LAST PACKARD AUTOMOBILE ROLLED OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE 6-25-1956

Final Curtain Packard Carribean 

The last Packard–the classic American luxury car with the famously enigmatic slogan “Ask the Man Who Owns One”–rolls off the production line at Packard’s plant in Detroit, Michigan on this day in 1956.

Mechanical engineer James Ward Packard and his brother, William Dowd Packard, built their first automobile, a buggy-type vehicle with a single cylinder engine, in Warren, Ohio in 1899. The Packard Motor Car Company earned fame early on for a four-cylinder aluminum speedster called the “Gray Wolf,” released in 1904.

It became one of the first American racing cars to be available for sale to the general public. With the 1916 release of the Twin Six, with its revolutionary V-12 engine, Packard established itself as the country’s leading luxury-car manufacturer. 1956 Packard Models

World War I saw Packard convert to war production earlier than most companies, and the Twin Six was adapted into the Liberty Aircraft engine, by far the most important single output of America’s wartime industry.

Packards had large, square bodies that suggested an elegant solidity, and the company was renowned for its hand-finished attention to detail. In the 1930s, however, the superior resources of General Motors and the success of its V-16 engine pushed Cadillac past Packard as the premier luxury car in America.

Packard diversified by producing a smaller, more affordable model, the One Twenty, which increased the company’s sales. The coming of World War II halted consumer car production in the United States.

In the postwar years, Packard struggled as Cadillac maintained a firm hold on the luxury car market and the media saddled the lumbering Packard with names like “bathtub” or “pregnant elephant.”

THE US LINCOLN HIGHWAY IS THE ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP!

Lincoln Highway’s Origins

In 1912, Carl Fisher, the entrepreneur who had founded the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, thought America needed a coast-to-coast highway. When the project appeared stalled, Henry Joy, the president of Packard Motor Car Co., suggested naming the road after Abraham Lincoln, a move that reignited support for the project.

The 1913 dedication of the highway made it the first national memorial to Abraham Lincoln. It was built during an era of highways that had names only; the numbered system replaced this in 1926 and the Lincoln Highway, over the protests of its founders, was divided among numerous numbered routes. Originally running 3,389 miles, the route was shortened over the ensuing 9 years to 3,142 miles -- its length today. For a wealth of information on the highway and play-by-play driving instructions see the Lincoln Highway Association’s website.

PACKARD AN AMERICAN CLASSIC CAR DOCUMENTARY

Packard: An American Classic Car

Richard W. Luckin (Director)

Few American cars could match the beauty, styling and engineering of the Packard motor car. From its birthplace in Warren, Ohio in 1899 to its final days in Detroit, Michigan and South Bend, Indiana in the late 1950s, this program chronicles the history of the Packard automobile through interviews with Packard owners, vintage film and Packard archive photographs. Hosted by Edward Herrmann.

PACKARD CARIBBEAN CONVERTIBLE

July 20th I will be at the Packard Plant in Detroit to interview the director and film the new improvements to the complex. So exciting to see the upswing in Detroit going on now...stay tuned! RK

THE 1930'S SUPER LUXURIOUS PACKARD AUTOMOBILES

Packard was an American luxury automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last in 1958.

Entering the 1930s, Packard attempted to beat the stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression by manufacturing ever more opulent and expensive cars than it had prior to October 1929. While the Eight five-seater sedan had been the company's top-seller for years, the Twin Six, designed by Vincent, was introduced for 1932, with prices starting at $3,650 at the factory gate; in 1933, it would be renamed the Packard Twelve, a name it retained for the remainder of its run (through 1939).

Also in 1931, Packard pioneered a system it called Ride Control, which made the hydraulic shock absorbers adjustable from within the car. For one year only, 1932, Packard fielded an upper-medium-priced car, the Light Eight.

Packard had one advantage that some other luxury automakers did not: a single production line. By maintaining a single line and interchangeability between models, Packard was able to keep its costs down.

Packard did not change cars as often as other manufacturers did at the time. Rather than introducing new models annually, Packard began using its own "Series" formula for differentiating its model changeovers in 1923. SEE PACKARD ENGINE HERE

1934 Packard Twelve

To address the Depression, Packard started producing more affordable cars in the medium-price range. In 1935, the company introduced its first sub-$1,000 car, the 120. Sales more than tripled that year and doubled again in 1936. In order to produce the 120, Packard built and equipped an entirely separate factory.

The early 1930's were devastating for many marques and for Packard it was no different. The onset of the Great Depression meant that many manufacturers were left with few buyers and as a result many went out of business. 

The cars that Packard produced were positioned for the high to upper class who could afford these beautiful but expensive creations. During the 1920's the company prospered but as the 1930's came into sight, the sales began to decline.

The 2013 Best In Show winner here at Pebble is the 1934 Packard 1108 Twelve Dietrich Convertible Victoria owned by Joseph and Margie Cassini of West Orange, NJ. We'll give you a second to memorize that name.

At the start of the Classic era, Packard was among the leading luxury marque. This all changed during the early years of the Great Depression, when Packard sales began to drastically decline. In 1930, the first year of the Depression, Packard sold just 28,386 cars. 

This was down dramatically from 1929. By this time Packard was one of the oldest car companies in America, with the first Packard built in 1899. The company was founded as the Ohio Automobile Company in Warren, Ohio. It became the Packard Motor Car Company in 1902 and moved to Detroit in 1903.

1930 Packard 745 Deluxe Eight

The car above was found in a salvage yard in 1954 and sat outside a barn until 1995. The current owner purchased the car in 1996 and began an extensive restoration. The restoration was completed in 1998 after 6,600 man-hours of labor.

FAMOUS STARS AND THEIR CARS