packard — CARS — The Bad Blonde

Let’s start all the way back in 1899, when the Packard brothers, James and William, were talking crap about a Winton horseless carriage.

James thought the Winton motor car was none too impressive, didn’t like the constant repair issues, and sent recommendations to Winton Motor Car Company. The frank reply was for James Packard to “go build you his own car.”

Challenge accepted and the Packard brothers built their first car in Warren, Ohio on November 6th 1899. Soon they would build 400 Packards at their factory within four years. Which was considered serious production for the time.

This is a similar tale like when Ferrucio Lamborghini told Enzo Ferrari he was none to pleased with the frequent and LONG service visits he was having to make with his Ferrari sports car… Enzo told him to fly a kite and thus the birth of Lamborghini cars..

I do want to point out that the Packard Brother’s were coming from a manufacturing background, the pair founded the Packard Electric Company in 1890 producing incandescent carbon arc lamps.

This is an absolute random note, BUT their sister Alaska P. Davidson was the first female FBI agent.

Packard’s cars caught the attention of Henry Bourne Joy, a man born into one of the wealthiest and oldest families of Detroit, and the cars did so in a bit of a wild way.

Henry was on a work trip in New York City when he saw a pair of Packards chase down a horse-drawn fire wagon. Immediately captivated, he bought the only Packard available for sale in the city.

The gentleman was hooked by Packard automobile’s reliability and performance. He went to visit the Packard brothers in Warren, Ohio and talked them into taking on a group of investors. The Packard Motor Car Company was born!

While many US contemporary carmakers were priced from $500-$1500, the Packard’s prices started at $2,600. Clearly elevating themselves to the most affluent of buyers and competing with European imports like Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Mercedes Benz.

Soon though American luxury competition would roll in with McFarlan, Peerless, and Pierce Arrow. Packard would be considered one of the “Three P’s of American Luxury” along with Pierce-Arrow and Peerless.

Let’s talk about how Packard’s notably famous and long lasting motto came to be. Where did the slogan “ask the man who owns one,” originate? Rumor has it their sales skyrocketed so quickly that the Packard brothers didn’t have any time to print brochures and when a businessman from Pennsylvania called in asking for the latest literature, to which Packard replied “I am sorry we don’t have any.. Just ask the man who owns one.”

It is important to keep in mind that this time period, consumers were still getting used to the idea of a horseless carriage. There was skepticism and doubt for many concerning this new mode of transportation. What the early carmakers needed to do was to prove reliability over the horse and carriage.

Packard Motor Company set out to do just that, and they were the first car to drive across the country. The press and public were enthralled with this hazardous adventure and Packard became known for it’s performance and reliability.

Frankly, the thought of it sounds unattainable. Why? Keep in mind that most of the USA did not have roads at this time. We would not get the US interstate highway till 1956. Getting around outside of a major hub was a straight up testament.

Side note, later in his life Henry Joy would take part in the creation of the first transatlantic highway, the Lincoln Highway. He believed in the need of a reliable road across the USA and he invested heavily. It didn’t hurt that more roads would likely mean more cars to be sold..

Henry Joy said he “considered the Lincoln highway to be the greatest thing he ever did.”

And something to ponder, the average person before the car, did not travel more than a days ride in a carriage from their home or place of birth for maybe their entire life... The car truly changed the world and human’s ability to travel.

The introduction of the model L, Packard would also introduce it’s distinctive grill which would be the signature grill of Packards to follow.

Let’s talk about how, just about every early Packard, was named. With every model’s horsepower, so be it’s name. The model 24? 24 Horsepower and so on. The Packard 24 models were marketed at the ‘Mile a Minute Car’ as it could reach 60mph within a minute.

Packard would be the first car manufacturer to produce a thousand cars within a year. A remarkable achievement for the times.

Fun fact: Packard in it’s very early years was the first carmaker to use a steering wheel. They switched from tiller to wheel and made history.

Fast forward to the Packard Twin-Six, the first 12 cylinder engine for a production vehicle. Which essentially was two six cylinder motors set on one crankshaft. It revolutionized the automotive arena. Such an engine had never been built before.

Side note, The Twin-Six served as the basis for the Liberty aircraft engine in WWI.

In 1928, Packard built one of the first automotive proving grounds spending over 1 million on 340 acres after with all the best technology for the time.

The track had such a perfect bank that it was said you could take your hands off the wheel and drive into the curve at full throttle.

This track became known as the world’s fastest speedway. And it wasn’t just a track… they had every type of potential driving condition available to test their Packards.

Packard was at the height of the luxury automobile game, they had made $25 million profit and the future looked bright.

BUT we all know what would happen in October of 1929… The stock market crashed and demand for luxury automotives and goods took a downturn.

To capture wary buyers’ attention and to survive the great depression, Packard hit the gas with bigger motors and more eye catching custom bodies. Designed by such famous companies such as Deitrich and LeBaron. Considered some of the most beautiful Packards of all time.

While Packard’s pedal to the metal strategy with looks and price did work for time, it became clear that the great depression would endure longer than anticipated and thus they introduced the more affordable 120. An immediate hit. Setting an all a time sales record for Packard.

Fast forward to the Packard Clipper introduced in 1941, developed by automotive designer and playboy Dutch Darrin. One of the most prolific stylists and if you haven’t already guessed the gentlemen of who the Kaiser-Darrin sports car was partially named after.

One year later the US government would sanction all automobile production to stop in and support the WWII effort. Fun fact, they did sell a few leftover Clippers to the army which naturally became a favorite of the generals. In totally, 387 Clippers with identical door keys were put to use in the war effort.. You can imagine the identical door keys were an issue.

