Delete...

[Lebowski]

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2017 by Lebowski
Nobody cares so please delete... (see edit history)

[R W Burgess]

You to wait on a black screen for download

 Looks worthwhile to me?

[Guest SaddleRider]

What killed the Edsel ?     I call it pioneering work by Packard - the "Packard Disease".,   

 

The "Packard Disease"  ?    A disease that eventually ruined  much of American industry.   Had the automotive industry not faced the challenge of high build quality Japanese cars, who knows how bad things would have gotten.  Here's the story.

 

World War II was over.   People stood in line at dealerships to buy any new car they could get.   A "new breed" of management at Packard correctly recognized the public would buy anything they shoved out the factory door.    To save money on engineering,  build quality, production costs,   so as to plow more money into stockholder and executive benefits,  Packard came up with the 1948 models.   Skimped on build quality.   While the rest of the industry recognized the motoring public desire for the more efficient V-8 and overhead valve design, Packard simply tacked on changed sheet metal to its pre-war Clippers.   Packard worked hard to kill its earlier  reputation for a good buy for the money - take a 1950 Packard with "Ultramatic" - about the only thing that tested out slower-performing was the 1949 Chevrolets with PowerGlide. and a Buick Special with Dynaflow.

 

The horrid build-quality of Edsel made the car an industry joke.  Sales were good at first,  just as was the case with the introduction of the first Packard V-8's a few years earlier -  in the fall of 1954.    And just as was the case with Packard a few years earlier,  dealers had to engage in all kinds of silly promotional/reimbursement stunts to get rid of them.

 

Of course there is nothing really wrong with an Edsel,  was was the case a few years earlier with the Packard product - IF you were willing to take em apart and re-assemble them with some semblance of attention to quality/detail.  After all...the Edsel was nothing more than "off-the-shelf" FoMoCo. parts with some fancy sheet metal,  and gagets on the dash.

 

The new car buyer was not interested in a "do-it-yourself- kit.    My recollection is FoMoCo finally gave up in early 1960. 

 

Judging by the rapid improvement in "build-quality" in recent years of all American cars (with the exception of Fiat's control over what is left of Chrysler Corp) the auto industry learned its lesson.

 

 

 

[Jeff Perkins / Mn]

Your statements are much more opinion than fact....i.e. Powerglide was not available in Chevrolet until 1950. Also, the build quality in every 22nd or 23rd series Packard I have owned or driven was excellent. Have you ever owned or driven one of those cars? You also faied to mention the recession of 1958 which affected all the auto industry.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Jeff P. / Mn. (see edit history)

[Xander Wildeisen]

 

[Guest SaddleRider]

14 hours ago, Jeff P. / Mn. said:

Your statements are much more opinion than fact....i.e. Powerglide was not available in Chevrolet until 1950. Also, the build quality in every 22nd or 23rd series Packard I have owned or driven was excellent. Have you ever owned or driven one of those cars? You also faied to mention the recession of 1958 which affected all the auto industry.

 

Thank you for correcting me.  You are correct -  I should have been more precise on the comparative performance figures I was referring to.   The test reports on the Chevrolet were in fact in 1949,  but they were on the then new 1950 Chevrolets.

 

In earlier times, Packard had a reputation for delivering a car at least equal to, if not superior to anything else in the particular price class that model Packard was competing.    No -  pre-war Packard "120" wont blow the doors off of a Cadillac V-16.    But be assured a Packard Twelve will!       Who can argue that a '41Cad. Fleetwood/60 Special isn't a superb, reliable, superior auto.  As was its competitor - the '41 Packard "180" series.    But be assured a Packard with the '356" motor will blow the doors off a '41 Cadillac.    ( be assured I know...owned over the years a number of different ones of both makes !).

 

So in answer to your question,   yes - I do have a bit of a background of personal connection to Packards - of virtually every series since the so called "2nd Series Twin Six".    And, as a side note,  had a couple of Chevrolets too down thru the years..!

 

I did not mention the "recession of 1958" as a factor in the loss of Packard  sales, because it happened two years after Packard closed down (yes, there were Studebakers made in 1957 and 1958 that had "Packard" script on them,  but be assured they were not Packards.  They were labled "Packard" simply to avoid legal problems with what was left of the Packard distributor organization.).

 

One illustration is how far Packard deviated from its earlier motto ( seen on a big sign at the Detriot plant )  of QUALITY FIRST,  & was perceived as being of lower quality,  was when I was sitting on a curb during lunch hour in Beverly Hills,   with some of the shop folks of Beverly Hills Packard.  This was late 1954.   A big transporter just drove up with a bunch of new Packards (from the rail drop off point...believe it was down in the South Gate section of Los Angeles).    The service manager, using language I do not think is authorized in here, said  - so I will censor it....." HERE COMES ANOTHER LOAD OF DO-IT-YOURSELF KITS".   

 

Again,  if you read my above most carefully,  you will see I recognized that in both the case of the Edsel in the late 1950's,  and Packard earlier,  with considerable "tinkering"  they could be made into adequate cars.    After all....they were "assembled" cars....the things that make a car run...fuel pumps..carbs...radiators....wheel bearings, brake drums,  steering gear.....distributors,  dash board and electrical systems including starters and generators.... purchased from outside suppliers.

 

If you go thru the FoMoCo parts books of that era,  you will see there really wasn't any EDSEL.....there were Fords, Mercs. and Lincolns depending on how you wanted your Edsel equipped   (- have to admit...the ones with the big "430" Lincoln motor were pretty good performers....! )    in terms of their parts except for the sheet metal and that goofy steering column.   So it does not surprise me post-war American cars....including 22 & 23rd series  Packards could be made into serviceable cars.

 

You want an example of the  cheapening of 22nd & 23rd series?   Here's one - admittedly petty, but it was something I distinctly remember a potential buyer muttering about, in a conversation I overheard in a Packard show-room.    This was in late '47 when the first  "bath-tubs" were  introduced.  (oh..let me explain... to save money on development costs,  the '48 thru '50 Packards are called by some "the bath-tub" series.  This underscores they were simply pre-war Clipper bodies and frames on which they grafted exterior sheet metal.)

 

Anyway,  the first production 1948 Custom series still had left over expensive Laidlaw broadcloth upholstery and Wilton "moss-tread" carpeting  (by mid-year they went to a cheaper grade material ) .  What they did NOT have,  what was deleted as a cost-saving measure, was the beautiful pearl-handled "door pulls"  on the door mouldings.   Something very obvious to buyers who were accustomed to what Packard provided in its  "top-of-the-line" series.

 

Bottom line - you are right...I have strong opinions on such things.    I respectfully suggest my opinions are supported by  some degree of  "hands on"  experience !

 

 

 

 

[Jeff Perkins / Mn]

Thank You for your informative and thoughtful response. I sometimes get a little hot when someone takes a shot at my beloved "bathtubs". My apologies for that.  Some of that criticism of those is justified as you pointed out. Best Wishes, Jeff P.