70 Year Old Letter

[regnalbob]

Letter sent to my Dad from the Packard Division of the Studebaker - Packard Corporation.

 

 

[mfg]

Too bad about Packard… In my humble opinion the high quality but hopelessly homely ‘48-‘50 ‘Bathtub’ design, and lack of a V8 engine until 1955, killed them.

[Desert Driver]

Cadillac's advanced styling and the ability of GM to move buyers up from their own divisions helped drive nails into the coffin. And of course Packard's decision to purchase Studebaker (who was in much worse financial shape), didn't help matters.

[mfg]

11 hours ago, Desert Driver said:

Cadillac's advanced styling and the ability of GM to move buyers up from their own divisions helped drive nails into the coffin. And of course Packard's decision to purchase Studebaker (who was in much worse financial shape), didn't help matters.

True…. Packard would have probably lasted into the early sixties if not for the Studebaker “goof”… and dragging their feet on styling and engineering… however, ultimately GM and Ford were unbeatable.

[mfg]

James Nance apparently did his darndest to rally support ($$$$$) for the Packard division of S-P… however, it was too little too late.

[wdaly]

Nash - Kaiser - Hudson - Rambler - AMC - and now Chrysler?  American automotive History.

[64studeavanti]

FWIW, Nash and Hudson merged to form American Motors. Nash Rambler was a model. Kaiser Jeep was purchased by AMC much later, maybe 1970 or so.

AMC was purchased by Chrysler around 1987, mostly for the Jeep brand.

I read somewhere that Studebaker was discussed to be part of the merger, but that obviously did not work out.

[wdaly]

14 minutes ago, 64studeavanti said:

AMC was purchased by Chrysler around 1987, mostly for the Jeep brand

Yes - after Renault?

[64studeavanti]

I think Fiat and Chrysler merged. The merger with Renault failed to go through.

[mfg]

Hard to believe that names so familiar to us…..Pontiac…….Oldsmobile…….Plymouth…….Mercury…. have become footnotes in history…Yes, very hard to believe!

[wdaly]

22 hours ago, 64studeavanti said:

I think Fiat and Chrysler merged. The merger with Renault failed to go through.

What about the "Alliance"?  Rented one to go from Vega to LA and almost didn't make it over the hills!😳

[64studeavanti]

Several auto manufacturers cooperate on their offerings without merging. Think Mazda and Ford, Mitsubishi and Chrysler ...

[Skip Lackie]

The independents were doomed anyway by the economies of scale.  GM could buy simple things like door handles for half of what Studebaker had to pay because GM could spread the cost over a couple of million vehicles at a time.  The urge to merge hit the independents too late to help.  And even if the mergers had been successful, the Japanese invasion would have killed them off anyway.  Even Chrysler has been/is struggling.

[Footer]

I’ve heard people say if Studebaker could have hung on until the early 70’s when the gas shortage hit they would have been in good shape because of their economy cars. Any thoughts?  Mike

[mfg]

27 minutes ago, Footer said:

I’ve heard people say if Studebaker could have hung on until the early 70’s when the gas shortage hit they would have been in good shape because of their economy cars. Any thoughts?  Mike

I don’t think so Mike… When you add up everything that was going against continued auto production in South Bend by the early sixties, it would have been next to impossible to last more than a couple years more than they did.

[wdaly]

The writing was on the wall.

[mfg]

51 minutes ago, wdaly said:

The writing was on the wall.

I think Studebaker’s giving up the right to distribute Mercedes Benz vehicles in the U.S. was also a major mistake…. Not to mention passing up Volkswagen!!

[regnalbob]

On 12/20/2024 at 5:28 PM, wdaly said:

What about the "Alliance"?  

AMC sold the Alliance, Encore, Fuego and Sport Wagons thru Jeep dealers.

 

[wdaly]

17 minutes ago, regnalbob said:

AMC sold the Alliance, Encore, Fuego and Sport Wagons thru Jeep dealers.

 

YOU are the Documentation KING Regnalbob!  🧐

[mfg]

The (I believe) four Packard Panther sports cars created in the early fifties looked a bit strange…. However, the Packard Predictor show car of 1956 really looked outstanding!

It’s worth a trip to the SNM just to see that car!

[mfg]

A Studebaker—Packard—Hudson—Nash merger certainly would have have been interesting!

[Footer]

I’m guessing the Packard Hawk wasn’t a big hit. Any idea how many were built?  Mike

[64studeavanti]

According to Wikipedia,  588 Packard Hawks were sold.

[mfg]

2 hours ago, Footer said:

I’m guessing the Packard Hawk wasn’t a big hit. Any idea how many were built?  Mike

I knew a fellow who purchased a brand new ‘58 Packard Hawk in late 1959…. Like many Studebaker Avantis, it sat on the dealer lot for quite awhile until the ‘right’ person came along……

George kept that Hawk for approx thirty years, and actually bought a second one sometime in the late sixties!

Like many Avanti owners, he couldn’t own just one!!!

[mfg]

On 12/20/2024 at 5:28 PM, wdaly said:

What about the "Alliance"?  Rented one to go from Vega to LA and almost didn't make it over the hills!😳

We owned an ‘08 Toyota Corolla like that…. With the A/C running,it was frequently necessary to shift the automatic trans down a gear to stop the engine from laboring on hills.