1958 Packard Clipper
The 1957 and 1958 Packard lineup of automobiles were based on Studebaker models: restyled, rebadged, and given more luxurious interiors. After 1956 production, the Packard engine and transmission factory was leased to the Curtiss-Wright Corporation while the assembly plant on Detroit’s East Grand Boulevard was sold, ending the line of Packard-built cars. However, Studebaker-Packard executives hoped to keep the Packard name alive until a fully restyled model could be funded, developed, and produced. These cars were built in hopes that enough would be sold to enable the company to design and build a completely new luxury Packard.
The new Packard four-door sedan and station wagon were to be based on the Studebaker President. The original ‘Executive’ name was dropped and, from 1957, all styles bore the ‘Packard Clipper’ name.
A cost-saving amalgam of components from the combined Studebaker and Packard parts bins with much of the borrowing done from the 1956 Clipper, the new cars managed to achieve a look of their own by sprouting all manner of fins, light clusters and chrome trim. The general level of trim and finish was higher than that normally associated with Studebakers.
One of the few positives was that the “new” Packards used a supercharged 289 cubic inch Studebaker V8, just as powerful as the previous larger Packard motor. As a result, the cars turned out to be much better performers on the road.
The interior is trimmed in complementary tan upholstery, and it presents in excellent condition. A split bench seat features up front, while a single jump-seat unfolds from the right rear floor. The rear compartment is covered in period-appropriate linoleum flooring. Original equipment includes a rear heater, built-in first aid cabinet, privacy curtains and metal safety bars in quarter windows.
For Packard, this included an ill-advised union with also much troubled Studebaker in 1954. A hoped-for further merger with Nash-Hudson’s American Motors Corporation (AMC), to produce a strong enough entity to survive as a fourth major car company, never materialized. Continuing pressure on the new Studebaker-Packard Corporation forced the closing of the major Packard plant in Detroit in 1956, and all production moved to the Studebaker plant in South Bend, Indiana. The South Bend plant could not produce the full-sized Packard cars, and production of the truly Packard automobiles ended.
Nicknamed “Packardbaker” as Studebaker-Packard merged and existing design was restyled; Appearance was “cobbled together” since 1958 Packards were essentially re-trimmed Studebakers.
