I would not blame you for thinking this was an AI-generated image, as it’s a bit hard to imagine that front end being “real”. But real it is; all too much so, designed by Dick Teague, whose lifetime output definitely tends to fall on two sides of the mean. He was not derivative, we can give him that accolade, at least.
CC Contributor has posted two AI-generated collections of imaginary 1975 Packards, the most recent one here. I thought it would be a nice follow up to take in the Panther, as it was something of a “What If” exercise at the time. As in, what if Packard built a Corvette; a stylish two-seater, powered by a supercharged version of its venerable 359 cubic inch flathead inline eight.
The impetus to build the Packard came from CEO James Nance, who wanted something to enter in the increasingly important Daytona Speed Week in early 1954. It was originally going to be called the Grey Wolf, later changed to Panther. Driven by Dick Rathman, the Panther hit 110 mph, something of a disappointment. An unofficial later run turned yielded 131 mph.
Four Panthers were built, using a shortened sedan chassis and using the company’s biggest engine, the “big block” 359 inline eight, supercharged and teamed with Packard’s own Ultramatic transmission. The original versions used the rear taillights from the Packard sedans.
Two of the Panthers were later updated with new rear fins, reflecting those on the restyled ’55 Packard line.
The removable hardtop echoed the one that was used on the ’55 Thunderbird.
There are times when it just doesn’t work to try to include heritage styling elements on a new car. Unless of course you’re trying to get AI to have a bit of fun.
I know it’s not April First!
In 1953 GM built the Cadillac ElDorado, Buick Skylark, and Olds Fiesta. These were premium convertibles built on the regular chassis, but had modified bodywork like cut down doors, Panoramic windshields, and different rear wheel cut outs. GM also built the first Corvettes. Packard had their top of the line Caribbean convertible, which was equivalent to an ElDorado. The advertising for the Eldo referred to it as a sports car! The Corvette was based on the Chevy sedan platform, but at least it was smaller than a Buick! The silver Panther looks the cleanest, but the copper version is pure mid Fifties Bulgemobile. I’d never seen this car in any articles about Packard. An engine that weighs half a ton! I’ve read that the big eight was very smooth with lots of torque, which was an advantage before automatic transmissions.
Wonder why this car didn’t feature Packard’s new V-8. By ’54 the design mush have been ready to go into production, you would have thought a prototype or two would have been available for the Panther. A 1,000 lbs. supercharged flathead straight 8? Wow.
Do any Panthers still exist? The original design isn’t bad once you get past that grille.
That removable hardtop roof kinda looks too heavy like its weighing down the car. Other than that, it`s a cool, clean looking design.And I like the color.
A bit too much engine weight and the front styling is off but the idea was good Ford ran with it and made a nicer looking 2 door untill it bloated into a sedan.
Dick Teague….the streakiest stylist this side of Virgil Exner. Roll the dice, sometimes you get a 1955 Packard, sometimes you get a Matador sedan. Sometimes you get a Gremlin.
The Packard V-8 wasn’t available until 1955, and Packard, wanting to sell cars in 1954, wasn’t about to publicize it and cause their 1954 sales to collapse even more than they (and all the other independents) already had in 1954, largely as a result of the 1953/54 Chevy/Ford price war.
The Packard Straight-8 WAS heavy, but it wasn’t THAT heavy. The 1,000 lb number includes the Ultramatic Transmission, which was the only number that Packard published.
So you get numbers like this, from the 1954 service manual
Weight with clutch and manual transmission: 876 lbs
Weight with overdrive: 911 lbs
Weight with Ultramatic transmission: 1011 lbs.
The Ultramatic is estimated by to weight around 275 lbs, meaning the Packard engine weights some 736 lbs. Note the 359 had an aluminum cylinder head, and one with a cast-iron cylinder head, like from 1953, weighted some 40 lbs more.
For comparison, I read somewhere that the Cadillac V8 of that generation weighed some 630 lbs, so 100 lbs less than the Packard, I don’t know what a Hydramatic weighs, I have read 233 lbs, so perhaps alltogether a Cadillac engine+Hydramatic weighs some 140 lbs less than a Packard straight-8 plus Ultramatic, about 14% less.
Now that doesn’t include the weight of the supercharger in this case, which would be what, 50lbs more?
