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History We ALL Love a DARE! PIX of TRULY Extinct Makes?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by jimi'shemi291, Sep 12, 2009.

  1. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
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    Not so OT when you consider it was one Teague's best later efforts.
    Though certainly not extinct, when was the last time you saw one
    of these in nice shape OUTSIDE of a car show? Nice clean, un-
    cluttered design. And power? Four engines, up to 390-CID, &
    available 4-on-the-floor? Whoa!!!

    [​IMG]

    Thanks to Wikipedia, "The Online Encyclopedia"
     
  2. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
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    SunRoof, thanks for the story about the side-loading sedans! Really sort of like a multi-purpose limo set-up, eh? At any rate, given their "commercial" nature and limited demand for ambulances, the survival rate should be quite low, wouldn't you think?
     
  3. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
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    SunRoofCord, man, you said a mouthful about Indiana there, dude. As Swi66 & HJManiac have mentioned, there was definitely a time when Detroit was not THE U.S. auto capital! Buffalo, Cleveland, South Bend, Connersville, Toledo and many othercities were automotive hotbeds. When you consider all the companies that specialized in making just the bodies, chasses and many other components, the Great Lakes region had it going on! And that's not to say other states weren't involved, either. I was pretty amazed to learn how many car companies there's been in, e.g., Iowa and Oklahoma!
     
  4. I was waiting for this one to show up so I can post this one at The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum. Check out the A-Pillars. There aren't any. No B-pillars either. Notice the Mom-in-Law seat in the back!!


    <TABLE border=0 width=424><TBODY><TR><TD height=336>[​IMG]
    1966 American Motors AMX Coupe prototype
    <TABLE cellPadding=6 width=744><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>[​IMG]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

    </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2009
  5. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
    Member

    AlsAncle & VintageRide, enjoyed you guys' discussions on the sweetest production model Packard produced of the early '50s. Two questions/observations:

    I remember seeing a well-restored '53 or '54 a while back, and I'm stumped to remember the lofty NAME Packard put on the cyliner head. Seems it was something like "Constellation" or "Supersonic." Help here?

    Also, the Ultramatic doesn't get discussed much. I am left out with the jurors on this one! Only Packard and Borg-Warner were using the lock-up torque converter at that time. And while numerous other independents gave in and bought Hydramatics from GM, Packard stubbornly pushed ahead, seemingly out of company pride (can't blame them at all). But, I've often heard hints, and outright allegations, that the Ultramatic was trouble prone, a rap that apparently had some impact on public perception of Packard in its final years. Any thoughts?

    [​IMG]
    '54 Packard Panther "show car," with Dick Teague behind the wheel. A great
    write-up on Teague, "Richard A. Teague -- Automotive History Online," can
    be easily found at www.automotivehistoryonline.com/april07.htm. Well worth a
    look!
     
  6. How about this one. I am surprised SunRoof Cord missed this one.

    Desoto Skyview Cab

    [​IMG]

    The Waters dealership at 1355-1395 Van Ness Avenue is still standing, and now houses Ellis Brooks, a longtime Chevrolet dealer that now handles all GM makes sold in the US except Saab and Saturn.
    The DeSoto "Skyview" taxi, which appears to have been introduced around 1941, was a Waters innovation that was extremely popular in New York and other cities. This consisted of a long-wheelbase DeSoto sedan(the long wheelbase due to an NYC regulation at the time) with a plexiglas roof panel allowing tourists to oooh and ahh at the tall buildings.
    Interestingly enough, San Francisco Yellow Cab used DeSotos through 1950 or so, while the Waters-owned DeSoto Cab company used Plymouths in San Francisco, at least from 1939 on!
     
