regnalbob Posted Wednesday at 11:21 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 11:21 PM Letter sent to my Dad from the Packard Division of the Studebaker - Packard Corporation.
mfg Posted Thursday at 12:24 AM Report Posted Thursday at 12:24 AM 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 Posted Thursday at 03:57 AM Report Posted Thursday at 03:57 AM 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 Posted Thursday at 03:37 PM Report Posted Thursday at 03:37 PM 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 Posted Thursday at 06:02 PM Report Posted Thursday at 06:02 PM James Nance apparently did his darndest to rally support ($$$$$) for the Packard division of S-P… however, it was too little too late.
wdaly Posted Thursday at 09:20 PM Report Posted Thursday at 09:20 PM Nash - Kaiser - Hudson - Rambler - AMC - and now Chrysler? American automotive History.
64studeavanti Posted Thursday at 10:04 PM Report Posted Thursday at 10:04 PM 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 Posted Thursday at 10:21 PM Report Posted Thursday at 10:21 PM 14 minutes ago, 64studeavanti said: AMC was purchased by Chrysler around 1987, mostly for the Jeep brand Yes - after Renault?
64studeavanti Posted Thursday at 11:35 PM Report Posted Thursday at 11:35 PM I think Fiat and Chrysler merged. The merger with Renault failed to go through.
mfg Posted Friday at 01:51 AM Report Posted Friday at 01:51 AM Hard to believe that names so familiar to us…..Pontiac…….Oldsmobile…….Plymouth…….Mercury…. have become footnotes in history…Yes, very hard to believe!
wdaly Posted Friday at 10:28 PM Report Posted Friday at 10:28 PM 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 Posted 22 hours ago Report Posted 22 hours ago Several auto manufacturers cooperate on their offerings without merging. Think Mazda and Ford, Mitsubishi and Chrysler ...
Skip Lackie Posted 22 hours ago Report Posted 22 hours ago 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 Posted 20 hours ago Report Posted 20 hours ago 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 Posted 19 hours ago Report Posted 19 hours ago 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.
mfg Posted 18 hours ago Report Posted 18 hours ago 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!!
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