Based all the way in which again in 1899, the Packard Motor Automotive Firm was one in all America’s very first car producers. For the subsequent 60 years, it was thought of a high-end, luxurious model, pumping out good-looking designs just like the Packard Eight. They have been modern, snug, and gave different upscale American automobiles, like Cadillacs, a run for his or her cash.
Then, within the late Nineteen Fifties, the model went bust. A brand new Packard hasn’t been made since ’58, and the marque itself was retired a yr later. However in spite of everything this time, there’s certainly hope that brand-new Packards — properly, brand-new productions of previous Packards — might certainly be gracing streets once more quickly.
In 2019, a luxurious watchmaker named Scott Andrews purchased the rights to the model. It will take a short while to get all of the items in place (like, say, a manufacturing facility), however the intention is totally there. So should you ever needed to stay it up prefer it’s 1932, your probability could also be right here quickly.
The life (and afterlife) of the Packard model
Packards helped outline the very concept of an American luxurious automotive. Partly, that was expressed by how good they appeared (and, man, they have been stunning automobiles). Nonetheless, Packard believed that technological innovation was additionally a key issue, and a few of their innovations are in each single automotive you have ever pushed. These items embody the steering wheel itself, which is sort of a necessity when driving, but additionally in-car air con, tail lights, the glove compartment, and even the restricted slip differential. Yeah, Packard was a extremely essential firm.
Sadly, its opponents ultimately outpaced it, and gross sales began to sag. Packard merged with Studebaker in 1954 to attempt to buoy their fortunes, nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient. Studebaker retired the model just some years later.
After that, the marque bounced round from proprietor to proprietor. Studebaker went by way of a merger with Worthington Company in 1967, which off-loaded it to the Bayliff Coach Company in 1978. Bayliff used the model to construct custom-body replicas of previous Packards seated atop different platforms. In 1992, Canadian farm gear magnate Roy Gullickson purchased the model and even created a brand-new prototype automobile, the Packard Twelve, which is pictured above, intending to place it into mass manufacturing. Sadly, no buyers bit, and the model pale into obscurity once more.
The approaching Packard revival
Hopefully, Packards shall be driving out of historical past and again onto roads within the close to future. Now that Scott Andrews owns the rights, he’s presently meaning to make a low-volume run of the legendary Packard Victoria, a stunning two-door convertible. Since he really has the unique blueprints — 135,000 of them, the truth is — these shall be actual reproductions in all their early 20th century splendor.
When may these new (previous) automobiles be coming? As you may think, it isn’t a straightforward activity to get a manufacturing facility up and operating, and the previous Packard plant was simply torn down. To not point out, the corporate must navigate rules and a shifting market. So for now, it is all about getting sufficient funding capital to get the wheels of trade rolling once more. Time will inform.
No automotive model ought to go unremembered, however Packard particularly holds an essential place in automotive historical past. It is an American treasure, and it deserves to be higher identified than it’s right now. Possibly, if some dazzling Victorias begin overtaking Cybertrucks on the freeway, its legacy shall be restored for a complete new technology.
