A Far Too Brief History of Studebaker-Packard 

When I turned 16 my Great Aunt Betty was told to give up driving. As a result of this she gave me her 1951 Packard Clipper. This was probably my most favorite car of all time and would love to have another. Fantastic car and oddly enough made the same year I was born.

I love my big 31 Packard 8 sedan 7 passenger 833. All original with 88,000 miles yet still road worthy.

My grandfather was recruited from Burroughs by Packard to own the Cleveland and eventually the Kansas City dealership. In KC he met and married my grandmother. Life continued with a retirement move to Beverly Hills for my grandmother’s health. Life continues to the formation of the neighborhood carpool. One of the families owned a “3 on the tree” 1954-56 Studebacher which you correctly described as “coming & going” - one rainy morning when the windshield became fogged a flumocked Mrs. Forgie tried to shift into gear with her daughter’s umbrella as she concurrently wiped away the fog. Then you mentioned Packard manufacture of PT/Rescue Boats - my dad was the skipper of a rescue boat at Truk & Tarawah Islands. Loved the memories trigger from this and the Checker history. Thanks.

I'm old enough to remember Studebaker. The brother of one of my college roommates drove a mid-60's Studebaker. This would have been about 1974.

I’m old enough to remember Studebaker, and Packard. As a kid, there were neighbors that had Studebakers. This includes a 1966 model [ with its unique grill.]. And neighbors, had 55 Buick, a 56 Cadillac, and a 1955 Packard. ,an absolutely ‘Drop-Dead-gorgeous’ tri-color 2 door. And I actually saw a 1958 Packard Wagon - a VERY rare car. This was in the 1960’s. 🚗🙂

The packard name was dropped after 1962. Studekaker decided it was a hindrance to its future. Thank you for doing this video.

My dad bought a 62 Avanti and picked it up right from the factory in South Bend. He drove about 30 miles on his way to Vancouver, Washington and the thing overheated. He literally called the factory (it was a saturday) and got one of the engineers on the phone and the guy drove out to help. Apparently a screw was cross threaded so he cobbled together a fix and they both drove back to the factory in matching Avantis; where it was appropriately repaired. One thing to mention is that the Avanti was absolutely shockingly fast. One went 175 MPH at Bonneville. You know what the fastest production car in the world was in 1975? A 1962 Studebaker Avanti. It wasn't until some Ferrari beat it in the mid-70s that I think something beat it. Though I personally would have been terrified going over 100 on those early 1960's tires.

My grandpa came to America in 1920 from Italy. He was a machinist at Packard for 35 years retiring in 1955. My dad worked as a college summer student as a safety officer in the late forties. My dad used to say open fires were a real big problem at the Detroit factory throughout the plant.

My great uncle worked for studebaker in South Bend until about 1950. The only cars he ever owned until he died in 1967 were Studebakers. He loved them. They were a quirky car for the era, but previewed the compact car market by twenty years.

My father now 99 years of age rode in his fathers1928 Sudebaker,( the family car) in Dunedin, New Zealand around 1932 -1938, it was a soft top and right hand drive. It survived many of the rudimentary dirt Central Otago roads of the day.

My mother owned a two-tone blue 1957 Studebaker Champion, which I remember riding around in as a kid. She reluctantly sold it in the mid-60s because mechanics couldn’t find parts for it, except at salvage yards. She loved that car and travelled everywhere in it. She got fairly good gas mileage with it as it had a 3-speed manual transmission with an overdrive gear that was engaged with the accelerator pedal. It also had an anti-roll feature that kept the car from rolling backwards on a hill when trying to accelerate and engage 1st gear on a hill.

