I still find it hard to believe that a luxury marque I grew up with and once was the standard of America could so quickly fade away. How could the factories, the designers, the dealers, and the thousands of employees simply disappear? In 1955 Packard introduced the marque's first V-8 engines and "cathedral'' taillights" designed by Richard A. Teague. The gorgeous Packard Caribbean married a European design with American images of life among the palms and turquoise waters. But according to conceptcarz.com "sales of luxury vehicles began to decline near the end of the 1940's and continued into the 1950's. This hurt Packard production and sales for their high-end luxury vehicles declined considerably. Packard's were built so well that they lasted for a very long time. So Packard did not have very many repeat customers because their customers did not need to purchase another vehicle."

The same could be said of other luxury marques that survived, thus I can't buy into that theory. "Styling was the real key" in which Packard's designers failed to translate their 1930's elegance into a postwar era of chrome, wraparound windshields, and bulbous extravagances. Rolls-Royce did it successfully, so why not Packard? Management continued to pursue a blinkered policy until, by 1956, production of original Packard automobiles ceased, although the nameplate continued for a few years, attached to modified Studebakers. The Pinin farina custom Packard shown here is an example of the direction where this critic believes the marque should have moved.

[Photo: Automotive History Online]