An interesting footnote sent to me by Robert Dowling, one of my visitors.

Packard bought the ailing Studebaker Corp.
The Packard stock holders got the short end of the deal. Upper management thought they could ride on the (former) prestige of Packard and have Stude. compete with Chevrolet. It didn't work and in two years the
Studebaker-Packard Corp. was facing insolvency. Creditors demanded they get rid of one of the two manufacturing plants. Unfortunately they chose to keep the Studebaker plant in South Bend Ind. and dump the Packard plant in Detroit. Management soon realised their plan was failing, but it was to late. The South Bend plant was not designed to handle cars as wide as the old Packards as was the old Detroit plant, so they couldn't go back and start production of big wide cars again. I've seen design plans for the "new Packards". If you've seen a late 50's early 60's Lincoln Continental (the one with the slanted head lights) or the infamous Edsel thats what they
looked like. When I first saw them I thought it they were for Ford products.
Think about it! If you take the front of an Edsel an replace the "Horse collar" with a little grill shaped like a Clipper grill, you've got the Idea! I can't remember if Ford bought the plans or the design team went over to Ford after Packard folded. After the dismal sales of "Packardbakers"
(Those Studebakers with the funny looking add-ons) they dropped the Packard
name. In 64 they dropped the name completely and moved production to Canada.
They still make trucks for the Canadian military.

To read the complete Packard Story click here and go to the Packard Club's Web Page

Back in 1899 when the first motorized vehicles were starting to appear, a young engineer that had recently graduated 
from college was fascinated with the new motor cars and wanted desperately to be a part of that industry.  He was especially impressed with a car that was winning many of the races conducted to advertise the car's power and technology.
Many times the cars would race against a horse to prove their endurance. 
The car this young engineer favored was the Winton automobile.
(Winton made automobiles from 1898 until going out of business in the 1930's) 
The young engineer decided to purchase a Winton automobile and it was 
delivered to Detroit in the year 1900 on a flat bed train car. 
After cleaning up the dust and protective grease he took it for a test drive. 
He was pleased with the performance but felt there were a few things that could be improved. 
As a good engineer, he dismantled the car and made note of areas that could stand improvement.
He felt that if he could inform Mr. Winton about these items that he would be 
offered a position in the Winton factory. Upon reading the letter, Mr. Winton did not care for the impudence of the young upstart engineer and immediately replied to him.
The letter that Mr. Winton sent to the young engineer is currently on file in the Smithsonian Institute.
 It read: Dear Mr. Packard, if you feel you can build a better car, I suggest you try. 
And the rest is history.

They stopped making cars during World War II and gasoline was severely rationed. So having a car to take your date to the prom was not on everybody's prom card.

My best friend's dad owned a 1934 straight-eight Packard limousine that had been parked in the back-yard for the duration of the war. The gas mileage on that baby was only about five miles per gallon, and the strict gas rationing during World War II pretty much spelled out the doom of any car that had trouble getting around the block on a tank of gas.

The Packard's hood stretched out forever, and the powerful straight-eight engine looked like it was about ten feet long. The '34 Packard was an "Elliot Ness" gangster machine if ever there was one.

The floor mounted gear shift was a pleasure to handle. The transmission slid in and out of gear with a precision that is hard to describe. There was no "wibble-wobble" here, and the big soft-rubber knob had a man-sized feel to it. There was a solid bank-vault "clunk" when the gears found their home.

Back in '34, the roof of an automobile was a sheet of rubberized fabric. While sitting in the back yard, the rubber roof had rotted, which allowed the rain to leak in and mildew the upholstery. No problem. We scrubbed the Packard inside and out and sprinkled rose-scented perfume on the upholstery to mask the musty smell.

We saved our "A" (non-essential) gas rationing coupons for months. Finally the big night arrived.

Six of us went to the prom in high style behind that big straight-eight. Baroommmm!

After the dance, we went for a late-night snack at a fancy restaurant in New Jersey

It was a nice moonlit night, and it was still early when we left the restaurant, so we decided to go for a ride down by the reservoir, on a road that was notorious for being a lover's lane.

Yes, we ran out of gas on lover's lane. Really! UnHuh!

The trip to New Jersey and back in the big straight-eight was more than our "A"-ration gas book could handle.

My friend had to walk home and roust his dad out of bed to take the girls home.

The poor girls. Their parents were probably worried sick. It was now about 4am, and teen-age drivers are not the safest drivers in the world. My friend was one of the best of drivers, but the girl's parents did not know that.

After taking the girls home, my friend and his father brought back five gallons of kerosene, the only fuel that was available since we had used all of our gas coupons, and at that early-morning hour, all of the gas stations were closed anyway.

The crazy Packard actually started and ran on that stuff. Of course there was no Baroomm, Baroomm. It was more like Bang, Spittt, Bang, Smoke, Smoke. LOTS OF SMOKE. They don't make them like they used to.
We parked the Packard back in the back yard.
It may still be sitting there with a pint of kerosene in the tank.