Why did Packard have to die?

"AMC/Renauledge" (n2skylark) 11/05/2013 at 19:27 • Filed to: Packard

5

3

Okay, I know the reasons Packard collapsed. They were supporting a terribly-managed Studebaker, and the company decided their best chance of survival was going with the volume marque over the luxury marque.

I know that personality conflicts between George Romney and James Nance kept the two from merging Packard into AMC after George Mason - the original architect that wanted Nash, Hudson, and Packard together as early as 1948 - died suddenly 6 months after the AMC merger.

But still...

Packard...

Why???

All Motor Is Best Motor > AMC/Renauledge 11/05/2013 at 19:33

3

It would have been great if Packard and those other companies that didn't make it in the 50's and 60's were still around, giving GM, Ford, and Chrysler a bigger run for their money. More competition would have resulted in better products, and perhaps we could have somewhat avoided the disaster that was 70,s 80's, and 90's American cars.

AMC/Renauledge > All Motor Is Best Motor 11/05/2013 at 19:39

0

Exactly. Had Packard merged with AMC instead of Studebaker, AMC would have been in a better position to offer better small cars in the '70s.

With the shoestring AMC had, they already offered the best domestic small cars you could buy in terms of quality and reliability, as it was.

Instead of getting screwed over by GM's cancellation of their rotary project, AMC could have designed their own FWD drivetrain for the Pacer. Instead of implementing a multi million-dollar crash program to compromise the Pacer by widening it so they could fit their big sixes driving the rear wheels and sacrificing lightness and interior space, they'd have been first with a FWD transverse small car.

Just like they were first with a VW-fighting subcompact.

That massively expensive redesign of the Pacer cost the company dearly and the car long-term success. It's what sucked the profits from the early '70s out and left AMC desperate for Renault by 1979.

In my spare time, I work on an AMC/Packard alternate history, continuing the Nash, Hudson, and Packard brands because I can't help but think that they'd have done more for each other together than apart.

noise > AMC/Renauledge 11/05/2013 at 21:17

2

revive it!