  7. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
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    HJ, NOT a term I use much, but I HAVE to say this is pretty BAD-ASS!!!
    <TABLE width=424 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=336>[​IMG]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
     
  8.  
  9. SUNROOFCORD
    Joined: Oct 22, 2005
    Posts: 2,144

    SUNROOFCORD
    Member

    I can't recall ever seeing one but a couple years ago, there was a big Desoto Auction in Iowa that included a 1958 Memphian Ambulance

    http://www.hubcapcafe.com/featured/2007/spencer-ia-101907.htm

    More here;

    http://www.hubcapcafe.com/ocs/pages01/deso5802.htm
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2009
  10. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
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    AlsAncle, THIS is, I seem to recall, one Packard wanted to mass produce but just couldn't get the production costs low enough to make it viable. Please correct me if I'm off base. (BTW, only a car THIS beautiful could make THAT paint color look elegant!) LOL
    [​IMG]
     
  11. Boodlum
    Joined: Dec 19, 2007
    Posts: 353

    Boodlum
    Member

    Riviera in the front, Pinto in the back

    'Bood
     
  12. bigblockdude402
    Joined: Oct 1, 2009
    Posts: 180

    bigblockdude402
    Member

    Here are a couple of extinct rides!
     

    Attached Files:

  13. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
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    HJ said: Come up to Cleveland and you can get upclose and personal with it.

    Jimi: Hell, man! There seem to be a TON of cars I'd like to get up-close & personal with there at the Crawford !!! I'd like to start with Jim's Jordan Speedway Ace-Z !!!<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
     
  14. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
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    The world's FIRST SUV? Or, maybe, the
    grand daddy of the RatRod ??? LOL
    [​IMG]
     
  15. SUNROOFCORD
    Joined: Oct 22, 2005
    Posts: 2,144

    SUNROOFCORD
    Member

     
  16.  
  17. SUNROOFCORD
    Joined: Oct 22, 2005
    Posts: 2,144

    SUNROOFCORD
    Member

    Packard Dreams: The 7 Postwar Concept Cars

    1948 Vignale

    1952 Pan American

    1952 Macauley

    1953 Balboa

    1954 Panther (I think there were four of these built and one is in a private collection in Chippewa Falls Wis. Think it's in being restored right now.

    1955 Request

    1956 Predictor
     
  18. SUNROOFCORD
    Joined: Oct 22, 2005
    Posts: 2,144

    SUNROOFCORD
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    Last edited: Dec 10, 2009
  19. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
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    Hey, BigBlockDude, just think what a thousand-dollar
    paint job and some flames would do for this ride!!!
    (OR, uh, maybe just lots and LOTS of FLAMES!!! LOL)

    [​IMG]
     
  20. SUNROOFCORD
    Joined: Oct 22, 2005
    Posts: 2,144

    SUNROOFCORD
    Member

    1948 Packard Vignale Convertible Coupe

    In 1948, Packard, one of America's finest luxury cars, was starting its decline. Meanwhile, Carrozzeria Vignale was a promising newcomer among Italian coachbuilders. The two came together to create the 1948 Packard Vignale Convertible Coupe.

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><center>[​IMG]
    This 1948 is the only Vignale-bodied Packard.

    </center></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Alfredo Vignale learned his skills in Pinin Farina's brother's firm. Shortly after World War II, he opened his own shop, turning out creations that won awards and attracted press attention.

    Soon Vignale was building cars for Ferrari, Maserati, and others. He not only built his own designs but executed the designs of others, such as prolific Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti.

    The car featured here is the only Vignale-bodied Packard. Registered as a 1948, it is mounted on a 1939 One Twenty chassis. It's a mystery how Vignale obtained the prewar chassis, but the economy of using an older chassis probably appealed to a new firm in postwar Italy.

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><center>[​IMG]
    Mounted on a 1939 One Twenty chassis, this Packard
    Vignale
    exhibits incredible workmanship.

    </center></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> In spite of the age of the chassis, the body was ahead of its time. The workmanship and quality of trim suggest a much more established coachbuilder.

    The smooth sheetmetal of the exterior wraps under the car to the driveshaft tunnel, forming belly pans. The hood opens on either side or can be lifted off altogether, similar to a factory 1948 Packard.

