From Sydney, Bruce's 1958 Packard Starlight

Final year for the proud PACKARD car Co. of Detroit, a joint product of the equally proud STUDEBAKER car Co. of South Bend Indiana.

[@535tony]

Very rare car.

[@robertk.5195]

I've known this particular car for 20 years or so. Wish I'd known it was for sale. Of course, it's obviously in good hands for the time being.

[@trr5291]

My sister has a 58 black Packard sedan.

[@neildickson5394]

Of course not a true Packard, but absolutely unique. Think they should have continued from 57 calling them Clippers, then had the Facel-Vega bodied big Packard returned in 59 along with the new Lark, they could have continued the mid-size Clipper.

[@nickjervis8123]

Neil Dickson Hi I run a 1954 Packard Patrician in the UK. It's a 359 straight eight 9 main bearing engine with alloy head. Packard was already in trouble before the merger with Studebaker. The prewar body dies for the big cars were sold to Russia and the Clipper was dated. The replacement had unfashionable styling and the six was either a taxi or a White truck. There was even a marine version. GM could swap badges on the Fisher body between Pontiac Olds and Cadillac. Packard could not do that. Caddy had a V8 in the immediate post war period. Packard 8 dated from 1924. The poor quality control you talk about came from the shut down of Briggs motor bodies. Packard bought the Connor Avenue Briggs plant off Chrysler and shifted production there in 1955 abandoning the old plant. The new V8 was troublesome too. Lehman Brothers who put Studebaker and Packard together were negligent and did not recognise that Studebaker had been in severe debt since 1950. Ceo Nance pulled out of a deal with AMC Ceo Romney because they were rivals and you are now left with a 35 acre wasteland. The car I have is a 1924 chassis in a 1950's party frock. That '58 is not a Packard. The rear wings are fibreglass to accommodate Packard tail lamps. The engine is all Studebaker with a Mcculloch supercharger for the Hawk. The Facel Packard was never going to happen because Chrysler provided the engines for Facel. Cheers Nick

[@neildickson5394]

Several of your points are totally incorrect. There was a tentative merger between Studebaker and White, but it never fully happened. Lehman Brothers never had anything to do with SPC, if they even existed then, it was Curtis-Wright, but that was a few years after the merger. Chrysler wouldn't have any say in a Facel-Vega based Packard. SPC would have no need of a Chrysler engine, they still had plenty of Packards brand new V8 to slip under the hood. The only reason it failed to happen was Mercedes-Benz who knew a luxury Packard such as that would literally destroy the already non existent sales of their 300 on the Studebaker Mercedes showroom floors. Your chassis could not possbly trace to 1924, they were new in 1953 for an all new downsized Studebaker.

[@nickjervis8123]

It is patently obvious you know little of Packard. Lehman Brothers were founded in 1850 and George Asterista a Lehman Brothers employee was the guy who did the report on Studebaker when Nance was still considering a merger with either Kaiser Jeep or Nash. It's a pity George Mason died. Lehman was on the Studebaker board Facel Excellence used Chrysler hemi and then Volvo. The story about Mercedes and the dealer network is speculation. Have a good day Sir. Nick UK Ask the man who owns one

[@nickjervis8123]

One more thing that 18 foot piece of Detroit iron blocking my drive way owes nothing to Studebaker. Packard 6 cylinder engines were used in White trucks until 1950. Nothing to do with Studebaker. GOOD DAY

[@neildickson5394]

+Nic Jervis If that is true, not only do I know nothing about it, but nearly no one else does either, nor does it matter in the scheme of things. I know quite a lot about Packard, as does James S. Ward who wrote a very scholarly book on Packard called 'The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company'. I checked the index and Lehman Bros, is mentioned a couple of times. It certainly made no impact on my reading this great book several times, so I question that there was much to it. As for the "speculation" about Mercedes impact on SPC internal decisions, all I have to say is before SPC, M-B was lucky if they sold 500 cars a year in the states. Today, we see of the two which company still produces.

[@alanblanes2876]

Thanks for this excellent video....If some of these companies had shifted to a worker co-op model, they would have been able to produce what the workers know is the best choice for making a worthwhile product, rather than cutting corners to save pennies.