Growing up during the '50s, I remember both Packard, Studebaker and Nash very well. In the early to mid '60s, a friend's family had a Studebaker with a pushbutton transmission that I drove on occasion

First Time stopping by your channel. I really like this video. It's very informative and very well done. Very well presented. My grandfather owned a 28 Studebaker. When he got married in Michigan he wanted to take his wife on a honeymoon so they decided to drive to San Diego, California in his Studebaker. Reading his diary of the trip is like stepping back in time. He loved that Studebaker and it would go anywhere and do anything. He used it in his fields to pull stumps and just about anything else around his farm that needed to be done. To him. That car did double duty as a tractor. Well on his trip to California he was in the Great plains somewhere and he pulled up and there was a big long line of cars stopped and he walked up there to see what was going on and saw that there was a bridge that had been washed out in the water was rushing through and nobody wanted to cross. My grandfather walked back to the Studebaker and he says in his diary that he had forded streams and rivers in Michigan that looked way worse than what he saw there. He got back to the car and told his new wife. We're going around these cars and we're going to go over that wash where the bridge is gone and be on our way. That is exactly what he did. He got in that Studebaker and people were telling them don't go through there. Nothing can get through there. He says in his diary that he looked at them and said my Studebaker will go anywhere. Then he proceeded to drive right on through. When some of the other motorists saw him do that they decided to follow him through and he plowed the way. He talked about driving from Yuma Arizona to San Diego, California on the original plank road that ran through the sand dunes just outside of Yuma. He stopped for gas and a guy at the station told him you can't go on that plank road with those gum rubber tires because the metal strips they used to hold the planks together will get so hot from the sun that they will melt the gum rubber tires. So he had to change the tires out to keep him getting a flat due to that. He did make it to California, San Diego, La Jolla and had a very good honeymoon and then turned around and drove back to Michigan. Later on my uncle had a 57 Studebaker golden hawk and that thing was an awesome car. As a young boy I thought It looked really cool, sounded really good, and it was way fast.

Excellent video showing the history of these companies and their unfortunate end. I remember as a kid watching Cadillac commercials where they would show early Cadillacs with the tag line some day you always knew you would own a Cadillac. My Dad would always come back with some day I knew I would own a Packard. What an unfortunate end to a once class leading US auto manufacturer. Thank you again 😊🏎

Neighbor kid was spoiled rotten so his Mom and step dad bought him a new 63 Hawk. Black with a red interior and 4 speed on the floor. Soon after he got it he stopped by me waiting for the school bus. "Want a ride to school?" That was the quickest ride to school ever. Love the hawk. Please consider doing the history of JI Case cars, the 1st company to enter the Indy 500 and sit on the pole position.

In 1957 the automobile I would have liked to own was the Studebaker Golden Hawk. As a young enlisted Marine, my financial situation in those days came nowhere close to realizing a dream like that.

I used to work at the proving grounds when it was owned by Allied Signal. After Studebaker, Bendix, took it over, then Allied Signal, then BOSCH, and now it's being operated by Navistar. I grew up in South Bend and our neighbor was retired from Studebaker and had a mint Lark. He even had clear plastic over the upholstery to keep it pristine.

Please do a video on Henry J. Kaiser and his vehicles. I first learned to drive on a 1948 Kaiser 4 door stick shift. The interior was large and the trunk was huge. A publicity stunt was you could put a pony in the trunk, it was in the newsreels of the day.

Not to pick, but Packard was the first factory sponsored vehicle to cross the country in 63 days, but Horatio Nelson Jackson and his riding mechanic Sewell Crocker (and Bud their dog) became the first individuals to cross the country in 61 days as an independent team and they did it in a Winton. In fact Jackson had a fifty dollar bet that he could cross the country in 90 days. He bought the Winton used and actually paid more for the car than the original owner paid for it new. Jackson spent 8,000.00 in expenses and never collected on the wager (the Winton is in the Smithsonian). My Dad and his buddy bought a 1929 Packard from a lady (we are from Atlanta Ga orig.) that was a chauffeured limousine (Dad said that it was a twelve cylinder job and it got pretty boring re-ringing twelve cylinders). And my Grandfather was looking to buy a new car before WWII (he saw the handwriting on the wall) and he was looking at Studebaker but found a good deal on a 1940 Chevrolet used but with only 2000 miles on the odometer. People used to knock Studebakers for their quality but I have done a little work on them and found them to be pretty good cars overall. Course this was over forty years ago. Your video is very educational and helps explain the history of Studebaker. I viewed an episode of Gunsmoke and Miss Kitty was driving a wagon load of supplies to some people and the wagon, you guessed it had the nameplate Studebaker. They tried to be period correct on those shows.