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><center>[​IMG]
    One unique feature of the 1948 Packard Vignale
    is that the hood can be opened from either side.

    </center></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Gauges are not Packard, but have an American look, though the speedometer registers in kilometers. The taillights are Fiat units.

    The One Twenty was Packard's junior series. The first moderately priced Packard, it saved the company in the Depression. It was also a good car in its own right.


    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><center>[​IMG]
    The speedometer marks kilometers, yet the gauges
    on the dash have an American look.

    </center></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> The 282-cid straight-eight put out 120 horsepower. With its lighter aluminum body, the Vignale Packard is probably a little faster than a standard One Twenty.

    This Vignale has won awards in most of the major concours d'elegance. The restored car has only 19,000 kilometers (11,780 miles) on the odometer.


    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><center>[​IMG]
    At 120 horsepower, the Packard Vignale was likely
    a little faster than a typical Packard One Twenty.

    </center></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> According to its owner, the car drives like a Packard One Twenty. The steering wheel is placed for the narrower 1939 factory body -- not the full-width Vignale envelope body -- making for an unusual driving position. It rides comfortably and has peppy performance.

    As for Vignale, in the 1960s, he built a larger factory near a Fiat plant. Vignale-bodied Fiats were the main product. But high prices and questionable quality, along with some missed opportunities, got the firm in trouble by the end of the decade. (One of Vignale's last projects was an American Motors AMX concept car. An engineless, fiberglass show car was replaced with an operational steel-bodied car in just 78 days.)

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><center>[​IMG]
    Overall, the 1948 Packard Vignale Convertible Coupe
    offered a smooth ride with plenty of get up and go.

    </center></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> The factory was bought by Alejandro DeTomaso (who had also acquired Ghia) in 1969. Alfredo Vignale died in a car crash three days after the sale. DeTomaso later used the factory to build Panteras, though they wore Ghia badges.

    Ford acquired Ghia and Vignale in 1973. Ford used the name for an occasional show car, such as the Lagonda Vignale in 1993.
     
  21. 1914 Peerless Model 60 six 7-passenger Touring car

    Of the 58 Model 60 Six cars produced in 1914, the Crawford Auto Museum car is the only known existing model.
    <TABLE border=0 width=424><TBODY><TR><TD height=336>
    [​IMG]
    1914 Peerless Model 60 six 7-passenger Touring car
    </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
    [​IMG]1914 Peerless [SIZE=-1]"1914 PEERLESS MODEL 60 SIX 7 PASSENGER TOURING. Peerless - All that the name implies - was a slogan and a claim the Peerless Motor Car Corporation could easily fulfill. Until its demise in 1932, the company was among the premier manufacturers of quality and luxury automobiles. This 1914 Peerless Model 60 Six, a seven passenger touring car, was the largst Peerless model ever produced, powered by the largest engine offered in an American passenger car. Of hte 58 Model 60 Six cars produced in 1914, the Crawford Auto Museum car is the only known existing model. It was one of 50 antique autos that participated in the Spirit of '76 Transcontinental Reliability Tour, a 3200 mile tour form Seattle to Philadelphia commemorating the nation's bicentennial. The 1914 Peerless was one of 46 participants that completed the tour..[/SIZE]
     
  22. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
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    Am I the only guy in the world who LOVES the "Pregnant Elephant" Packards? With me, it's NOT one of those "It's so ugly, it's cute" deals. I really find these appealing, and the '48 Deluxe is one of my dream cars! It's the wrap-around grille that sucks this Packard fan in!

    True, NOT extinct, but a lot of people WISH they'd never been born!

