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All About Packards - READ ONLY
71 messages, Last post on Oct 21, 2001 at 7:01 PM
You are in the Classic Cars - Archived Discussions Forum.- Your Host is mr_shiftright
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What is this discussion about? Sedan
#62 of 71 Packard Revival by b4z
May 18, 2001 (6:29 pm)
I personally don't want a pcakard revival. It would just be something that some rich guy would lose a fortune on anyway.It is impossible for a small company to build a car from scratch and compete. Heck, GM can't even come close to competing with lexus.
Bugatti failed big time. It took a giant like volkswagon to ressurect it.
If rolls royce couldn't survive on its own, how can a start up survive?
BMW and porsche can only hold out for so long before they become a subsidiary.
Lets remember packard the way it was, but lets restore the ones that are here.
#63 of 71 by Mr_Shiftright HOST
May 19, 2001 (7:19 am)
Well, hopefully SOME of the Packards that are still here...let's pick the best and most attractive ones, and maybe use the mistakes for parts.#64 of 71 The Last Real Packard... by lemko
Jun 18, 2001 (11:50 am)
...never really went away. It defected to the USSR and became cars like the Chaika and the ZIL111. Take a look at pictures of these two cars and they are very similar to the 1955-56 Packard. The 1941 Packard did became the Russian ZIS car upon an agreement with Packard on behalf of the US wartime government to sell its '41 dies to the Soviet Union.#65 of 71 packards by b4z
Aug 25, 2001 (10:12 am)
I still think this should just be called "Packards" or "Packard Meets Here".I think more people would visit the thread if it were renamed.
#66 of 71 by Mr_Shiftright HOST
Aug 26, 2001 (9:48 am)
Okay, b4z, let's try that. Thanks for the suggestion.Shiftright the Host
#67 of 71 I'm from way back when... by fowler3
Sep 09, 2001 (6:20 pm)
my dad was a Packard and Hudson dealer from 1945 to 1955. His second time as a dealer, the first time was 1917 to 1920 selling Hupmobiles. Ever heard of those?The Packard before WWII was thought of and sold as a luxury car. More people bought those than Cadillacs. After the war, Packard brought out the Clipper model, which looked exactly like the top-end one. This is what killed Packard, why pay for a luxury car when the medium priced model looked like it? That mistake and the 1949 "bathtub" did them in. Even dealers were sick when they saw that car and knowing they had to sell it against the Buick Roadmaster and Chrysler models. The Buick was a much better looking car then, In fact, Buick hasn't built a really sharp car since.
The dash on the Packards looked like wood and the surprising thing was they were hand-painted. That is a lost talent along with hand-painted pinstripes. The men who did those stripes got their start painting stripes on Studibaker wagons, the pulled by horses kind. You've probably seen those in old Western movies.
In the late forties, the Packard was still a fine car, just not many buyers who were moving to Buicks and better-built Chevies with modern styling. LaSal was another nameplate (owned by Cadillac) that the Packard competed with. It died sooner. The 1963 Buick Riviera was first designed to revive the LaSal nameplate, that's why the front fender caps covering the headlights looked like LaSal grilles.
Yep, those were the days and I'll never forget borrowing a new Packard from my dad to take my date to a dance at Virginia Tech. Parking was tight on Tech's narrow streets and, in the dark, I scraped the side of the Packard on the bumper of the buss that brought the band. Next day, my dad drove it to the post office and thought some lousy driver in town did it. LOL! It was three years before I told him.
This may be a shock to many young people here, but most college guys did not own cars, they walked or rode a city bus or hitched a ride. I didn't buy my first car until I was 22 and out of college in 1952. Only the Korean War veterans going to college could afford cars, and rich kids.
What I have driven over the years: Plymouth '49 (built like a tank, previously owned by the mother of a Virginia Gov.,in the 80's));three Buick Rivieras ('63,'68.'72); Audi Fox's '74.'76''77; BMw 2002 '75; Porcshe 914 second car; Mazda GLC'81; Honda Accords '86,'92,'97,'98; Honda Odyssey '98; Mazda Protege '2001. Oh yeah, two VW Beetles '60, '68 and a VW Vanagon '73. Plus several others that were shortterm mistakes.
The worst car I ever drove was a 1939 Willys (known today as Jeep) two-door sedan. It had an I-4 and the floor was made of wood which had rotted and dropped out under the driver's seat. The manifold would get loose and at night you could see fire through the hole in the floor. Terrible roar! It was a trade-in my dad couldn't sell, so I drove it sometimes.
Fowler3
#68 of 71 Rent a Packard? by gshiwota
Sep 18, 2001 (10:03 am)
Hello all,I was wondering if anyone had a restored post-war Packard available for a wedding. I will be getting married soon and can't think of any better method of transportation then one of the classic vehicles.
Thanks,
Gabe
kahluver
yahoo.com
#70 of 71 packard rental by gshiwota
Sep 23, 2001 (1:28 am)
The wedding will be in Costa Mesa California.#71 of 71 Fowler3 - Thanks by spokane
Oct 21, 2001 (7:01 pm)
Your description of Packard's hand painted dashboards is most interesting. I had wondered about the Packard dealers' reaction to the '48-'50 "bathtub" models - thanks for clearing it up. The more stylish '51 model was surely "too little too late" to save the company.Sorry about the Willys problems but it could have been worse. On several occasions, my buddy complained of poor visibility in his '34 Chevy due to smoke from the wooden floorboard which had been ignited by the exhaust system.
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