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History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Packard page on 8 April 2016, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Packard was an American luxury automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, United States, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last in 1958, with one of the last concept cars built in 1956, the Packard Predictor.
History: 1899–1905
Packard was founded by James Ward Packard, his brother William, and their partner, George Lewis Weiss, in the city of Warren, Ohio, where 400 Packard automobiles were built at their factory on Dana Street Northeast, from 1899 to 1903. A mechanical engineer, James Packard believed they could build a better horseless carriage than the Winton cars owned by Weiss, an important Winton stockholder, after Packard complained to Alexander Winton and offered suggestions for improvement, which were ignored; Packard's first car was built in Warren, Ohio, on November 6, 1899.
In September, 1900, the Ohio Automobile Company was founded to produce Packard automobiles. These quickly gained an excellent reputation and the name was changed on October 13, 1902, to the Packard Motor Car Company.
All Packards had a single-cylinder engine until 1903. From the very beginning, Packard featured innovations, including the modern steering wheel and, years later, the first production 12-cylinder engine and air-conditioning in a passenger car. Packard produced its "Twin Six" model series of 12-cylinder cars from 1915 to 1923.
While the Black Motor Company's Black went as low as $375, Western Tool Works' Gale Model A roadster was $500, the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout went for $650, and the Cole 30 and Cole Runabout were US$1,500, Packard concentrated on cars with prices starting at $2,600. The marque developed a following among wealthy purchasers both in the United States and abroad, competing with European marques like Rolls-Royce and Mercedes Benz.
Henry Bourne Joy, a member of one of Detroit's oldest and wealthiest families, bought a Packard. Impressed by its reliability, he visited the Packards and soon enlisted a group of investors—including Truman Handy Newberry and Russell A. Alger Jr. On October 2, 1902, this group refinanced and renamed the New York and Ohio Automobile Company as the Packard Motor Car Company, with James Packard as president. Alger later served as vice president. Packard moved operations to Detroit soon after, and Joy became general manager (and later chairman of the board). An original Packard, reputedly the first manufactured, was donated by a grateful James Packard to his alma mater, Lehigh University, and is preserved there in the Packard Laboratory. Another is on display at the Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio.
The 3,500,000-square-foot (330,000 m2) Packard plant on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit was located on over 40 acres (16 ha) of land. Designed by Albert Kahn Associates, it included the first use of reinforced concrete for industrial construction in Detroit and was considered the most modern automobile manufacturing facility in the world when opened in 1903. Its skilled craftsmen practiced over 80 trades. The dilapidated plant still stands, despite repeated fires. Architect Kahn also designed the Packard Proving Grounds at Utica, Michigan.
| Date | Document Name & Details | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| 1911 | Trail of the Lonesome Truck W.T. Fishleigh for The Packard Motor Car Company |  Topic Page - 3.3MB - 16 pages |
| 1950 | Servicing the Ultramatic Drive Packard Motor Car Company | Topic Page - 65 pages |
| Date | Article | Author/Source |
|---|---|---|
| 7 March 1909 | Auto News from Various Centres: Make Riding Easy. | The New York Times |
| 2 January 1916 | DIVIDE PACKARD PROFITS. | The New York Times |
| 4 February 1916 | MANY SEEK CITIZENSHIP. | The New York Times |
| 21 November 1922 | PACKARD DOUBLES STOCK. | The New York Times |
| 28 December 1922 | Packard Motor Profits Report. | The New York Times |
| 12 November 1923 | PACKARD AUTOMOBILE ORIGINATOR SUCCUMBS | The Pittsburgh Press |
| March-April 1972 | Here and There in Motoring's Past: 1903 - Mr. Packard's Single Cylinder Obsession | Peter Helck, Antique Automobile |
| 25 April 1949 | 9,000 Packard Automobile Workers Strike as Company Plans for Golden Jubilee | St. Petersburg Times |
| Type & Item # | Name | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Die Cast Model Kit - Hubley 4859 | 1930 Packard Sport Phaeton | Metal Kit |