Thank you for this most interesting and enlightening video. Covering true American Auto industry history. I'm an old 'Geezer Gearhead'. I had the pleasure and honor of driving a 1931, dual cowl Packard phaeton to an auto show in Hawthorne, NJ. for the owner. A gentleman by the name of Mr. Bill Morgan. I clearly remember that the engine was so quiet, I could'nt tell if it was running or not. What a thrill for a young guy in his early twenties.

Thanks for the sympathetic retelling of the decline of Studebaker. After the end of WWII my dad (John C. McKusick) started a machine shop in Los Angeles. He bought a Studebaker because the big three car dealers attempting to do sleazy sales tricks. Starting with a 51 Studebaker V-8 he developed engine modifications and a dual carburetor intake manifold. The products were named Stu-V speed equipment. He went drag racing and did quite well. He built a 1953 coupe and did time trials at the Dry Lakes. Raymond Lowey had him breathe on his personal 53 coupe before he took it to Europe. My dad bought a 1960 Lark with all the police equipment and a slightly low ratio rear axle. Few cars could beat it through a stoplight intersection. My dad and my brother built an engine and took the car to Bonneville in 1961. The class record was about 152 mph.I think it was 232 cubic inches. My brother welded up a dual 4 barrel carburetor ram manifold, with a Racer Brown roller cam. Driving up to Bonneville, our 1951 3 speed overdrive V8 tool car rolled 100 miles per hour all night long keeping up with the Lark. The Studebaker had a manual spark advance and after the first trial run, the car had a turned connecting rod insert. While grinding the crank, I peered into a neighboring shed and saw Mickey Thompson's 4 engine streamliner. After my dad died, I inherited the Lark (with it's original 289 engine). I sold the Lark to a collector about 20 years ago who was told me the crankshaft in the 289 engine had been ground. A weakness in Studebakers was you needed to watch the crankcase oil. My sister had driven the car low on oil. She turned an insert too. She was a busy single mother of two kids, too bad the Studebaker had that Achilles heel.

11:39 I find it hilarious and also extremely handy that there's an 1899 Winton and 1899 Packard right next to each other in Harrah's Car Museum in Reno, Nevada. The similarities are... striking. (Same can be said about the 1903 Cadillac and 1903 Ford, but that's a different matter)

Thank you so much for putting this together for us, Very well done! May add a bit of personal touches here? My grandfather and father both worked at the Stude plant in South Bend. Grandpa started there during WWII, Dad worked there for a brief time before the Korean war broke out. Grandpa last worked in engine assembly, balancing crankshafts on the V-8 cars. He had stories to tell about almost all the others in his section doing just the minimum amount of units their contract required, then playing cards in a corner for a while . The managers were afraid to say anything, and the union protected them. This, of course, affected productivity numbers. Also, when the plant closed and all but a few employees lost their jobs, it was discovered that the pension fund for employees had been used by management to try to keep the company afloat. Even the union bosses knew this, and allowed it to happen. Some of them, along with a handful of executives, were able to get a severance or pension from the company. Grandpa was kept on for a few weeks to finish building some engines, as the Ontario plant was not tooled yet for those engines. When Grandpa was let go, all the "good" jobs that may have been available there in South Bend were filled. I can remember as a child, seeing all those Studebaker larks still on the roads there in South Bend with the rotting, rusted out front quarter panels below the cowls from the salted roads in the winter

I remember very fondly of the Studebaker cars when I was a kid, growing up in Cuba. My maternal grandfather had a 1953 Studebaker sedan, beige colored, with red vinyl interior. My grandpa bought that car in cash, and brand new from the dealership. A maternal uncle-in-law also bought a new 2-door coupe Studebaker in 1957 in green - gorgeous! Back in those days Studebaker looked very stylish, and modern, and different from the over-designed big-3 cars with their giant fins, and over-dosed with chrome everywhere in their cars.

Wow, brief, thorough, and incredibly informative, you did it again. 👏 Thank you. Last November I drove from Rockford, IL to Dayton, OH just to tour the Packard Museum. I was intrigued to learn that Packard patented the modern day steering wheel in 1898. Of course, tillers were the steering devices of choice at the time. Packard was truly an innovative company in their day.

Good video. I never knew there was a Studebaker Rockne in the 1930s. It was obviously named for Knute Rockne, the legendary Notre Dame football coach - Notre Dame also being in South Bend, IN.