    Not a Deluxe, but, HERE is one of the very,
    very RARE '48 woodie wagons. Keen!
    <TABLE class=imagetable width=0 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>[​IMG] </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left></TD><TD align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
     
  23. SUNROOFCORD
    Joined: Oct 22, 2005
    Posts: 2,144

    SUNROOFCORD
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    1952-1954 Packard Panther and Pan American

    Packard's series of Fifties two-seaters, the Panthers and Pan Americans, were strongly encouraged by a nepotist appointee of the chairman of the board: Alvan Macauley's son, Edward. Nepotism is a bad policy for running governments or corporations, and it's particularly dangerous in the car business. With automobiles, as Joe Frazer once put it, "there's so much money going out the window every day that if you're not careful, you'll lose your shirt."

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"><tbody><tr><td><center>[​IMG]
    What ultimately emerged as the 1954 Panther Daytona possibly began with this rendering by Packard stylist Dick Teague.
    </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
    But they really didn't cost the company its shirt because they were, at best, a sideshow. Packard folk haven't much credited Ed Macauley for them, as they were largely the work of professional stylists and engineers. Nevertheless, without his enthusiasm, they probably would never have been built.

    Alvan Macauley's presidency and board chairmanship dominated the great luxury-car producer through its grandest years, from the big Six of 1912 through the Twin Six of 1915, and on into the Classic era of the late Twenties and 1930s. He retired, a scion of Detroit, in 1948.

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"><tbody><tr><td><center>[​IMG]
    Young Ed Macauley (far left) grew up at Packard with such famous execs and racers as (1 to r) his father Alvan, Barney Oldfield, and the colorful Henry Bourne Joy.
    </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
    Born into this milieu, son Edward grew up surrounded by such magnificent machines -- the veritable wonders of their age -- along with a spate of go-faster types that Packard warmly supported in its glory years. He had known the likes of Barney Oldfield and Ralph DePalma, and had admired the fast specials built with their encouragement by company chief engineer Jesse Vincent. He was also on close terms with Packard's various coachbuilders.

    With all this, it was only natural that Ed Macauley would go to work for his father's firm. He first served as a salesman for the diesel engine department. Then, in January 1932, his father appointed him head of the newly formed Styling Division. Here he would remain, ostensibly in overall charge, through 1955.

    "He was no designer," Ray Dietrich recalled. "He was a playboy." (This sharp attitude may have had something to do with Dietrich's not being retained as a Packard consultant after his ouster from Dietrich Inc.) But Ray Dietrich was one of the few designers who had anything negative to say about young Ed. Most of his colleagues respected him because, like many a great leader, he never overrode the final opinion of his professionals.

    In Packard: A History of the Motorcar and the Company, contributing author George Hamlin described Ed Macauley as "a fine coordinator and administrator, a good manager...He had a good 'eye' for design, and was personally responsible for Packard's offering some of the finest custom bodies during the Thirties. He knew, and insisted upon, quality...was universally liked...and was always referred to as a gentleman in a field not noted for a preponderance of same."

    Ed's most important accomplishment, wrote C.A. Leslie in the same book, was to "unify Packard body styling. Previously, there was no correlation between open, closed or convertible designs...Macauley [changed] all this, and eventually coordinated Packard's body styling so that phaeton, convertible, sedan or town car would each contain the same design elements."

    Once installed at Packard Styling, Ed quickly appointed Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky as a consultant. With the Count's help he fashioned a number of personal specials, and developed the line of speedsters that came to define the Classic sporty Packard in their day. Though Macauley played more of a background role after the war, the first car called "Panther" was indubitably his own.

    The Packard Panther was designed largely by staff designer John Reinhart. After Reinhart had conjured up Packard's all-new 1951 line, Ed Macauley asked him to help spin off a "speedster" version, continuing the firm's prewar practice of building swoopy two-seaters with bits and pieces from contemporary production models. Riding the 122-inch-wheelbase junior chassis, the first Panther was a foreshortened coupe, with a permanent hardtop fashioned from what appears to be a 1953 Patrician sedan roof.

