Packard History: The Packard brothers, James and William, started to build cars in 1899 under the Ohio Automobile Company name. They built quality cars that cost much more than a Ford and they sold well. They were known as one of the "Three P's" that included the Peerless and Pierce-Arrow. When the Packards needed money to expand investors jumped at the chance and the Ohio Automobile Company became the Packard Motor Car Company in 1902. The new Packard factory was the most modern in its time and each car was hand built with the skills of over 80 different craftsmen.
The Packards decided to lower their standards and mass-produced cars during the Great Depression which resulted in more sales. Packard built airplane engines during World War II for P-51 Mustang fighters and V-12 marine engines for PT boats. The first post-war Packard came out in 1948.
The Packards turned down an offer to merge with Nash Motors in the early 1950s but accepted a similar offer from Studebaker in 1954, resulting in the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Studebaker dropped "Packards" from their name in 1962.