LaSalle,DeSoto and Edsel are more videos you could do too ..

Jon, great video. The Studebaker story is fascinating and tragic. The Packard story is understandable. There's no way to make expensive annual changes to manufacturing autos unless the expenses can be successfully integrated into the price of the car. At scale, it's low per unit. But not when you sell limited numbers of expensive cars only.

Interesting enough; both Packard and studebaker have a large following by many car collectors, today

My first car was a 1958 Studebaker Lark station wagon and later I had a 1940 Packard 110. Both were GREAT cars. In my opinion the most beautiful car ever built was the Studebaker Hawk Gran Tourismo.

Had Studebaker and Packard merged together with Hudson and Nash along with Kaiser and Jeep and man we would've definitely had the big 4 for sure and not to mention beat the big 3 at they own game as well. AMC divisions Kaiser-cheap budget brand(to compete with Ford, Chevrolet, and Plymouth) Jeep-altimate truck brand(to compete with GMC) Studebaker-mid level/performance brand(to compete with Edsel, Pontiac, and Dodge) Nash-mid level luxury brand(to compete with Mercury, Oldsmobile, and Desoto) Hudson-upscale mid level luxury brand(to compete with Lincoln, Buick, and Chrysler) Packard-high end expensive luxury brand(to compete with Continental, Cadillac, and Imperial)

thank you for this my dad worked 19 years till the end in Hamilton ontario 1966

I am old enough to fondly remember both Studebaker and Packard. Both were fine autos. So sad they no longer exist.

I just gotta say, _Studebaker, Studebaker, Studebaker, spit!_ When I was younger, all thru the 70s and 80s, I used to see the occasional Avanti driving around. I haven't seen one in a long time now. But my boss has a 63 Studebaker Lark. I drove it twice. It has a 3 on the tree. I still remember how to drive those.

Great video Jon and very informative.

I am a docent at the Packard Proving Grounds. I enjoyed your video. My only comment is that the slogan "Ask the man who owns one" came from the Packard Brothers not Macauly.

Packard was very innovative with their self leveling system, automatic door locks and their famous fully synchronized three speed manual transmission. The rarest of all their models was the 1956 Carribean two door hardtop. with only one year of production. Their overhead valve V-8 was built for the new Eisenhower interstate system and it obtained optimum mileage while cruising at 70 MPH.

Imagine what Studebaker and Packard would looked like during the muscle car era had they merged with Hudson and Nash.

Earnest Hemmingway owned a 1953 Packard Caribbean convertible. It was found in Cuba some years back and last I heard was being restored.

One of my favorite 'might have been" was the Packard Darrian. The bodies for those were produced in Connersville, Indiana in factories which had built Auburn and Cord bodies. One of Packard's big problems was their lack of a body shop and their reliance on Briggs for bodies. They lost their production when Briggs was sold to Chrysler who wanted to build Imperials there. This just when Packard was least able to handle the problem because of the V8 and automatic transmission projects. If they had picked up the Auburn shops in the late 1930's they would have been in a better position in the 1950's I think. It's something that was missed in the vid. Most of the Packards in the 1920's and early 1930's were cars you bought as rolling chassis and had a coach maker finish. As the company went for higher sales in the mid-price market they never invested in a body manufacturing facility, which may have doomed them.

Excellent video! I took my kids down to the Studebaker museum last year - it’s definitely worth checking out. Make sure to see the Oliver (tractor) mansion while you’re there.

For the last 53 years, I have owned and repeatedly modified a '54 Studebaker Starliner (hardtop). Working on that car has given me a number of insights into how Studebaker failed. For example, I rebuilt the door hinges, and found that the hinge pins had a beautiful, elaborate grease retention and distribution system built into them. It had never seen a trace of grease. (Workmanship.) The test drives of the times all complained about 1) poor headroom and 2) instruments too low to read. I also heard that it was basic knowledge at Studebaker that the bottom of a seat had to be at least 11" above the floor. I replaced the front seats with '71 Volvo seats, and had at least 5" of headroom, the instruments were right in front of my face, and the alignment of the groove between the hood and the fender aligned perfectly with my line of sight. When rushing the '53 into production, the designers made a blunder by supporting the A-pillar with an outrigger that was anchored to one of the rubber body mounts. As a result, the doors rattled and routinely fell open. This was "fixed" by bolting a 1" high cross-member to the bottom of the frame to support the A-pillar. The cross-member had a hump built into one side of it for the exhaust pipe to pass under it. This was done for a "sports car"" at a time when everyone was fitting their '49 and '50 Fords with twin glass-packs. For the same amount of money, the cross-member could have had two humps for two exhaust pipes like a real sports car. Studebaker committed suicide.