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"><tbody><tr><td><center>[​IMG]
    The Macauley "Panther" as it looks today. Rear wiper was a novel touch for 1953.
    </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
    When it first appeared in 1953, the Panther wore the current-production rear bumper, 1952 hood crest, 1951 Packard lettering on a 1952 grille, and a hood scoop borrowed from the Henney Company's own two-seat Packard, the Pan American. Painted black and bearing a partly blacked-out grille, this one-off was later given the Panther name, with big block letters on the grille. Whether it was first used here or was just a reaction to other influences is not certain, but the letters were undoubtedly of Packard origin, as we could see when we photographed the car at the Packard Club national meet last summer.

    One of the faults in Reinhart's 1951 body design was its shallow greenhouse area and high sides. (For this reason, Reinhart nicknamed it the "high pockets" shell, and fought unsuccessfully with management to lower the beltline before production.) Macauley successfully disguised this on the two-seater with a broad, ribbed, chrome-plated brass applique along the lower body. It came off pretty well, but would have cost the world to implement on production cars. Also fitted were custom wheel covers bearing 1951 Patrician cloisonne center emblems. Curiously, Ed mounted a swiveling spotlight on the roof.

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"><tbody><tr><td><center>[​IMG]
    This is an original factory photos of Macauley's 1953 two-seat special. Swivelling roof spotlamp, disc wheel covers, shaved deck, and rear-fender dual exhausts have all been changed since.
    </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
    Only one Macauley Panther was built. Although originally powered by Packard's 327-cubic-inch straight eight hooked to the firm's self-shift Ultramatic Drive, it now carries a Chrysler V-8 and TorqueFlite automatic. Several styling features have also been changed along the way. Gone are the rooftop spot, the prominent chrome highlights along the front fenders (to match the original ones at the rear), and the dual exhaust outlets ducted through, special holes under the taillights.

    The enormous rear deck -- "large enough to land a Piper Cub," as Tom McCahill said of the 1959 Chevy -- was shaved in Ed Macauley's time, but now bears a conventional 1953 trunk handle. Six chrome dummy louvers have been added to the side of each front fender, while the wheel covers have been replaced by Packard/Kelsey-Hayes chrome wires.

    Ed Macauley drove his Panther into the late Fifties. Though it apparently spent some time in Connecticut's former Melton Museum, its interim history is obscure.
    .
    <!-- dtl_id=467510 //--> The Packard Pan American was another sporty two-seater, like the Panther. While Macauley and Reirihart were dreaming up their "speedster," Packard president Hugh Ferry had engaged the Henney Body Company, the firm's longtime supplier of hearse and ambulance bodies, to create a two-seat Packard of its own.

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"><tbody><tr><td><center>[​IMG]
    Richard Arbib and Henney Body designed and built the chopped and channeled Pan American, which led directly to the production 1953 Caribbean.
    </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
    In those days, anybody who was anybody in Detroit had to have a sports car, if only for show. Most companies bought a Jaguar XK-120, the ne plus ultra at that time, took careful measurements, and went to work using as many off-the-shelf components as they could. Nash teamed with Donald Healey on the 1951-1954 Nash-Healey. Chevrolet readied a production two-seater called Corvette, while sister GM divisions produced a raft of Motorama specials in its image.

    Ford replied to Chevy with the Thunderbird for 1955, a year after Kaiser produced its sliding-door Darrin. Hudson offered the memorably ugly, slow, and unsaleable Italia, based on one of the wilder imaginings of chief stylist Frank Spring. Even Studebaker briefly toyed with the idea of a sprightly sportster, derived from its lovely "Loewy coupe." Packard was probably the firm least likely to build a production sports car, but it did turn out up to six Pan Americans, apparently with the idea of limited series production.

    Designed by Richard Arbib of Henney, the first Pan American was hurriedly cobbled up from a stock 1951 Series 250 convertible for New York's International Motor Sports Show in March 1952. Chopped and channeled, it dealt once and for all with the "high pockets'" slab sides, was elegantly trimmed throughout, and wore Arbib's own rendition of Packard's traditional "ox-yoke" grille.

