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Packard Motor Car Company (view source)
Revision as of 18:08, October 12, 2008
, 18:08, October 12, 2008hmm, having network trouble...
The '''Packard Motor Car Company''' was founded by [[automobile]] baron [[Edward Packard]] in [[Detroit]] in 1899. Their first automobile model (or ''make'') rolled off the assembly line in 1902.
Packard quickly achieved success in the luxury automobile market — which was not as hard as it sounds, because in the early years of the [[20th century]] all "horseless carriages" were by definition [[luxuries]]. However, Ed Packard's company made top-of-the-line models, such as the Twin-Six Touring, which came with [[convertible]] awnings and spare tires stored in beautiful leather carrying cases on the running boards. The headlamp mirrors of Packard automobiles were cast and polished in giant racks at the [[Packard Proving Grounds]] in [[Utica]], and from the beginning Packard's cars used circular headlamps of the kind touted by [[Jeep]] as recently as the 1990s as proof of "real quality".
Packards were also noted for their high degree of safety engineering. A Packard truck was involved in a three-car collision in 1912, while ''en route'' from [[New York City]] to [[San Francisco]]. The other two cars — a [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] and a [[Bentley]] respectively — were totalled; the Packard came out with little more than a bent fender. This little incident was reported on the back pages of [[newspaper]]s nationwide, and Packard milked it in its advertising materials for several years, until automobiles became widespread enough that automobile crashes were no longer newsworthy.
Following the [[Great Depression]] of 1929, Packard's cars became more and more elaborate, even as fewer and fewer [[Americans]] were able to afford them. The 1932 "De Luxe" [[sedan]], a model owned by [[Mickey Mantle]] and [[Adolph Hitler]], among others, came with two spare tires; windows [[tint]]ed a dark amber with a state-of-the-art chemical process; and five gears on the [[gearshift]], a record for the time. Later Packards continued the tradition with names such as ''[[Patrician]]'' and ''[[Executive]]''.
Packard cars were not redesigned annually, as many companies do today, but rather were released in "series", a practice since appropriated by the German-founded Bayerische Motoren Werke ([[BMW]]). The "Senior" series were more [[conservative]] in their design, while the "Junior" series regularly introduced new features such as [[suspension]], [[hydraulic brakes]], and [[air conditioning]]. To compensate, the "Senior" series were priced higher and aimed at the ''nouveau riche'' upper class of America. True [[status symbol]]s.
One famous Packard owner was [[Italian-American]] [[gangster]] [[Lucky Luciano|Salvatore "Lucky" Luciano]], head of the Luciano crime family (an organization ironically referred to by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] as "the [[Rolls-Royce]] of [[organized crime]]") from circa 1920 until 1936. In 1933, he was sitting in the rear seat of his black Packard Super Eight sedan when another car driven by gunmen from a rival faction pulled up beside him and began shooting. "Lucky" survived thanks to the sturdy metal doors of the Packard; despite being perforated all down one side, the car was able to race away while the gunmen struggled to reload.
The Packard Motor Car Company was bought by [[Studebaker]] in 1954, and the model name "Packard" was finally pulled from production in 1959.
[[Category:Companies]]
[[Category:Cars]]
Packard quickly achieved success in the luxury automobile market — which was not as hard as it sounds, because in the early years of the [[20th century]] all "horseless carriages" were by definition [[luxuries]]. However, Ed Packard's company made top-of-the-line models, such as the Twin-Six Touring, which came with [[convertible]] awnings and spare tires stored in beautiful leather carrying cases on the running boards. The headlamp mirrors of Packard automobiles were cast and polished in giant racks at the [[Packard Proving Grounds]] in [[Utica]], and from the beginning Packard's cars used circular headlamps of the kind touted by [[Jeep]] as recently as the 1990s as proof of "real quality".
Packards were also noted for their high degree of safety engineering. A Packard truck was involved in a three-car collision in 1912, while ''en route'' from [[New York City]] to [[San Francisco]]. The other two cars — a [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] and a [[Bentley]] respectively — were totalled; the Packard came out with little more than a bent fender. This little incident was reported on the back pages of [[newspaper]]s nationwide, and Packard milked it in its advertising materials for several years, until automobiles became widespread enough that automobile crashes were no longer newsworthy.
Following the [[Great Depression]] of 1929, Packard's cars became more and more elaborate, even as fewer and fewer [[Americans]] were able to afford them. The 1932 "De Luxe" [[sedan]], a model owned by [[Mickey Mantle]] and [[Adolph Hitler]], among others, came with two spare tires; windows [[tint]]ed a dark amber with a state-of-the-art chemical process; and five gears on the [[gearshift]], a record for the time. Later Packards continued the tradition with names such as ''[[Patrician]]'' and ''[[Executive]]''.
Packard cars were not redesigned annually, as many companies do today, but rather were released in "series", a practice since appropriated by the German-founded Bayerische Motoren Werke ([[BMW]]). The "Senior" series were more [[conservative]] in their design, while the "Junior" series regularly introduced new features such as [[suspension]], [[hydraulic brakes]], and [[air conditioning]]. To compensate, the "Senior" series were priced higher and aimed at the ''nouveau riche'' upper class of America. True [[status symbol]]s.
One famous Packard owner was [[Italian-American]] [[gangster]] [[Lucky Luciano|Salvatore "Lucky" Luciano]], head of the Luciano crime family (an organization ironically referred to by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] as "the [[Rolls-Royce]] of [[organized crime]]") from circa 1920 until 1936. In 1933, he was sitting in the rear seat of his black Packard Super Eight sedan when another car driven by gunmen from a rival faction pulled up beside him and began shooting. "Lucky" survived thanks to the sturdy metal doors of the Packard; despite being perforated all down one side, the car was able to race away while the gunmen struggled to reload.
The Packard Motor Car Company was bought by [[Studebaker]] in 1954, and the model name "Packard" was finally pulled from production in 1959.
[[Category:Companies]]
[[Category:Cars]]