The father of my friends across the street when I wa growing up was a staunch Studebaker customer to the point owning both family cars and pickup trucks, at least into the early 60's when my family moved away from the neighborhood.

1:31 50 DECADES? dang.

How about a separate video on avanti alone? That refused to die for ages...

Been enjoying your vids John.

This was wonderful. I have been a student of these companies and yet I learned a lot. Kudos to you for bringing us such an in-depth view!

Another great show, Jon. Love your videos. Thanks so much for making them. Much appreciated.

The STUDEBAKER name IS in use today: SPECTRA Merchandising Int. has been using the Studebaker name on Retro styled radios and electronics, for at least a decade +. [ as a radio collector, I own 3 Studebaker radios]. 🚗📻😁‼️

Interesting facts and pictures of the cars from Studebaker and Packard. Thank you 😊😊 subscribed.

Hi. I paused your video, at the beginning, to tell you, that I remember, both the Studebaker, and the Packard, brands. The man up the street from my parents, had one of those ( bullet type) front noses, that the Studebaker was famous for, and the man next door to us, had a Packard, with the extremely long hood. I am now 74, but back then, I was just a child, so I can't say what year they were. I believe that I am going to live your channel, and will subscribe.

We used to have about a 1950 Studebaker in the Woods, but I don't think that it ever ran.

Thanks John... Great video!!!

The takeover of the body manufacturer by Chrysler was the death knell for Packard. People wanted the new Packards, but orders were cancelled when delivery was delayed, and the cars that were delivered had serious issues with the bodies.

My brother had a Studebaker Lark. The Victorian police (Australia) used Studes in the 1960's. I was holidaying on Guernsey Island in 1974 and walked passed someone's garage. The door was open and there was a pre war Studebaker Dictator sitting there. The owner said he was the second owner. The original owner, when Germany invaded the island, put the car up on blocks and hid the distributor. He was sent to a labour camp in Germany. The car only had 3,000 miles on the clock, a beautiful car. Not far from where I live there is a Studebaker Hawk.

The 2nd picture you show, car in original trim without mods, is absolutely gorgeous. I'm not a 4 door guy but this is very nice. Today it's all 4 door cookie cutter computerized expensive trash. Studebakers at Bonneville are legendary for speed & toughness. Pretty sure that they are the only 1 that extensive body strengthening is not needed for high HP & Torque. The 1951 model is great for this type racing & looks awesome. 1958 2 doors Studes were awesome too. Love the 32 Packards. Very interesting and informative video. Thanks a bunch for posting.

Had things gone differently it would have been, AMC/HUDSON/NASH/STUDEBAKER/PACKARD

Packard was smart to develop a medium-priced car in the 30s to stay alive and broaden their clientele to include the growing upper-middle class market. Their mistake was calling it a Packard. The ultra rich did not like seeing their Packard 180 parked next to a "cheap" car with the same script on the fender. One executive quipped they were "bleeding the Packard name white". By the time they realized this mistake and introduced the Clipper, the war was around the corner and really stunted enthusiasm for that amazing design. I like that you mentioned the geriatric executives, who definitely stood by while the ship was sinking... it's a tough position to be in for Packard. There was no safety net. If Cadillac had a bad year, no big deal - the other divisions sold so many cars, it was almost inconsequential to GM. For Packard, a bad year could mean the end of the company. If only Nance and Romney could have worked something out, what Packards and Studebakers there might have been...

My grandfather told me he bought 1 for 100 dollars. He also said it was the best car he ever owned by leaps and bounds. We have a picture of him with it. Not sure which one it was. But it was late thirties I believe.

Man, you do some research and put a lot of effort into these videos. I was compelled to sub.

I'm really enjoying your content. I subbed!

