As manufacturers of incandescent lamps and electrical transformers, brothers James Ward and William Doud Packard were well-prepared to build their own automobile. In 1899, their first chugged out of humble Packard Electric in Warren, Ohio.
Wealthy Detroit entrepreneur, Harry B. Joy bought a Packard Model C in 1901, and soon invested $25,000 in what had become the Ohio Automobile Company of Warren. Eventually, he and his associates pumped more than $250,000 into Packard, gaining a controlling interest in the company.
After 1903, the operation moved to a new facility in Detroit, designed by architect Albert Kahn. Built at the east end of Grande Boulevard, its large windows allowed for natural light, which helped laborers feel less confined. The 1915 Packard Twin Six became America’s first 12-cylinder model, and the car of choice for film stars, industrialists, and other high-profile patrons. In 1921, a Twin Six delivered President-elect Harding to the White House, making it the first car to be prominently featured in an inaugural parade.
Ironically, Packard built its best cars at the worst possible time. The centerpiece of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, a Dietrich-designed Packard represented the best the industry had to offer. But mass-produced cars like the One-Twenty were what allowed Packard to survive the Depression, contribute to the war effort, and remain profitable well into the 1940s.
Darrin’s 1941 Packard Clipper was a proven hit prior to WWII. However, as the company prepared to build military engines, Clipper tooling was covered with tarps and sent to open storage where it sat outdoors, rusting until the war’s end. Afterwards, restoring the machinery, material shortages and labor strikes kept Packard from meeting the large demand for new Clippers.
1948 was Packard’s second best and last good year for sales. Both President Harry S. Truman and challenger Thomas E. Dewey chose Custom Eights as campaign cars, and Packard benefited from the publicity. The 1951 models were all new, and achieved moderate success. By then though, the company was simply riding on its reputation and the postwar demand for new cars. Packard continued to dilute the model lines, straying even further from its luxurious heritage.
By 1954, poor sales and production delays forced Packard to merge with Studebaker, another established but troubled company in what some called a “shotgun wedding.” Studebaker-Packard was a house of cards, although the 1956 Packards were beautifully styled, offering many innovations and a choice of V8 engines. Quality and styling were up, but buyers had lost confidence. And without an adequate budget, future Packards were little more than rebadged Studebakers. 1958 finally saw the last of Packard, one of America’s greatest marques.
By Adam Icenogle
Packard the rise and fall