Werner Gubitz - Most Underrated Packard Personality?

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Another topic to get us to Spring. It seems pretty easy to find a lot of written material on many Packard executives as well as the great designers who did custom work, but what about Gubitz? I see he is not one of the people listed in the recent Cormorant study on company cars assigned to top Packard executives during the Classic Era. Surely he would have been in the inner circle but I do not see a lot on him, except in some older write ups.

I would love to see more on the man responsible for the Packard "family identity" for decades; any thoughts on this? If Ray Dietrich and a few others did the 10% we have been discussing, could credit for the "90%" go to Gubitz?

Are there others who may not get a lot of credit these days we need to discuss?

[Dave Mitchell]

I agree, the standard Packard bodies, even sedans are good looking cars and it seems that Gubitz was to thank for that. I have seen catalog pages with his signature on them, also signed off by Ed Macauley.

[Mahoning63]

Great post Steve. Would also like to learn more about him and others. Am curious... was he responsible for the classic '32 grill? Or the Light Eight grill? Both were pretty daring compared to everyone else of that vintage.

[Dave Mitchell]

I would guess that Gubitz was responsible for the change away from the flat grill. If I recall right, the board of directors had to approve such a big change. By the time the 32s were being designed, Ray Dietrich would have been independent I think. I am not sure where to find more information on Gubitz.

[Dave Mitchell]

One of the interesting things to me is that Packard styling could be so conservative and they were still competitive and I would guess that Gubitz was responsible for keeping the cars good looking even when they weren't on the cutting edge of styling. Now people love the 37 seniors, but if you compare them to a 34 Cadillac, they look older.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Been a little hectic these past few days but I need to pull his bio which was covered in the Cormorant some time ago. Gubitz did a lot of design and illustrations on the "standard body" cars - so there is a good chance he had a hand in designing many of our cars for around two decades prior to WWll. For those with Jr. cars and even standard 8s or light 8s, I think his big contribution was insistance that there be a family identity year over year and through the line. He wanted things like the crest, hexigon and grille shape to carry though the various models, and did not believe a companion car like the LaSalle was the way to go.

To Dave's point I think the conservative approach may have been part of this overall plan, as even today your higher end cars tend to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, yet still manage to be desirable in terms of styling, Mercedes comes to mind here.

[Mahoning63]

Would be great if there were documented interviews with Gubitz as he spanned and was at the center of an incredible period of design change both at Packard and within the industry. One thing that really strikes me was the apparent openness on Packard's part to design change and leadership in the early Thirties, followed by a half decade of conservatism, then back to revolution with the Clipper. That last revolution seems to have largely been precipitated by GM, but it is the earlier leadership that really intrigues me because it was self-induced by Packard. The '32 grill’s painted shell integral to the hood design, when viewed alongside the concurrent experimental FWD V12 program, suggests that both were inspired by the 1929 Cord L-29, a car that was at the forefront of design at that time. Quite an avant-garde competitor to chin oneself against especially for Packard. But Packard seemed to be more daring and open to new design in those days. A quick look at the grills of the industry's '32 cars suggests that only Auburn and Packard offered such a design (I am probably missing some marques). I am left with the impression that Packard was gunning for the whole enchilada that year... a grill surround that was integrated with the hood (which it got) and a low slung body courtesy of FWD (which it didn't get). Wonder if Gubitz was advocating the car or simply following direction from Alvan. WHO was the main champion for that breakthrough '32 FWD program?

Edited March 15, 2011 by Mahoning63 (see edit history)

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Mahoning don't forget the second half of the 30s was all about Jr. production, remember Christopher's famous line about that "******* Sr. Stuff" - you make a good point in that a lot went into being competitive and innovative in the early 30s, with less emphasis on new developments for the flagship cars later in the decade.

BTW - love the 32 Packard grille also, but I would also submit that Ford had a heck of a design for '32 as well. I am still planning on sticking the rest of the car to the back of the deuce grilleshell I took out of a friend's barn in 1978, but for now it hangs in our family room!

[Mahoning63]

Great point Steve and forgive my omission of the '32 Ford grill. Good 'ole Edsel was right there at the front too.

Just to add to your comments on the mid to late 30s Juniors and Seniors, it does seem that Packard stepped back from the edges of the industry's styling envelope, and I am not sure why. If the car that sparked their interest in the FWD V12 and modern grill was the '29 Cord, and the cars that got them revved up to do the Clipper were the Caddy 60 Special and GM C-bodies, why didn't they act on, say, the '36 Cord and '36 Zephyr? The former had low height and no running boards, the latter had a fairly low floor and one of the first appearances of a transmission hump (later enabling the low slung Continental). Am thinking about Packard planning for the 1938 Junior line-up specifically....the height was no lower than the One Twenty. Were the '38 plans already locked in by late '35 when the Cord and Zephyr were first shown? Was there a change of heart at Packard about pushing the styling envelope?

Edited March 16, 2011 by Mahoning63 (see edit history)

[Mahoning63]

Here are a couple related thoughts, questions really. Packard was shown some renderings by Dietrich (am guessing it was Murray designers by then rather than Ray, but am not sure) at around the time the One Twenty was launched, for a series of coupes, victorias and sedans with an integral trunk of more modern design. It was a nice design suggestion not unlike the earlier de Sakhnoffsky extended hood, fender valences, concealed side frames, '32 grill and, for that matter, low height through FWD. Packard jumped on all those other ideas but not the trunk idea, at least not for 4-door models. Instead they stayed with the tried and true bustle back style of the day for the 1938 Juniors and Seniors. Neither the trunk, the height, the running boards nor the overall proportions were in and of themselves a make/break deal but taken together they meant the difference between a leading edge design and a look that was falling behind, and it got to the point where by 1938 guys like Darrin felt almost involuntarily compelled to jump up and down in front of Packard with a rolling example of what was possible. Designers didn't have to do this to Packard 5-10 years earlier, it was Packard who reached out to them. What changed?

I would love to hear Werner's take on the how's, why's and why not's of this period inside the halls of Packard because it greatly impacted Packard's competitive position. Hope there are interview notes stashed away somewhere...

Edited March 16, 2011 by Mahoning63 (see edit history)

[idrjoe_sandiego]

Here is a watercolor by Gubitz of the 1933 Packard dash. This artwork was for the owners’ manual of the gauges panel in the center of the dash, signed and dated 11/25/32. Not sure if he designed the panel or he simply did the artwork for the manual.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Nice write up in The Classic Car this month on Werner Gubitz, who I believe was very influential to the Packard identity throughout his career, benefiting Jr. and Sr. cars alike.

[Owen_Dyneto]

Yes, as just pointed out the article on Gubitz in the current issue of The Classic Car is a very nice piece of research and writing by Chuck Flinchbaugh.