According to my grandparents I'm a descendant of the Studebaker brothers. Even if not the possibility makes me proud

12:13 I have numerous facts in history written down in a fat notebook: American interventions not know by many Americans. Many 1sts as well. Among them is crossing the U.S. in a Wynton. As soon as I heard that name I remembered. Always wondered about the Wynton now I know. Thanks!!! 👍🚗🇺🇸

Did you ever hear the " Goddess of Speed" radiator ornament called " The Doughnut Chaser"?

Love your work. Thanks! Also I’m probably one of the few that liked the pacard-baker

I agree. Had the 4-way AMC merger actually happened, there would be a Big 4 today.

Great video!

Very interesting video! Thank you "Merci"

Fifty Decades? Wouldn't that be 500 years? Thanks for the video, I'm lucky enough to own a 1963 Studebaker lark.

Very well done. From time to time there is a nit to pick in one of these video histories as there is always more to tell than time permits. Not this time! I think you covered the topic well and enjoyed your approach. Thank you. When considering counterfactual history, I have often wondered whether some of the egos might have been sidestepped had the independents engaged in joint ventures short of merger. Of course, I don't know!😆

Random suggestion for thr channel, would be neat to see profiles of some of the more iconic car designers Harley Earl, Brooks Steven's, Raymond Lowey, Virgil Exner etc....

Excellent content as always. Wish I had all of your knowledge instead of tidbits from here and there.

I have often wondered that if the envisioned AMC had come about, what would have happened to Chrysler? The only surving pieces of AMC are now Stellantis and essentially owned by Europeans Fiat and PSA. We owned a 1955 Patrician, and found it to be a very comfortable and solid car, this was in the mid 70s, and even then it was still recognised as a premier brand.

So interesting!!!

I remember both of these great makes. Two cousins had Studebakers and a relatve and friend of my parents had Packard s

I remember Studebaker in the 1950s as a teen. Sad they went out of business. Really they were ahead of their time.

I remember that it looked like it had an airplane Grill in The Front.

imagine going to a studebaker dealer to order your mercedes. the gt hawk looks like the later slab-side lincolns.

That is odd, I NEVER had any problems with my 1955 Packard Clipper Super Panama. Zero electrical problems and zero transmission problems. I surely wish I had that car today, but alas thanks to my ex wife I don't have it.

Good stuff

Studebaker and Packard were both well before my time, but I have great appreciation for both brands. I would LOVE to own a solid original 1940 Packard 120 sedan. The car just oozes class, style, and reliability.

The pre-war Packard was the rich mans car more so than Cadillac.. I was born in 1940, so I remember those cars very much.

The STUDEBAKER name does survive. Pended by. SPECTRA Merchandising International Inc. STUDEBAKER exists ,now, as a line of retro radios and electronics. I have 3 Studebaker radios in my collection. 🚗📻🙂

How about videos on Pierce Arrow,Auburn-Cord Deusenberg,Delorean and Bricklin??

i was with my mom when she bought a 59 lark 8, 2 dr, with the 289, 3 on the tree with overdrive. $200. we had a 60 lark 6, 4 door, auto that burned lots of oil. the lark 8 was fun.

"Ah. A bear in his natural habitat, a Studebaker." Fozzie Bear.

Classy looking car as most in that era where

When I was a kid my father had a Golden hawk and a hawk they were from like 52 I think they were nice cars

The Avanti is one of my all time favorite cars. One day I’ll own one.😊

A Four Brand AMC is my ultimate automotive Alternate Universe. I speculate a LOT about what could be.

In the 1970's , in Salt Lake City,here was a Studebaker company that made horse drawn sleds used to feed cattle in deep snow and also manure spreaders. Not sure if they are still there.

Is the Packard 120 or Light Eight at the time when Packard introduced the one piece crankcase/cylinder block Straight 8 that was different than the previous engines that had upper cylinder case bolted to lower crankcase unit (and I think had sheet metal on part of the side of the cylinder case that formed the water jacket) ?

What kind of Desoto was on Happy Days TV show?

I do remember them both. I had a relative with a couple of Packards in the 50's, and have had the pleasure of riding in a Lowey glass coupe. While it's understandable that you can't mention every car along the way, I'm sorry there wasn't room to talk about Raymond Lowey's contribution to Studebaker. The glass coupe was quiet uncomfortable with a very progressive interior design somewhat reminiscent of Tucker. Overall, a great video. Thanks.

