In 1952, James J. Nance became president of Packard and announced that Packard would build only luxury models to compete with Cadillac. The company would cease production of mid-priced cars. While Nance had hoped for a total redesign for the 1954 model year, the company lacked both money and time to make this happen. The revolutionary new model did not appear until 1955. Despite the redesign, Packard lagged behind both Cadillac and Lincoln in sales of luxury cars. Packard merged with Studebaker to become Studebaker-Packard and the last Packards were produced in1958.
During the 1950s, Packard had some concept cars designed. While these cars won acclaim, they were never mass produced. Some of these cars were displayed in the Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio.
1950 Custom Station Sedan
This car has a 327 cubic inch straight eight 160 horsepower engine with a 3-speed manual transmission. This vehicle was not offered for sale.
1952 Parisan Coupe by Pinin Farina
This car has a 327 cubic inch straight-eight engine with 150 horsepower and 3-speed manual transmission. It is a concept car and was not offered for sale.
Carrozeria Pinin Farina was founded in Turin, Italy in 1930 and received international acclaim with its inclusion in the Museum of Modern Art’s 1951 exhibition Eight Automobiles.
1953 Packard Pan American
This car has a 327 cubic inch straight-eight engine with 185 horsepower and an Ultramatic 2-speed automatic transmission. It is a prototype and was not offered for sale.
According to the Museum:
“When GIs came back from Europe in 1945, they had become enamored with Sports Cars overseas. Despite the new demand, but most American manufacturers didn’t produce them. Packard had made Sports Cars since the 1930s, like Boattail Speedsters or Packard Darrins. Richard Arbib, of the Henry Motor Car Company, designed Packard’s new generation of Sports Car, the Pan American. Designed to seat three, and with an astronomical price tag of $11,000 (over $115,000 today), the car was publicly well received and won awards in both America and Europe.”
While the Pan American inspired the Packard Caribbean, one of the most iconic Packards ever, only six prototypes were built.
1956 Packard Predictor
This car has a 374 cubic inch V-8 engine with 290 horsepower and an Ultramatic 2 speed push button transmission. It is a concept car and was not offered for sale.
The Predictor was designed by Richard Teague and constructed by Italian custom coachbuilder Ghia. If mass produced it would have had fuel injection and the John DeLorean-designed transaxle. However, Packard plants closed in 1956.
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