(EXPANDED FROM 12/1/2019) This may not be a very popular perspective, but I would suggest that the so-called Loewy coupes were at their best in 1955. Although the styling wasn’t nearly as clean as the […]
(EXPANDED FROM 5/22/2015) The 1959 Studebaker Lark’s design was initially so successful that it was described by historian Robert Ebert as a “miracle” (2013, p. 55). Studebaker-Packard Corporation, which was on the verge of liquidating […]
(EXPANDED ON 1/20/2023) The 1955 Packard’s styling was nicely done in many ways — but it was also an evolutionary dead end. The designers of the last “real” Packards deserve credit for two things. First, […]
This letter is a response to our story, “1959 Studebaker: Throwing the baby out with the bath water.” With all due respect I’m guessing that you have never driven a V8 powered Studebaker Lark. Much […]
This letter is a response to our story, “The 1955 Packard’s styling was an evolutionary dead end.” Your need to read more thoroughly what actually happened in the mid-1950s. In that era, Cadillac was the […]
(EXPANDED ON 1/27/2023) Many books, magazine articles and blog posts have been written about the independent automakers’ struggle to survive in the 1950s. Even so, I have come across a number of unresolved mysteries relevant […]
“George Mason’s invitation to Packard to join AMC was lost in Packard’s and Studebaker’s rush to embrace. Mason knew about the negotiations, but gamely showed up at East Grand to make a formal presentation to […]
The failure of individual automakers is invariably grounded in an inability to maintain adequate economies of scale. However, debates about what is the ideal shape of the American auto industry are heavily informed by competing […]
If you went by the above photo alone, you would get a misleading impression of the 1958 Studebaker. Yes, the colors are grossly exaggerated, but an even bigger problem is that the photo only shows […]
“I do think Packard would have been the more salvageable of the two brands, but Packard was already having trouble making ends meet (which is why they went looking for a merger with another company […]
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