The old Packard plant won't come down easy. This was one of the pioneering reinforced concrete factory buildings of Albert Kahn. Built before engineering practice had confirmed just how strong was sufficient, these buildings are almost bomb proof. Early factory buildings were brick with wood or iron support columns and relatively few windows. Kahn's industrial architecture was a marvel of USA technical progress. The naturally lighted buildings were intended to lift the human spirit of the factory workers who often worked in dimly lit buildings. A century later the walls of gl*** make these landmarks too costly to heat and cool, but in their time these buildings were considered to be a thing of beauty. Even today Kahn's firm designs the majority of automobile plants in the world. The nearby Dodge Main building was also built by Kahn at the same era and was troublesome to knock down. Many Kahn buildings will survive for decades, such as the Fisher Building. Kahn was a prolific architect, the Packard complex was one of his best known industrial efforts.
Thru the 1920's and 30's General Motors introduced their credit and financing arm to the nation. Part of the "deal" was that if you wished to have GM finance 20 or 50 cars 'upfront' for your car lot, you had to denounce and stop selling any and all other brand names. Dealerships, in the early days could and would sell ALL brands and manufacturers products, Es***, Graham Paige, Knight, Apperson, Moon, Chandler, Franklin, Peerless, Studebaker, Packard and Ford Could and would all be sold on the same lot Until General Motors Gave Every North American Dealership The Ultimatum: "Sell only GM cars on your lot, -You cannot sell Peerless, Studebaker Willys, Moon or Packard if you want to sell our cars". And so it was.. Willys died due to lack of and/or inadequate dealership support Peerless died due to lack of and/or inadequate dealership support Moon died due to lack of and/or inadequate dealership support Chandlerdied due to lack of and/or inadequate dealership support Franklin died due to lack of and/or inadequate dealership support Packard died due to lack of and/or inadequate dealership support And 100's of others were forced out of business because GM forced each and every small town dealership to stop representing the Compe***ions cars. The American public did NOT put Packard, Willys or Moon out of business, The Japanese did NOT put Packard, Willys or Moon out of business, General Motors Forced Packard, Willys Moon and 100 others OFF OF car lots North America Wide. GM, starting in the 1920's dealt each and every car manufacturer a death blow one by one by simply demanding that each and every car dealer could Not sell compe***ors cars on the same lot as the all mighty general motors products. In business, this is called winning by attrition, 'Kill off any and all compe***ors by any means possible'. Sadly, this is a part of automotive history that many wish to ignore and/or don't want to hear or repeat due to the love of gm and their products. Personally, I would have loved to have bought and owned a new Moon or Willys but sadly, General motors made that impossible thru attrition. Even sadder is the fact that a once thriving city like Detroit, "The ****nal of Democracy" would stand in ruins today because small car makers like Liberty or Packard could not be sold beside a GM product beginning in the late 20's and early 30's. Today Detroit resembles a bombed out war torn city with many former Packard, Graham, Chalmers, Flyer, Hupmobile and similar manufacturers (both in and around Detroit) that did not need to be killed off by the corporate greed of just one company (and not because of the American public or the Japanese compe***ors) ->Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Motor_vehicle_manufacturers_based_in_Michigan .
Try to be sure and take the Rouge Factory tour while you're in Dearborn. I've been twice in the last year (once by myself, then my friend wanted to go so I went again). It is definitely worth it....Ford went through a lot of trouble and spend a good amount of money to make this factory something that they could share with the public. And this is something that I would suggest to EVERYONE on the H.A.M.B. ....we're all lamenting the demise of the old Packard plant, as do I. Then try to go see a LIVING FACTORY! Get out to Dearborn if you have any type of chance and take the Rouge Factory Tour! I am bummed though....I had always hoped to someday restore a Packard and get some picture of it in front of the old main entrance to the factory plant. I had heard about the auctioning off of the front name-facade, but I hadn't realized that it happend 2 years ago (at least if I'm to believe the news article that someone linked to in this thread), so that facade is probably already LONG gone. Oh well, guess I'll have to take her to Dayton or Warren as the next best thing.
Just a request, but can we not devolve into 'GM killed Packard'?? I mean really, what is another company supposed to do, foster the compe***ion and help them survive? In my humble opinion, that may not be the best way for US industrial might to remain strong in the many industries in which it remains strong or return to its former glory in other industries. Bottom line, as companies grow, it becomes cheaper for them to produce goods on a per-unit basis. That gives them advantages. Period. That's not the end of 'the game' for other companies, but it certainly means that other companies have to absolutely be on the top of their game to survive, and even then it may not be enough. There are several reasons behind the demise of Packard. If everyone on this thread is really that interest in Packard, I highly suggest reading the wonderful book 'The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company' by James Ward. It's a GREAT read and really dives into the causes for this great companies demise, which are neither single or simple.
I see ProEnfo beat me to the Banksy angle. There's a little conspiracy theory that Banksy www.banksey.co.uk sort of flushed out the owner of the Packard plant and 555 Studio may have been in on it. The owner knowing the value of a genuine Banksy piece would sue to get it back thus revelaing who is responsible for cleaning up and securing that site. Like I said, this is just wild speculation but it makes for an interesting theory. As historic as the Packard is, its extremely dangerous, gutted, set on fire a few times a month, and looks like the gates of Hell. Last month there was a four story collapse on the west side of the plant. Its time for this eyesore to come down. Here's some pics I've takes over the last few years. Oh, and put me in the I'll believe it when I see it catagory.
