Packard Antique, Vintage and Classic Parts For Sale

Packard History (Continued from top)

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The Packard brothers, James and William Packard, started to build cars in 1899 under the Ohio Automobile Company name. They built quality cars, six times more expensive than Ford, and they sold well. When the Packard's 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-producing cars during the Great Depression and lower prices brought 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 Packard's 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. However the loss of a vital Pentagon contract to General Motors started a down slide soon after. As the money ran out quality fell, followed by sales, and by 1956 Packard-Studebaker was forced to close its doors.