Packard’s reputation was worldwide, at one point Stalin asked President Roosevelt to give Russia the tooling for the older style Packard’s. Even acclaimed Rolls-Royce reached out asking for Packard to produce a version of their Merlin aviation engine. Rolls-Royce couldn’t keep up with demand and need help with production. Packard did not disappoint and produced over 55k Merlin engines.

Finally by the end of the war carmakers could go back to manufacturing cars.. AND PEOPLE WANTED TO BUY NEW CARS! There had been no new cars available to buyers. Like many other carmakers of the time, they had to produce/sell whatever they had been making pre WWII, the Packard Clipper, while they worked on making a new car.

With their first new car introduced in 1948 they sold 98k and celebrated the second best year of sales ever at Packard.. Did it sell well? Yes. Was it anywhere near the styling that Packard had become renowned for? No. The new Packard was nicknamed the Bathtub..

In 1952 Packard would cause such a sensation with it’s Pan-American show car that the company had to rush to build something like it. Thus the birth of the Packard Caribbean in 1953.

With the Caribbean, Packard took back it’s reputation for style.

Now 1950s was a tough time for the smaller car makers.. You see, the Big Three, Ford, Chrysler and General Motors were in a price and production war. They were flooding the markets with their cars and under pricing every one of them.

Packard CEO James Nance thought the only way to compete against the big three was to combine the remaining independent car companies: Nash, Hudson, and Studebaker.

The main guy at Nash, George Mason, passed away before the deal was sealed… And his successor, George Romney (yes, Mitt’s dad) said screw Studebaker and Packard AND ONLY joined forces with Hudson to form the American Motor Corporation.

And so Packard and Studebaker joined forces and it didn’t go so swimmingly.. Packard was not aware of how dire Studebakers financials were.

Then in 1955 Packard’s quality issues resulting in numerous warranty repairs plunged the already troubled company 30 million into the red.

Sooo they are in trouble and grasping for straws as they introduce their car called Packardbakers.. Not a great name but a cool looking car. But it wasn’t enough to save them.

In 1959 Packard, one of the greatest luxury brands of American automobiles, a carmaker that forged style and design for decades, was done. Their end announced with a mere press release.

Let's jump into the history of the McFarlan aka the American Rolls-Royce! Born from the McFarlan Carriage Company founded in 1856 by John B. McFarlan who came to America with his parents at nine years old. Off the top of my head other American carriage company’s that evolved into the horseless carriage, Studebaker was founded in 1852 as a carriage company, and Auburn (which will come into the story shortly) was founded in 1874 as the Eckhart Carriage Company. In 1909 his grandson, Alfred Harry McFarlan, of would see an opportunity in the horseless carriage and created the McFarlan Motor car company with its first model introduced in 1910. McFarlan Motor Corporation hit the run two cars in the labor Day Races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway finishing top five in both heats in 1910 a year before the inaugural Indy 500. Of the run, the Indianapolis Star would post “200 Miles without a stop - 200 Miles in 183 minutes” They would also enter Indianapolis 500 in both 1911 (finishing 25th) and 1912 (finishing 19th), driven by Mel Marquette. Mel was an early aviator who worked with the Wright Brothers. With a focus on quality and luxury, Mcfarlan Motor Corporation produced under 300 cars a year and sometimes less that 200. The McFarlan moto meter wears the insignia of a thistle which signifies the family’s Scottish heritage. Now what is a moto meter? It was used in automobiles to show the temperature of the radiator. In 1921 McFarlan introduced its own engine, the fabulous Twin Valve capable of 120 horsepower featuring 18 spark plugs and triple ignition. During the 1920s, the McFarlan was the premiere luxury automobile considered the “American Rolls Royce”.. When I think of early American automotive luxury, naturally my brain goes to the “Three Ps of Luxury” Packard, Peerless, and Pierce-Arrow.. Where does your mind go? Owned by the “who’s who” crowd of the day, celebrities such as Fatty Arbluckle , William Desmond Taylor, and Jack Dempsey. Al Capone bought one for his wife and shortly after one for himself. It would be cool to make a video dedicated to the cars that Al Capone owned.. In attempts to survive McFarlan steer into low-priced markets with the introduction of the Single-Valve Six model powered by a Wisconsin six-cylinder engine. It did not do great, McFarlan discontinued it in 1926 and company’s resources were thinning. Mid 1920s, the McFarlan Motor Car Company offered 2 lines with total of 26 different models ranign from $2,000-$10,000. They also dabbled in commercial vehicles like hearses, ambulances, and firetrucks. In 1926 McFarlan introduced a straight-eight inline engine, the Line-8 which sole better than the single-valve. Near the end of the twenties, McFarlan and his fellow leaders of McFarlan health would decline. That coupled with the thinned resources of the company lead to its demise. Ironically, the company would go bankrupt in 1928, a year before the Great Depression would wipe out many luxury automobile manufacturers. All McFarlan assets would be purchased by E.L Cord. If you don’t know who E.L. Cord is, he at own time owned a Triumvirate of America’s most beautiful automobile manufacturers, Cord, Auburn and Duesenberg. The manufacturing plant would later serve at the body shop for the Auburn Automobile company. An easy set up and smart purchase as McFarlan had been produced closed-body coaches for Auburn before their bankruptcy. McFarlan has been beind the bodies of the famed speedster bodies on the 1928 Auburn. It is believed that 19 McFarlans known to exist today. The McFarlan is to be a featured marque at the 2022 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance so I am excited to see that gathering. If you are wanting to see a McFarlan in person I know there is a 1925 McFarlan Twin Valve Six-154 Town Car 1925 at the National Automobile Museum (aka once was Harrah’s Collection) in Reno. I went there seven years ago and it is worth the trip.