The Cadillac V8 of 1954 produced 230 Hp versus the Packard straight-8 with 212 hp, again, comparable, but the ohv V-8 was lighter and still had more potential, while the long-stroke flathead Packard straight-8 was at the end of it’s development.
Now, if Packard had made an aluminum DOHC straight-8…..
The 1955 SAE paper on the Packard V-8 quoted the dry weight of the 1954 straight-eight as 752 lb with all accessories except air cleaner, plus 32 lb for the complete (empty) radiator. This figure reflected the aluminum cylinder head and included the flex plate for Ultramatic, but did not include the weight of the Ultramatic transmission itself.
Thanks for the correction; I’ve amended the text. I read that number some years back and it stuck in my head. Actually, it makes sense that a flathead wouldn’t be that heavy since it only has a slab for a head, and an aluminum one, in this case.
Yeah, the SAE paper gives the weight of the aluminum head of the ’54 as only 25 lb. The block was 73 lb heavier than the V-8’s, however, and the crankshaft weighed 109 lb.
Both are good looking cars, with the first one my favourite of the two – just fix that front end. I’ve always liked Packards, but by the 1950’s their styling got kind of dowdy. Something like this could have taken Packard in a different direction, along with not getting into the merger with Studebaker. Why didn’t they use all the money they made during WW2 to come up with something like this earlier? Plus, the flathead straight 8, while a great engine in its day, was at the end of its life cycle and something more modern under the hood was in order. Maybe their V8, or something like the Jaguar six with two more cylinders if they wanted to stay with a straight 8. A good design exercise – a shame something like it never went into production. Ah, what could have been.
Not my 1946 Packard below, but one that is the same. Packard Clipper.
I used to rent space at the Packard Plant to store my car. I’d drive in the North entrance. Then go up the ramp to get to the floor where the bridge with the clock crossed East Grand Blvd. I’d drive over the Blvd to get to the bay where I parked.
It was an amazing place, the Packard Plant. Clean and dry. Safe too. All the windows were sealed. No leaks in the roof.
Then the City of Detroit took it over illegally. Wrecking Crews knocked out all of the windows, punched holes in the roof, and knocked down walls. The owner went to court but the Plant was beyond repair. Such a shame for a National Historic Site, designed by Albert Kahn. This could have been an asset for the City and for the State. Much the same could be true for the Packard Proving Ground. Another story.
I sometimes wandered around the Plant. Executive offices were Mahogany Row. Wool carpeting etc. There was a battery backup electrical system with a room full of batteries. A modern freight elevator that could transport cars to any floor. And more.
Yes. A shame that they merged with Studebaker. Packard bought Studebaker but the President of Studebaker was put in charge. Enough for now.
Len
The fate of the Packard Plant is such a sad one. After Packard vacated the plant (in either 954, 956, or 958 depending on the source; I think the latter is unlikely) numerous other tenants moved in and the complex was officially renamed the Motor City Industrial Park, although just about everyone continued to call it the Packard Plant. Much of the plant was occupied by these businesses as of 25 years ago, and at that point was still in decent shape. What I usually read is that the tenants paid their rent to the owner of the complex, but the owner didn’t pay his taxes, resulting in the city evicting nearly all the tenants. There just has to be a better way of dealing with a situation like this. The building now almost empty, it quickly deteriorated and was frequently vandalized. A few years ago, the iconic bridge collapsed onto the street below, fortunately when nobody was underneath it. Several sections were recently bulldozed; a difficult job as the reinforced concrete is difficult to crush.
For the second request —-why can’t this site make the script larger and darker. Or make it possible to expand?????
You can zoom in as much as you want on your desktop or phone. On your phone, go up to “settings” in your browser and set the mode to “desktop mode” (at least on Chrome). Then you can zoom in and scroll to your heart’s desire.
Dick Teague lived many of his years in Grandview-on-Hudson, south of Nyack, NY. He went to the same barber shop that I did. Though I had seen him in the barber shop, I never conversed with him other than a “Hello.” One day the barber told me who he is and that he had published an autobiography. To find it, i contacted one of his son who directed me to where I could purchase the book. It is an interesting read and also reveals that the man had an ego larger than most. I love his early 1930’s Marmon design.
I love his early 1930’s Marmon design.
