Packard

Also See Clipper (automobile). Store Location- 129 Prince Street New York NY. The new Packard company aims to be the only "ultra-luxury" car manufacturer in North America, aiming for spots above the niches currently occupied by Cadillac, Lincoln, and Mercedes-Benz, and competing with such marques as Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, and -- particularly -- Maybach, a fellow-resurrection from decades past. Simmons sold his interest in Phat Farm for 140 million dollars in 2004. Interest in the prototype has been gathering, and buzz around the car rose steadily following its showing at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2003. Some Phat Farm articles are political. A new company bearing the name was started up soon after 2000 and produced at least one prototype new Packard. The broken flag logo visible on every clothing article except footwear is touted as a symbol of the state of separation the world is in right now.

Their last major development was the "Torsion-Level" suspension, a four-wheel torsion-bar suspension that balanced the car's height like an air-bag suspension, which its American competitors of the time could not get to work and ceased offering. The brand is fairly expensive and worn for fashion instead of sport. However, they built their own automatic transmission (unlike Ford) which, although it had some advantages over Buick's, had its own deficiencies. Phat Farm is an urban fashion line created by Russell Simmons, the founder of Def Jam in 1992. After WWII, they were one of the last US firms to produce a high-compression V-8 engines, the "352", named for its 352 cubic inch (5.8 L) displacement, but it had no problems. This was doubled into their twelve-cylinder engine that they called the "Twin Six." They also built a low-compression straight eight, but never a sixteen-cylinder engine.

Their early success was with a six-cylinder, copied by a certain British firm. Packard had an engineering staff that always designed good, well-made engines. Daimler-Benz, which was under a distribution agreement with Studebaker-Packard, threatened to pull out of the 1958 marketing agreement, which would have cost Studebaker-Packard more in revenue than they could have made from the badge-engineered Packard. In the Early 1960s, Studebaker-Packard was approached by French car maker Facel-Vega about the possibility rebadging the company's Facel-Vega Excellence sedan as a "Packard" for sale in North America.

Studebaker pulled the Packard nameplate from the the marketplace in 1958to focus instead on its compact Lark. These badge engineered Studebakers were derisively referred to as Packardbakers by the press and consumers and failed to sell in sufficient numbers to keep the marque afloat. In 1957 and 1958, a Studebaker-based car bearing the Packard Clipper nameplate appeared on the market, but sales were slow. The company severely in debt, its creditors ordered the old Packard plants to close on August 15, 1956.

Packard had been selling engines and transmissions to American Motors, but a parts dispute with Romney ended this arrangement in April of 1956. This set the stage for a disastrous 1956, which saw production drop to its lowest levels since World War I. Packard's up-again and down-again sales continued, with a profitable year in 1955 thanks to the introduction of Packard's first V-8 engines that model year--although a complete retooling for the 1955 models resulted in products so poorly made that hundreds of cars had to be repaired by dealers before they could be sold to the public. George Mason died in 1954, and George Romney killed any hope for a merger with AMC.

Studebaker-Packard was devastated by the loss of millions of dollars in Studebaker's Pentagon contracts after the Korean war ended, which contracts were awarded to GM after that war. The latter merger never happened. The newly combined company had plans to merge into American Motors after AMC and Studebaker-Packard had achieved financial stability. Initially, Packard's executive team had hoped Studebaker's larger network of dealers would help increase sales.

On October 1, 1954, Packard merged with Studebaker creating the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. 1953 brought about a short-term reversal of fortune and prospects looked better, but 1954 was again a down year for Packard. Packard was reluctant. Nash Motors president George Mason appraoched Packard about a merger in the early 1950s, believing that the days for independent car manufacturers were numbered.

And the post-war seller's market ended in 1951, the industry slumping as a whole in 1952. Although startling at first, the influence of what were nicknamed "whales" soon vanished. However, the design chosen was of the "bathtub" style predicted during the war as the destined future of automobiles. The firm introduced its first post-war body in 1948, prior to its competition in the major firms (Cadillac, Lincoln, and Chrysler).

By the end of World War II, Packard was in excellent financial condition but suffered from a shortage of raw materials needed to manufacture automobiles again. They also built 1350, 1400, and 1500 horsepower V-12 marine engines that powered American PT boats (each boat had three) and some of Britain's patrol boats. It was the fastest non-jet fighter plane ever built, and could fly higher than any of its contemporaries, allowing its pilots a greater degree of survivability in combat situations. The Packard engine powered the famous P-51 Mustang fighter, known as the "Cadillac of the Skies" by G.I.s in WWII.

During World War II, Packard again built airplane engines, licensing the Merlin engine from Rolls-Royce and simplifying and improving it. Packard produced its final hand-built car in 1939. Car production tripled that year and doubled again in 1936. In 1935, it introduced its first sub-$1,000 car.

In the 1930s, devastated by the Great Depression, Packard started mass-producing cars. By World War I, Packard was also producing engines for aircraft and boats. Kahn also designed The Packard Proving Grounds at Utica, Michigan, which is being developed into a historical site. It was later subdivided by eighty-seven different companies.

The 3.5 million ft² (325,000 m²) plant covered over 35 acres (142,000 m²) and straddled East Grand Boulevard. The last Packards rolled off the assembly line on June 25, 1956. Its skilled craftsmen practiced over eighty trades. At its opening, it was considered the most modern automobile manufacturing facility in the world.

The Packard factory, designed by Albert Kahn, included the first use of reinforced concrete for industrial construction in Detroit. Joy became general manager and later chairman of the board. On October 2, 1902, Ohio Automobile Company became Packard Motor Car Company, with James as president, and was moved to Detroit. Impressed by its reliability, he visited the Packards and soon enlisted a group of investors that included his brother-in-law, Truman Handy Newberry.

The brothers needed more capital and unexpectedly found it when Henry Bourne Joy, a member of one of Detroit's oldest and wealthiest families, bought a Packard. Packard automobiles developed a following not only in the United States, but also abroad, with many heads of state owning them. While Henry Ford was producing cars that sold for $440, Packard concentrated on upscale cars that started at $2,600. The company, which they called the Ohio Automobile Company, quickly introduced a number of innovations in its designs, including the modern steering wheel and the first production 12-cylinder engine.

There are several versions of the story, but by 1899, the brothers were building automobiles in their native Warren, Ohio. James Ward Packard and William Dowd Packard were unhappy with the automobiles they had purchased from other makers, and James, a mechanical engineer, had some ideas how to improve on the designs. . Packards were advertised with the slogan "Ask the Man who Owns One".

The brand went off the market in 1958 but its cars are still highly sought after by collectors today. Packard was a United States based brand of automobile. Ultramatic, Packards self-developed automatic transmission (1950-1956). Packard Clipper Constellation.

Packard Station Sedan. 1957 and 1958 Packards. Packard Twin Six/Twelve. Packard Six.

Packard Patrician. Packard Hawk (1958). Packard Four Hundred. Packard Executive.

Packard Super Eight. Packard Light Eight. Packard Eight