    Henney spent just under $10,000 on the venture. Later, it tried unsuccessfully to develop a market for the car. Of course, Packard management couldn't foresee any kind of demand at the $18,000-odd they'd have to charge, so the Pan American was stillborn. It did lead to a sporty production model, however, the famous Caribbean. But that's another story.

    The 1954 Panther Daytona was designed to replace the Packard Pan American. In 1953, Arbib sketched what he called a “Panther,” apparently a proposed Pan American update. Packard, meanwhile, had decided to pursue its own sports car project. The design assignment was handed to young Richard A. Teague, who by then had relieved John Reinhart as chief stylist under Ed Macauley.

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"><tbody><tr><td><center>[​IMG]
    Teague's Panther Daytona half-model was made to quarter scale.
    </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
    What would become the 1954 Panther Daytona was, as Teague remembers, “a lunch hour production. Somebody walked into Styling one day and said, ‘Oh yeah, Teague, come up with a replacement for the Pan American.’ We didn’t have much time to work on it, and I personally built only a quarter-scale half-model in clay, which we placed against a mirror to get the full dimension.

    “It was originally to have been called ‘Grey Wolf II,’ in honor of the first Grey Wolf racing car of the early 1900s,” Teague continued. “But some of the grey wolves at Packard didn’t like that, so the name was changed to ‘Panther.’ Then, after a speed run at Daytona, that name was added, too.”

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"><tbody><tr><td><center>[​IMG]
    Another Dick Teague rendering, this time for "Grey Wolf II."
    </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
    Unlike its predecessors, this new series of two-seat Packards employed bodywork of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) instead of steel. Credit for originating the idea of GRP car bodies usually goes to designer Howard A. “Dutch” Darrin (for his one-off, 1946 Kaiser-Frazer-based convertible and the production 1954 Darrin sports car) or to GM (1953 Corvette). But few realize that Packard was talking about this as early as October 1941.

    That was the month when Clyde Vandeburg of Packard Public Relations wrote a piece on the subject for Esquire magazine, accompanied by renderings of fiberglass Packards by John Reinhart and George Walker. As the firm’s rationale was potential steel shortages resulting from the defense emergency, Darrin remains the first to propose GRP as a steel replacement on grounds other than simple supply.

    For Packard in 1954, building the Teague Panther in fiberglass made as much sense as it did to Chevy for the Corvette or K-F for the Kaiser-Darrin. GRP molds cost far less than steel dies, and body parts could be turned out much more rapidly. Then too, Ed Macauley had some useful outside resources as potential contractors: Creative Industries in Detroit and Mitchell-Bentley in Ionia, Michigan.

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"><tbody><tr><td><center>[​IMG]
    Panther Number 1 after "Grey Wolf" script was removed.
    </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
    According to Leon Dixon, who carefully researched the story for Packard Magazine in 1984, Creative handled all chassis and body engineering for the Teague Panther, while Mitchell-Bentley did the final trim, including tops and interiors. Creative also made the GRP molds for the body panels. Dixon notes that these firms were a perfect team. Mitchell-Bentley had been making GM production bodies since the late 1930s, had built the experimental Packard Balboa-X of 1953, and had done all the conversion work on the production 1953-54 Caribbean. Creative had been skillfully developing special bodies for industry clients since its founding in 1950, and was well experienced with fiberglass. (Not widely known is the fact that the first DeLorean mockup was done at Creative, which is still in business today.)

    Packard announced the Panther at a round of 1954 auto shows and with a special brochure, much like those that GM issued on its Motorama specials. The front end was a confusing mishmash of several design ideas, but Teague had given the car smooth, clean flanks, and cleverly blended in the “sore thumb” taillights of the production 1954 Clipper. “Functionalism is the key in the design,” said the brochure. “The traditional, classic Packard grille has been modified to afford maximum cooling. The high guideline fenders hood the headlights. The sloping clamshell hood provides unobstructed visibility.” Equally significant -- and just slightly behind GM -- was a wrapped windshield, a fairly exotic piece of glass-bending at the time.

