Many of those who love Packard blame Studebaker for Packard's demise; there is a factual basis for that belief. Packard bought Studebaker believing that Studebaker would make a profit if Studebaker could sell approximately 160,000 cars year. Studebaker's actual "break even" point was actually selling more than 260,000 cars per year because of Studebaker's high labour cost. Studebaker was only able to sell that many for two or three years after World War II when all the American car companies could sell all the cars they could produce.

During the first two model years of the Studebaker-Packard merger (1955-1956), neither company did well, and when Curtiss-Wright came to the rescue with money and management in 1956, a hard choice had to be made. On one hand, Packard could sell a limited number of big luxury cars (in the range of 50,000-75,000 per year) to compete with Cadillac and Lincoln, which did not have big volume sales. On the other hand, Studebaker was able to sell 268,099 autos and 52,146 trucks for a total of 320,245 vehicles its best calendar year (1950).

Studebaker also built different sizes of trucks (tractors, mid-size & pick up), plus military trucks (2 and 1/2 ton, known in the Army as the "deuce and a half"), economy cars (Champions and Larks), sporty cars (Hawks) and station wagons, available with 6-cylinder or 8-cylinder motors. The South Bend Studebaker factory was a model of efficiency compared to the Packard operation in Detroit where they lost their lease on a rented body plant in 1954 (Chrysler kicked them out) and moved their body and final assembly plant to an older building at a different location in Detroit. By 1956, Packards were known for poor quality and reliability at a very expensive price. If Packard had been doing well, then Curtiss-Wright would have kept it and dumped Studebaker.

The decision to keep the Studebaker factory operations in South Bend was a correct one. By 1959 Studebaker reduced its production costs, introduced the Lark and was able to make a profit after they sold 100,000 cars per year. That year they were able to produce Larks at a rate of 80 per hour and sold approximately 130,000 of them while making a good profit in the process. The Studebaker factory in South Bend could always build enough cars. The problem was that after 1960, they could build three times more cars than they could SELL.

Studebaker was saved twice by building smaller cars; in 1939 by the Champion and twenty years later by the Lark. During the 1950s Nash survived (and grew) because it built the small economical Rambler and Studebaker survived because it built the Lark. If Packard had been chosen as the survivor, it probably would have died with the Edsel, if not sooner.

The fate of Packard after it joined Studebaker was remarkably similar to the fate of Hudson after it joined Nash. The big car from Detroit got dumped as Nash found that the road to success was to build smaller cars and the men who ran Studebaker took note of that success as Nash passed them by in sales during the 1950s. The idea of building BIG Studebaker-Packards was dropped by 1957 and those that were proposed in drawings DID look like Lincolns because Ford was going to sell them the Lincoln tooling around 1956.

Life at Studebaker was good until the early 1960s when the Big Three arrived with compact cars like the Ford Falcon, Mercury Meteor, Chevy II Nova & Corvair, Plymouth Valiant and Dodge Dart. As a result of that onslaught, Studebaker was gone by the mid-1960s and Rambler (aka, American Motors) was gone about fifteen years later, due in large part to a decision to put too much of their money into a large car known as the Matador.

The fate of Packard after it joined Studebaker was remarkably similar to the fate of Hudson after it joined Nash. The big car from Detroit got dumped as Nash found that the road to success was to build smaller cars and the men who ran Studebaker took note of that success as Nash passed them by in sales during the 1950s. The idea of building BIG Studebaker-Packards was dropped by 1957 and those that were proposed in drawings DID look like Lincolns because Ford was going to sell them the Lincoln tooling around 1956.

J.L. Jacobson

he Studebaker Brothers started building automobiles in 1902. Their first automobiles
were electric, although they quickly moved into gasoline powered vehicles. 
Production increased during 1913, and by 1915 there were more than 45,000 cars sold annually. 
The type and numbers of cars increased through the years, and in 1928, Studebaker acquired Pierce-Arrow. 
By 1933, Studebaker had gone into temporary receivership, and bounced back in 1934.
In 1939, they produced a new car that was a true economy model - the Champion.
During the war, Studebaker produced trucks and radial engines for aircraft. After the war, they rushed back into automobile production, with Raymond Loewy's famous styling.
The most famous Loewy 1953 coupes and hardtops were totally unique to the american scene. 
These cars were designed by Robert Bourke while he was working at the Loewy Studios.
The year of 1954 Packard bought Studebaker.
The Lark was introduced in 1959 and provided a compact car that was also roomy.
That last blast from Studebaker was the Avanti that was introduced in 1963.
In 1964, Studebaker production moved to Canada. The last year that Studebaker was produced was 1966, although the Avanti continued to be built by an independent in South Bend, Indiana.

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 Studebaker 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 realized 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 that was 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.
 

"The 1990 Avanti 4-Door is a very unique model in
that it was built only one year - less than 90 units were completed and sold.  I own #78.
Attached is a picture of my car.  I drive it daily and it ALWAYS gets people to start talking."