Packard
 | |
| Formerly | Packard Motor Car Company |
|---|---|
| Type | Private (1899–1956) |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1899 |
| Founders | James Ward Packard William Doud Packard George Lewis Weiss |
| Defunct | 1956 |
| Fate | Merged with Studebaker to form Studebaker-Packard in 1954; 'Packard' brand name dropped in 1962 |
| Successor | Studebaker-Packard |
| Headquarters | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Key people | Henry B. Joy |
| Products | Automobiles |
Packard (formerly the Packard Motor Car Company) was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958.
One of the "Three Ps" – alongside Peerless Motor Company and Pierce-Arrow – the company was known for building high-quality luxury automobiles before World War II. A Packard was a prestigious vehicle, and surviving examples are often found in museums and automobile collections.
Packard vehicles featured innovations, including the modern steering wheel, air-conditioning in a passenger car, and one of the first production 12-cylinder engines, adapted from developing the Liberty L-12 engine during to power World War I warplanes.
During World War II, Packard produced 55,523 units of the two-stage/two-speed supercharger equipped 1,650 cu in (27.0 L) Merlin V-12s engines under contract with Rolls-Royce. Packard also made the 2,490 cu in (40.8 L) updated version of the Liberty V-12 engine used to power United States Navy PT boats.
After the Second World War, Packard struggled to survive as an independent automaker against the domestic Big Three of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. As a stopgap until planned consolidation with American Motors Company (AMC) could occur, Packard merged with Studebaker in 1953 and formed the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Disagreements among the firms' executives thwarted the AMC plans, so Studebaker-Packard remained a separate company. The Packard brand was phased out in 1959 after two years of declining sales of the Studebaker-built 1957 and 1958 model year Packards.