    To further establish the Panther’s sporting credentials, Packard installed the biggest engine it had: a 359-cubic-inch straight eight. On the first two examples, this was jacked up to 275 horsepower via a McCulloch centrifugal supercharger. With no modifications other than a racing windscreen, a Panther flashed through the measured mile on the sands of Daytona Beach at the highest speed ever attained by a car in its class: 131.1 mph. It was quite an achievement. Indeed, none of its rivals at the time, including Corvette, could match it.

    Packard Panther Daytona production was precluded by Packard's mounting financial problems after purchasing Studebaker, plus the very limited Fifties market for sporty domestics (even Corvette almost died in 1954). Thus, only four Daytona Panthers were built, all essentially prototypes. Mitchell-Bentley modified the last two with "cathedral" taillights and other 1955 details in a vain attempt to sell them for the new model year.

    M-B also applied "Mitchell" script to one, ostensibly a gesture at self-marketing, and grafted on one experimental hardtop. Happily, all four of these cars survive today. The red example seen here is Panther #2, the Daytona speed record car.

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"><tbody><tr><td><center>[​IMG]
    The Packard Panther Number 2 prompted the addition of the Daytona surname after a blistering 131.1 mph speed-record run on the sands of the famous Florida beach.
    </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
    Packard's legendary West Coast distributor, Earle C. Anthony, desperately wanted a production Panther, and even circulated drawings of one based on the stillborn 1957 big Packard design. But the idea never had a chance in the midst of the financial disaster that was Studebaker-Packard in those years.

    Not that it was missed much, at least by its creator. "I can't stand it," Teague says of the 1954 Panther Daytona. "But then, I didn't like anything I ever did." Snorts a prominent hobby editor: "You could entitle that [car] 'Why Packard Failed.' You'd have to tie bones onto it to get the dogs to chase it."

    <table align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="400"><tbody><tr><td><center>[​IMG]
    d.
    This Packard Panther's only modification was a racing windscreen.
    </center></td></tr></tbody></table>
    But the bulk of opinion is far less harsh among Packard partisans, who must, after all, be allowed a certain bias. Yet though even they admit that the front end is pretty grim, the rest of the Panther is sleek and interesting, at least in its clean, original 1954 form. And there's no doubt that if there were more than four to go around, we'd see a lengthy line of eager buyers clutching checkbooks and wads of bills. Too bad they'll never get the chance.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2009
  24. <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=400 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD>:confused: I wonder if Henney built the Panther?


    <CENTER></CENTER><CENTER>[​IMG]
    This is an original factory photos of Macauley's 1953 two-seat special. Swivelling roof spotlamp, disc wheel covers, shaved deck, and rear-fender dual exhausts have all been changed since.

    1953 Packard Flower Car by Henney

    <CENTER>[​IMG]

    This pretty coach won 3rd place in the flower car class at the 1998 Professional Car Society Meet, Chicago, IL.</CENTER>


    </CENTER>

    </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
     
  25. I do but just the convertible and the longroofs.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  26. SUNROOFCORD
    Joined: Oct 22, 2005
    Posts: 2,144

    SUNROOFCORD
    Member

    Packard Custom Bodied Cars For 1953

    [​IMG]
    1953 Packard formal sedan by Derham
    1 of 25 built

    [​IMG]
    1953 Packard Executive sedan- body by Henney
    1 of 100 built

    [​IMG]
    1953 Packard Executive sedan- body by Henney
    1 of 100 built

    [​IMG]
    1953 Packard Executive sedan- body by Henney

    1 of 100 built

    [​IMG]
    1953 Packard Balboa-X Concept
    designed by Richard Teague

    [​IMG]
    1953 Packard Balboa-X Concept
    designed by Richard Teague ​
     
  27. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
    Member

    These are SO clean-looking with the top down!

