Could this be the car that inspired Jorn Utzon's Sydney Opera House design?
Looking at this photograph, it's difficult not to see some similarity. We talk specifically about cars and their fins in another article, but this set of fins belong to a Packardbaker. Never heard of the brand? Not surprisingly as there was no such make. The name was invented with good reason by comedians and motorists alike to describe the 1957-58 Packards. They were basically Studebakers with lashings of bling added to differentiate between the two makes. This Packard sedan started life as a Studebaker President.
The union of Studebaker and Packard lasted slightly longer than a Britney Spears marriage. Four years to be exact, between 1954 and July 1958, when the last Packard rolled off the South Bend, Indiana production line. Which makes this 1958 car unique is that it is one of the last Packards built. We found it at the 2007 Studebaker National Concours on the Gold Coast. The marriage between Studebaker and Packard was intended to become one of the great American car dreams.
It ended in disaster for not just these two iconic brands, but also indirectly, Nash and Hudson. The wedding took place in 1954 with Studebaker needing cash and Packard needing Studebaker's extensive dealer network. Remember, Studebaker had been around since the horse and buggy days and was America's largest producer of carriages. Packard was an up-market US brand which built cars as solid as an Aussie brick outhouse. What Packard did not realise was how much cash Studebaker needed. No doubt this was due to poor due diligence on Packard's part and Studebaker perhaps not being as up front as they should have been.
They were probably as honest as Wall Street bankers in 2008. Anyway, Packard took over Studebaker with a plan in mind. That was to stabilise both companies, improve the product line and then combine Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson into the mix like Bob & Carol and Ted & Alice. Had the plan succeeded the new company would have taken its place as the third member of the US `BIG THREE', ousting Chrysler, but still adrift of Ford and GM. In reality, it had the hope of a dying duck in a hailstorm.
To break even Studebaker required sales of more than 280,000 units. In 1954 it sold 82,000. By 1956 the dealer network was dissolving and more than 30 per cent of the network had gone out of business or on to other brands. Poor sales in 1956 prompted major changes. They were in dire trouble with sales of just 28,835 units, about half 1955 sales. Studebaker-Packard entered into a management agreement with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation.
Curtiss-Wright picked up all Studebaker-Packard defence contracts, Packard was pulled out of Detroit and manufacturing based at Studebaker's South Bend, Indiana plant. From there it's not hard to see what happened. There was supposed to be a new large luxury car developed for Packard, based on styling of Dick Teague's 1956 show car, the Packard Predictor.
But with no cash and no backers, the Predictor predictably failed. With Studebaker being the volume seller, and production based at South Bend, they took the obvious line. Produce Packards from the Studebaker floor plan. It was a hard call with Studebaker being a middle of the road, but solid manufacturer and Packard at the high end. The 1957 models were a town sedan and a country sedan station wagon.
They ran 289 cubic inch V8's, but lacked the refinement of Packard transmissions and ride. It was, after all, just a Studebaker re-badged and re-blinged. Buyers then, as now, are not stupid. In 1958 Packard also produced the Hawk and Golden Hawk, cars basically the same as Studebakers own Hawk stable as well as wagons, hardtops and sedans. In all 1200 sedans were manufactured, which makes our featured 1958 right hand drive Packardbaker a rarity, to say the least.
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