Interesting Packard Article, Kansas City Star 1962

[KCJeep]

My son in law was working in an abandoned house and found an old newspaper from March 1962. I enjoy looking at that kind of stuff. I snapped a pic of an article on Studebaker Packard that was interesting. Hopefully you can make it out okay. Man I would love to roll the clock back to those simpler times.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Interesting. I like their focus on the lower market Lark......but to achieve the desired economics they needed volume which we already know never came. With the transition to EVs I think the same thing is going to happen to many OEMs that currently serve the lower end of the market. They may get pushed up market if the Chinese OEMs ever come to North America. The problem is that if that happens there will be too many upmarket OEMs and not all of them can survive on lower volumes in fragmented market.

Today I walked a few dealer lots here in my city. There are lots of pickups, large SUVs, and some upscale mid market CUVs available in inventory......but lower end compact, and compact CUVs are really lacking from an inventory standpoint. From my current POV, I am not sure if dealer inventory days of old will ever be the same again.

 

[RoadDukie]

My son in law was working in an abandoned house and found an old newspaper from March 1962. I enjoy looking at that kind of stuff. I snapped a pic of an article on Studebaker Packard that was interesting. Hopefully you can make it out okay. Man I would love to roll the clock back to those simpler times.

View attachment 174083

Yup!
It was nowhere but up for Studebaker from this point.

Good look into the past. Thanks for sharing.

 

[97prizm]

Interesting. I like their focus on the lower market Lark......but to achieve the desired economics they needed volume which we already know never came. With the transition to EVs I think the same thing is going to happen to many OEMs that currently serve the lower end of the market. They may get pushed up market if the Chinese OEMs ever come to North America. The problem is that if that happens there will be too many upmarket OEMs and not all of them can survive on lower volumes in fragmented market.

Today I walked a few dealer lots here in my city. There are lots of pickups, large SUVs, and some upscale mid market CUVs available in inventory......but lower end compact, and compact CUVs are really lacking from an inventory standpoint. From my current POV, I am not sure if dealer inventory days of old will ever be the same again.

I've read that China missed the boat on vehicle sales in the usa and maybe Canada by around a decade. If they haven't invested now it's too late but we shall see.

 

[Allaneddie]

Packards were great, high end cars in the 20s, 30s, 40s but was killed by tcompetions with the Big Three in the 50s. Cadillac, Lincoln and Imperial took the place.

 

[pbm]

From my current POV, I am not sure if dealer inventory days of old will ever be the same again.

I'm not sure if 'anything' will ever be the same again.

As far as South Bend, Indiana goes....I went there in 2005 to a Notre Dame/Michigan football game and could tell the city had seen better times. I could imagine it was a really nice place in the days when Studebaker employed many residents. Oh...Michigan beat ND and many of the players on the field that day became NFL stars...in fact the first player taken in the draft the following year was Michigan LOT Jake Long...

 

[Kruse]

A little known tidbit about Packard…
IIRC, they beat out Caddy, Lincoln and every one else to be the first car company to install factory AC as an option.

 

[Astro14]

A little known tidbit about Packard…
IIRC, they beat out Caddy, Lincoln and every one else to be the first car company to install factory AC as an option.

One of many Packard innovations.

The steering wheel was first seen on Packards, in 1903. Up to that point, a tiller had been used in most cars.

The H pattern for a gearshift was a Packard first. Adopted as industry standard.

My 1932 has driver adjustable shocks. All mechanical - I pull/push a knob under the dash - and the ride gets firmer or softer.

Electronic load-leveling suspension? Packard introduced that in 1955.

They were a great company but the 1950s were tough. The big three introduced new models and styling every year. Smaller companies like Packard couldn’t afford the new tooling every year, so the cars looked dated quickly.

Packard had bet big on military engine contracts (after building most of the Merlin engines for P-51s and other airplanes during the war) and didn’t win the contracts, leaving them short of cash in the late 40s.

The confluence of several market forces, and company mis-steps, led to the end of an innovative company known for its quality and exceptional engineering.