Yep Studebaker Packard too 1949 to 1966 the last cars were made in Canada thanks 👍

Just shows how bad Studebaker had gotten when a smaller company took it over then became the dominant partner despite Packard's higher potential. The proposed 4 way merger to create AMC was thought to have made a bigger company than Chrysler, you gotta wonder if it would've succeeded or failed but the potential of the 4 brands surviving with Packard at the top, Nash at the bottom and Hudson and Studebaker in the middle using shared resources

I don't think a four-brand AMC would have flown. It would've been a mess, much like British-Leyland was in the 70's. Too many brands competing for the same market share. Not to mention the logistics of the location of Plants: South Bend, Indiana ; Kenosha, Wisconsin and Detroit, Michigan (for Packard & Hudson). Even after AMC merged, they tried keeping both the Hudson and Nash names, only to eventually drop BOTH and just go with the Rambler name. Nostalgia was not a "thing" back in the 50's and 60's. People wanted to FORGET the Depression and the War(s) and move on to better times. Studebaker's overhead was crippling the corporation. They'd either have to stop auto production and diversify or get shuttered altogether. Nash and Hudson both dropped due to flagging sales and the names being practically worthless. Rambler is born out of this. Packard.... interestingly enough, Packard was probably the most well-off of the Independants. Packard and Kaiser should have seriously considered a merger. That way when Packard lost the Briggs body manufacturing; instead of cramming body production in to the Conner Ave. plant, they would have had the MASSIVE Willow Run plant at their disposal. Kaiser would have gotten a V8 and an automatic transmission; Packard could have doubled or tripled their production. Easey-Peasey.... Lemon squeezy. But if Packard had to climb into bed with Hudson and Nash to make AMC.... a three-tiered system may have evolved from that marriage: Packard, Clipper and Rambler. Rambler would have gotten their in-house Automatic and wouldn't need to buy Hydra-Matics or Borg-Warners anymore, Packard & AMC engines would have followed so they could have their "Big Block" and "Small Block" lines like major manufacturers.... and built Ramblers in Kenosha and Packard/Clippers in Detroit. Though, I'd hope management would've had better vision and thought to produce bodies at the Gratiot Plant instead of Conner Ave. The Conner plant was not set up for body manufacture as even later once Chrysler purchased it, the plant was mostly used for final assembly and QC. Hopefully the Young Blood from AMC would've given Packard the kick in the shorts they so surely needed. Problem was, like you touched-on here was aging management. They didn't see the need for stylish bodies. They didn't see the need for a powerful V8. They didn't see the need for electronic gadgets. They were the "old guard" and had lost any sense of what the public wanted in an automobile - let alone a Packard!! The times they were a-changing and those old fuddy-duddies - even though Packard *HAD* the money for development of a V8 WAY back in 1947.... they didn't bother. Even when they DID design their own automatic, it was a two-speed like a Chevy Bel-Air's Powerglide. Though, the interesting thing about that is .... by the time Packard R&D did get their poop in a group, it was too late. Legend has it though that had the Packard Drivelines seen 1957 or 1958 with the unified body system they'd planned.... we would have seen a new Ultramatic! The "Black Bess" (prototype/development buck) is supposedly equipped with an Ultramatic with FOUR forward speeds - sort of. Rather than redesign the whole thing from the ground up, they cast a new tail shaft for an overdrive coupling!! So, essentially it should have Low Gear, Direct, Lockup Direct and Overdrive. Would've really made those late 50's Packards a real boone on the freeways that were to come. Oh, if only!!

One of my Dad's friends, Stephen, had a Rolls-Royce. One day, he was leaving my Dad's office and came out to find a little old man checking out the Rolls. The old man asked, "Is this your car?" Stephen proudly said, "Why yes, it is." I can still imagine his puffed chest deflating when the old man, after gawking for a few more seconds, told Stephen, "That's a nice old Packard you got there" and walked away. 🤣🤣🤣

What current autos strive for reliable engineering… and deliver ? I am thinking of Lexus the top of a very short list.

@1:33, my math may be wrong but isn't 50 decades=500yrs?