This is the Olympics of automotive history books — 800-plus pages of detailed business analysis, production information and photography. Its 32 chapters are written by a handful of writers with varying analytical styles.
For example, in Chapter 29 George Hamlin and Dwight Heinmuller offer tough criticism of CEO James Nance’s production-related decisions (pp. 595-597) but view the controversial 1955-1956 Torsion-Level suspension through a largely positive lens (pp. 589-594) and take Nance’s side on the debate regarding whether he or American Motors head George Romney undercut a parts-sharing alliance (p. 599). The latter perspective is challenged by Patrick Foster’s (2008) book about Studebaker.
One does not have to agree with the conclusions of individual writers to appreciate the exceptional depth of research displayed in this book.
Packard: A History of the Motor Car and the Company
- Beverly Rae Kimes, ed.; 2002
- Automobile Quarterly Publications
“It has been said that the Clipper, intended as a medium-priced car, could never be upgraded to a luxury car. Yet it was a luxury car in all the best aspects of, for example, the Lincoln Continental, differing from other Packards only in line of style. The 1941 One-Sixty four-door model 1472 was priced at $1795 against the 1942 One-Sixty Clipper model 1572’s $1812.” (p. 499)
“Packard had devoted a significant percentage of its manufacturing to lower-priced cars, even though it could have sold as many vehicles as it could build in any price class. The company could make only so many cars, and it made more money per car on luxury models than on junior versions. Why then did Packard continue its prewar policy of building inexpensive models? The reason, and the blame, can be laid largely at George Christopher’s door, for it was Christopher as president who frittered away Packard’s place in the luxury field at a time when Packard had a golden opportunity to recover that place — perhaps to assume it as never before since the Roaring Twenties.” (p. 543)
“The ’57’s suspension was highly refined — though Allison had joined International Harvester when his consultant’s contract had expired, an alternative to accepting a full-time job at Packard which was, as it happened, the right decision. At I-H Allison developed a torsion bar suspension for trucks but the project did not succeed because fleet owners weren’t willing to spend the extra money for the sake of driver comfort. Allison agrees that the refinements for 1957 were good ones. They were accomplished by Forest McFarland, John DeLorean and Herb Misch and would have set new standards of comfort, roadworthiness and reliability. DeLorean even tinkered briefly with a hydraulic leveling device, but it proved more costly than the existing system and was dropped. When DeLorean later went to Chevrolet as a vice-president and then president, the hydraulic leveler reached production there.” (p. 619)
OTHER REVIEWS:
RE:SOURCES
- Foster, Patrick R.; 2008. Studebaker: The Complete History. Motorbooks International, Minneapolis, MN.
Does this book touch upon the Packard compact model proposed by Jesse G. Vincent in 1948 and refined in 1949 (to be introduced in 53-54 before it was killed by management in 1950), with a 100′ inch wheelbase and a four cylinder that was mentioned in the Robert J Neal book?
Interested to know more about this project and the specifics of the 4-cylinder engine.
I didn’t see anything on it.