircraft engines under licence from Rolls-Royce, powering the P-51 Mustang and Spitfire variants. Wikipedia
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