Here's a couple more I took in April this year when I was in town for the Tigers opening day. That smashed up VW is in front of the North enterance on E. Grand Boulevard. That's the main street that divides the two halves of the plant, its just west of that sky bridge. One could easily look at these pics and think this is a third world country.
Thanks Lucky for posting those pics.... It just makes me sad to see it that way.. Guess one can only dream about it still being in business and producing some fine *** cl***y automobiles... Yeah, I know... Wake up! It ain't never gonna happen.
Lucky's pictures capture the present day spirit. I would rather remember it like this, the birthplace of the car in my avatar, as well as this fine 1923 Indy racer-Jim
I gave this thread a 5 star rating for all of those that contributed their thoughts and pictures... Thanks guys! Your the best! Anyone else have something to add??? I just might try to grow a set and take a drive to see the place with my own eyes...
The packard building is truely a marval to see just due to its shear size....that said, I had driven under the walkway over east grand boulivard many times while working in the city, the building is a common place for fires, dumping, and god knows what else happens inside its decaying old walls where people are hidden from view. I think it is sad to see it go but the cost to save it would be too far reaching to even begin to consider it. They should save the stone door t*******s that bear the name but the rest of it should just come down. it is in a pretty bad area of the city too.
Lets buy it and do something! "In Detroit they dont do drivebys, they park in front of houses and shoot."
Here is another article about the history of the plant: http://www.autotradercl***ics.com/car-article/Old+Factories:+Packard-65445.xhtml
Kills me to say so, but I used to be as bad as anybody else, wanting the cheapest price on everything and damn where it was made. Maybe being young and not having much money to throw around made me think that way, don't know. Now I'm starting to realize my mistake. Now that I'm willing and (somewhat) able to pay more for quality US-made goods, I can't hardly find the **** to buy.
Its not that bad. I mean it looks like a third world Hell hole but there are a few other places around the city where your life could actually be in danger. The Packard is a place where suburban hipters play croquet, modeling shoots happen, and even a **** or two have been filmed Its desolate but there are a lot more dangerous areas of the city and surrounding area. I photograph old buildings in Detroit all the time, although I do carry a .40 cal. Glock in addition to my camera.
Regardless of if GM was responsible for the demise of Packard we should at least be happy it was a "Civil War" between two US companies. Now we have American businesses going under because of some unknown factory in China. I'm with "D-fens", I'm trying to buy American whenever I can. If I lived near Detroit I'd get a few of my buddies, our tools and project cars together and become a squatter in the Packard plant. Good shop space is hard to find in NYC !
I agree with that....really, REALLY try to make a concerted effort to always buy American. It ain't easy though. My last trip into Detroit me and a buddy went to a Tigers game. I was commited to buying a Tigers ballcap that was made in the U.S.A. Out of an entire wall of such caps (and many more in the upstairs section of their store) I found, drumroll.....1 style cap that was Made in the USA!!! So out of over 100 styles/sizes, there was 1 style in about 5 sizes that was US made. Fortunately I liked it and they had my size (kind of .
They shoulda also torn down the Coloseum, Pyramids, Sphynx, all that **** around Athens, London etc. All just useless old junky buildings we don't need no more...
On a bit of a lighter note, HLN reported this morning that Ford holds interest in the Packard Proving Grounds property & a group has gotten together to lobby them to preserve that property. Though the entire place can't be saved this may be the band wagon for the preservationists to climb aboard. Good Luck to them, Al BTW, FANTASTIC THREAD!!
Lucky, Without knowing the details (i.e., having been there), I doubt the whole "conspiracy theory", for a couple of reasons. 1) One of the other two Banksy pieces was "preserved" by one of Romel Casab's ***ociates, without Casab's name ever being brought into it. 2) Casab is a past master at achieving what he wants, at little or no risk to himself. Even a few minutes' searching will reveal a number of cases where he has manipulated (or another word of the reader's choice) events to suit his desires. This man plans his moves carefully. 3) I don't really know what the Banksy "trees" piece is worth (no doubt, more now because of the notoriety of the removal)...but certainly its value is still less than the potential costs of being the known owner of the Packard plant. Even ***uming that Casab was aware of the significance of the Banksy piece before he took action, it seems unlikely that he would open himself up. 3a) Banksy is known to disavow pieces of his work that have been moved/altered. To some buyers/collectors, that would make a difference. 4) Why would the artists/studio believe that the mere act of a Banksy work being painted on the Packard factory draw Casab out? My guess is that: A) Possibly someone, probably not Casab, simply screwed up and put his name down as president of Bioresource. Given his history, and the fact that he has an attorney advising him, who has been ***ociated with him for a long time, it seems unlikely that it's a screwup. B) Much more likely is that he's done enough research to be reasonably certain that he can't be held legally responsible for the plant. Being president of a defunct or dormant company is not the same as being the owner....and it is quite possible that he is, legally speaking, a temporary caretaker, or a recent appointment. My guess is that the legalities could go on for years- but the artwork case could be settled more quickly. BTW, I'm not bustin' your balls, you did say that it was wild speculation....I'm just laying out my thoughts against.
I work in the Bronx, NY which looked like a bombed out shell of a city back in the late 60's and 70's. While all of it isn't pristine much of it has been rebuilt and is far better than it used to be. I have never been to Detroit but I'd love to see it improved for no other reason than for people like us on the HAMB it was the birthplace of everything that we love. Giving up on it would be like giving up on a cl***ic project car/truck just because the floors and quarters are rotted. This site is a testament to what a little hard work and commitment to making something out of nothing can accomplish. If a bunch of sheet metal on four wheels deserves it I think a whole city does too.
Yeah it is! I've also seen the pics of the Central Railway station... It's very possible to save that one...
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