Dick Teague was born in 1923. He would have been a child prodigy to design the early 1930’s Marmon.
You’re probably confusing Dick Teague with Walter Dorwin Teague, Jr., the stylist of the Marmon V16. Dick Teague retired to California, I’m pretty sure.
Packard had this strange idea that their signature styling element from the 1930’s was the “oxbow” shape of the top of their radiators, something that I hardly noticed until this was mentioned as the theme writ large on the grilles of the 1951-54’s. Not something that worked very well as a design motif, especially stretched all the way across the front like here.
If you’re really used to 1930’s cars in general, it stands out very well. And a lesser version of that shape went back to the WWI days.
Guess I’m in the minority here as I like the front end, but like the updated ’55 “cathedral” taillights over the “sore thumbs”. The front end has a menacing look, as did the Futura dream car (aka Batmobile). Teague was carrying forth the ox yoke radiator shell of Packard’s past in a modern form. It worked astonishingly well on the ’55 and ’56 Packards, but was a dud on the ’57 and ’58 “Packardbakers”. There was a pictorial on the silver Panther some years back in Collectible Automobile; back issues may still be available. I liked a lot of Teague’s work, until he added the coffin nose to the Ambassador in the 70s and came up with that hideous Matador coupe.
The fate of the Packard Plant is such a sad one. After Packard vacated the plant (in either 954, 956, or 958 depending on the source; I think the latter is unlikely) numerous other tenants moved in and the complex was officially renamed the Motor City Industrial Park, although just about everyone continued to call it the Packard Plant. Much of the plant was occupied by these businesses as of 25 years ago, and at that point was still in decent shape. What I usually read is that the tenants paid their rent to the owner of the complex, but the owner didn’t pay his taxes, resulting in the city evicting nearly all the tenants. There just has to be a better way of dealing with a situation like this. The building now almost empty, it quickly deteriorated and was frequently vandalized. A few years ago, the iconic bridge collapsed onto the street below, fortunately when nobody was underneath it. Several sections were recently bulldozed; a difficult job as the reinforced concrete is difficult to crush.
I’ve seen this car before. The lead photo works for me, I pick up a bit of 1961 Chevrolet from the side – very advanced.
I agree the heritage front end doesn’t work well – just taking the outboard flourishes out of the grill might improve it. Sort of a BMW look.
The hardtop is overbearing from most angles. Was this a two seater? Way too big for that. Would make a great four seat car.
Collectible Automobile magazine did a feature article on these show Packards a few years back. I really like the silver convertible. I think I read in the article that the designer of this car did not like it. Don’t remember why. I think it looks good.
As far as I know, all 4 Panther & Daytonas cars still exist. Many years ago I was given a ride in the black & white version, it was owned by Vic Erenberg in the LA area. As far as I know, all 4 cars are in private collections. These cars actually look much better in person, they are quite long and low compared to any production car being built in the USA.
Here is what the Packard expert Leon Dixon has to say about Panthers and Daytonas:
An important thing about the [Blue?] Panther with the 1955 cathedral tail lights-and its sibling bronze and black car: these two cars are NOT “Panther-Daytonas”… no matter how many times this is stated. NOT Panther-Daytonas. Just Panthers.
As indicated in the book, “Creative Industries of Detroit- The Untold Story of Detroit’s Secret Concept Car Builder” there were two distinct flavors of Packard Panther. The first two Panthers were rechristened “Panther-Daytona” because of the record-setting speed run made in Panther #2 at Daytona Beach, Florida. Those two cars had 1954 Clipper tail lights and superchargers. As Panther-Daytonas they were both painted a bright orangish-red hue.
The second two Panthers (and that makes a total of four, folks) absolutely did not have the features of Clipper tail lights (at least not more that a hot minute) and never had superchargers and were never known as “Panther-Daytona” and never said so on either car. This despite every mention of these cars claims they are “Panther-Daytona”… no way. No how.
The Blue Panther belonged to Creative Industries of Detroit… and later, over the years, a string of other owners. I knew it personally from new and I had friends who actually worked on building the Panthers, including this one. The General Manager of Creative Industries, Rex Terry, who was a friend, drove this car around Detroit in the 1950s and I saw it many, many times.
The car looks nice but the roof doesnt go with the flow. Its too large.