    [​IMG]

    In defense of Packard's Pregnant Elephant series! I am sure most people noticed the influence the '47 Darrin-styled Kaiser-Frazer cars had upon the '48 models of Nash, Hudson, Lincoln, Mercury and even Ford. Given the more attractive grille of the Packards over the very successful Hudsons, I'd give the winner's trophy for the aforementioned lot to Packard. What I am saying is that the Pregnant Elepant was definitely NOT out of place in post-war American -- in the company of the likes of the Bathtub Nash!
     
  28. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
    Member

    Not hard to figure out where Checker swiped the lines for their new '56 body, is it? But, then, LOTS of Packard styling touches were "borrowed" by other companies' stylists, weren't they???
    [​IMG]
    1953 Packard Executive sedan- body by Henney
    1 of 100 built
     
  29. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
    Member

    Here's Teague's rendering, dated 1953, of the Grey Wolf III. Crikey!
    It was 1953, and you've got 1960 lines here,
    at least on paper!!!

    Anyone who was enthralled by the four Packard Panthers needs to check
    out the following thread!! I was made aware of this by HAMBer Rich Fox.
    Jee-whiz! I love the HAMB -- and HAMBers!!!

    http://www.1956packardpanther.com/Panther.html

    [​IMG]<!-- / message -->
     
  30. SUNROOFCORD
    Joined: Oct 22, 2005
    Posts: 2,144

    SUNROOFCORD
    Member

    Packard Concepts

    Here are a few Photos of Concepts and one off's, Packard made a lot of one of a kind and custom cars for the rich and famous, on this page are the true factory idea cars sprinkled in with custom one offs that belonged to the President of Packard.
    [​IMG]
    Edward Macauley's 1933 Packard AKA "Brown Bomber"
    [​IMG]
    Edward Macauley & Brown bomber -1933
    Edward Macauley, Packard President 1916-1939​
    [​IMG]
    Edward Macauley's 1944 Packard Brown Bomber
    This is but one of the many transformations the Brown Bomber took from 1941-1946
    Also just a note, America was deep in the second World War and NO Automobiles were to be produced.
    I suppose this gave the styling department something to do during the war.​
    [​IMG]
    1944 Packard Brown Bomber
    [​IMG]
    1944 Packard Brown Bomber
    [​IMG]
    1952 Packard Pan American Roadster
    [​IMG]
    1952 Packard Pan American Roadster
    M.J. Kollins ( Packard Engineer) behind wheel​
    [​IMG]
    1952 Packard Pan American Show Car interior
    [​IMG]
    1952 Packard Pinin Farina Coupe
    [​IMG]
    1952 Packard Pinin Farina Coupe
    [​IMG]
    1952 Packard Special Speedster
    When Edward Macauley's Brown Bomber became dated, he had this speedster built.​
    [​IMG]
    1952 Packard Special Speedster
    [​IMG]
    1952 Packard Special Speedster
    1952 Packard special speedster, twenty-fifth series, model 2501 (modified 200 deluxe club sedan, model 2565), 8-cylinder, 327 cubic inches, 122-inch wheelbase, 2-person "Phantom II" built in Packard shops for Edward Macauley, exterior--black including part of radiator grille; interior--custom dash, black & white upholstery, note 1953 grille guard ensemble, 1951 "P-A-C-K-A-R-D" lettering on otherwise standard 1952 grille, 1952 crest above grille, decorative hood air scoop, 1953 headlamp rims, marchal lamps, special bright metal trim above lamps & continuing back along tops of fenders, special wheel discs bearing 1951 patrician cloisonne centers, special chrome plated brass applique trim along bottom of body, 1953 rear bumpers, special dual exhaust port holes below tail lights, patrician tail lights, roof lines inspired by senior series, rear windshield wiper, swivel type spot light atop roof, twin radio antennas on rear fenders.​
    [​IMG]
    1953 Packard Balboa-X designed by Richard Teague
    [​IMG]
    1953 Packard Balboa-X designed by Richard Teague
    [​IMG] 1954 Packard Panther-Daytona
     

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