VegetableMan

I posted a question in a longer text at another thread, and the idea sort of got lost. So, here it is again. I am researching a couple of articles, and would like to locate the production figures for several marques, including Packard, Pierce-Arrow, Peerless, and some others. Is there a source or sources that can supply my information? Can I find figures for specific years of production on each brand, or am I going to have to forget about this idea? Thanks.

Thank you all for the warm reception and generous replies. I will try to address the comments you have made in this one post, at least at first. To Rick L, thanks! I?m glad you enjoyed the article. I do an article per month for them. By all means, do come back again. In answer to John Shireman (Packard53), I think I found this thread through a Google search, but at this point I can?t really remember for sure. Glad I found it, though, however it came to pass. Although I didn?t have the information to offer any great detail on them, I did include the Lancia and Daimler V-12s in my timeline. Thanks for the pertinent details. I?ll find a way to use the data, along with that tendered by BillW (see below). I must agree that the article was slanted a bit toward Cadillac, but that was intentional, with their recent entries in both the V-12 and V-16 markets?a trend repeated from 1931/32, and the general impetus for this article in the first place. I had a Packard Twin Six I was forced to sell, and the historical timeline idea sprang from that car?s presence in my life. Packard was on top, there is no question. I was forced to limit some of the information due to word count constraints (the article is still too long for the prevailing tastes on that Website). I did try to allude to the ?silver platter? you refer to, by mentioning how the Big Boys lost the edge in that top echelon after the Depression cut them to ribbons. Cadillac did inherit the leading role be default. I did not mean to imply that their engines, by themselves, were responsible for the marque getting to the top. By the way, I do have a question. Is there a single source I can peruse detailing sales figures in the industry during the 1930s for Cadillac, Packard, Pierce-Arrow, Peerless, Marmon, etc? Probably not. Another article I am planning will focus on the ?Three Ps of Prestige,? and I could really use those particular sales figures if I can get them. And as for the Marmon, I perhaps should have mentioned it. But with space getting short, I decided that maybe another article at a later date, on 16s (in whatever configuration, including flat, V, H, or straight) might be in order. But then that still leaves out the powerful Duesenberg engine, just because it was an eight. I guess you can?t include everything in every venue. For SamKens: Thank you! You are certainly right about me forgetting the LaFrance. I will research it and add it to the timeline. For Bill-W: Thanks for the specifics on Packard?s introduction of the Twin Six, and for quoting your source for the information. Thanks, also, for the specs on the other three engines. Do you, by chance, have sources to quote for that info as well? It would be helpful, since my source gives different information for the Weidely engine (Encyclopedia of American Automobiles, Georgano, ed. [New York: Dutton], p. 93). And although it wasn?t called ?displacement-on-demand? back then (as Cadillac prefers to call it now), the same source credits Enger with having that feature in 1916. Thank you all, very much, indeed. I hope to keep track of this forum, if for no other reason than for the rich information and assistance it appears to provide. Oh, by the way: Why do you put only one "Chitty" with the Bang-Bang? Was the addition of a second Chitty a Hollywood edit, or am I even mistaken about the movie having an extra share of "chitty?" <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> Dan Cooper

Your question is one I dealt with fairly extensively this past month in preparing an article for publication at a site I edit for the Suite101 community. I found information on other V-12s beside the Twin Six and the National. It seems there were also a Weidely V-12 that emerged about the same time (slightly later, apparently) and an Enger ?Twin-unit twelve.? Details on their emergence, and which was ?first,? are still a little murky, but I continue to dig for information. So far, all indications are that Packard was first, in as much as their chief engineer apparently hatched the idea, and put it into concrete form. But apparently others found out and tried to beat Packard into production with the idea. I don?t have any corroboration yet, but that would fit the typical competitive profile for business in general. Anyone with information or source material that would be relevant, please let me know, so I can dig in the right direction. For some reason this thread chooses to label me as anomymous. This is my first post. I am Dan Cooper, and my identity at this site is VegetableMan. My article is posted at http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/vintage_classic_cars/114383.