Subscribe to our Newsletter!

Tag: packard

August 19, 1958 – The last Packard
19Aug By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

August 19, 1958 – The last Packard

On this day in 1958 the last vehicle to carry the Packard name rolled off the assembly line. After a 1956 merger with Studebaker, Packard struggled to maintain the exclusivity it once held in the American auto market. Other factors, such as a recession in the 1950s and heavy competition from GM, Ford and Chrysler, resulted in the make’s demise.  The last true Packard was produced in Detroit on June 25, 1956, prior to the merger. Following the deal Packards began to lose their styling and were essentially rebadged Studebakers. The brand, which was once the favorite of movie stars and millionaires throughout the country, was now just a cheap car with an even cheaper facelift. Many referred to them as “Packardbakers.” This 1958 Packard was recently for sale on Craigslist for $5,00...
Read More
June 25, 1956 – The last Packard leaves the Detroit plant
25Jun By Automotive History1 Comment
This Day

June 25, 1956 – The last Packard leaves the Detroit plant

The last true Packard rolled out of the Packard plant in Detroit on this day in 1956. The name lived for two more years on re-badged Studebakers built in Indiana. Packard is said to be born out of a feud that started in 1898 between James Ward Packard and Alexander Winton, the founder of Winton Automobiles. Packard had purchased a Winton, which was the largest automaker in the US at the time. Facing continuous problems with it, Packard began to offer numerous suggestions for improvements to Winton himself. In 1899, growing tired of Packard’s ideas, Winton exclaimed to him, “Well, if you are so smart, maybe you can build a better machine yourself!”  Packard accepted the challenge and went to work in his Warren, Ohio, workshop. By the next year, 1899, he had built his first vehicl...
Read More
June 20, 1903 – Tom Fetch begins SF to NYC trip in a Packard
20Jun By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

June 20, 1903 – Tom Fetch begins SF to NYC trip in a Packard

When the automobile was in its infancy, car companies would go to great extremes to prove their worth. While most people were making their way west by horse and buggy, the young Packard Motor Car company decided to go east, from San Francisco to New York, in one of their fancy new automobiles. Packard investor Henry Joy dreamed up the journey, believing it would prove that American-made cars, specifically Packards, could “negotiate the all but impassible mountain and desert roads and trails of the Far West.”   Selected for the journey was a 1902 Packard Model F. It would be driven by Packard plant foreman and test driver Tom Fetch, who would be accompanied by The Automobile magazine editor Marius Krarup. Fetch made some modifications to the car to prepare it for a rough journey acr...
Read More
January 6, 1930 – The first diesel road trip
6Jan By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

January 6, 1930 – The first diesel road trip

At 11 years old in 1930, the Cummins Engine Company faced a make or break situation. It was now or never to show the public that diesel motors were a viable option for passenger car travel if they intended to stay in business. To do so, founder Clessie Cummins concocted a marketing stunt that'd once and for all prove diesel engines could compete with gasoline motors in daily drivers. He installed one of his engines in a used Packard and prepped for the first long distance journey in a diesel powered automobile. With the eyes of journalists and the public upon him, he set off from Indianapolis, Indiana for New York City. The 792 mile trip came to a successful end on this day in 1930. Overall, the car used used about 30 gallons of diesel fuel at a cost of less than $1.38.  Above...
Read More
Cheap Classic: 1958 Packard Wagon – $5,000
18Nov By Automotive History1 Comment
Cheap Classic Cars

Cheap Classic: 1958 Packard Wagon – $5,000

Oh, Packard, what may have been? One can only imagine all of the faux wood trim and bulbous curves that has been missed out on since Packard's demise. Giving us a final glimpse of hope from the once great marque is this 1958 Packard Station Wagon. Being just one of 1-of-159 made in Packard's final year of production, the company didn't even bother coming up with a unique model name. Though rare, this formerly glamorous automobile may look familiar. After about a quarter century in storage, it came out of the collection of Ron Hackenberger, better known for his Studebakers. He sent it under the gavel, along with about 600 of his other vehicles, in 2018, selling it for $5,500. It's been floating around the web ever since in what seems to be a never ending cycle of for-salery. Currently ...
Read More
August 21, 1903 – “Thank God it’s over” – SF to NYC Packard Trip Ends
21Aug By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

August 21, 1903 – “Thank God it’s over” – SF to NYC Packard Trip Ends

When the automobile was in its infancy, car companies would go to great extremes to prove their worth. While most people were making their way west by horse and buggy, the young Packard Motor Car company decided to go east, from San Francisco to New York, in one of their fancy new automobiles. Packard investor Henry Joy dreamed up the journey, believing it would prove that American-made cars, specifically Packards, could “negotiate the all but impassible mountain and desert roads and trails of the Far West.”   Selected for the journey was a 1902 Packard Model F. It would be driven by Packard plant foreman and test driver Tom Fetch, who would be accompanied by The Automobile magazine editor Marius Krarup. Fetch made some modifications to the car to prepare it for a rough j...
Read More

This Day in Automotive History is a transportation history, car history and general automotive history website dedicated to providing informative and entertaining content. Our goal is to enlighten our readers by producing and publishing automotive content on a wide range of topics, including famous cars, important automotive inventors and engineers and other historic automobile related events, places and people. We encourage you to share our page and connect with us on Facebook or sign up for our automotive history newsletter at the top of this page. If you have any questions about the content we publish, including our car videos and car history pictures and text and the use of them, please don’t hesitate to contact us using the below email address. On occasion we post classic cars for sale from Craigslist, Facebook and other online marketplaces. We utilize imagery from those ads in a fair use fashion. This includes barn finds for sale, muscle cars for sale, vans for sale, station wagons for sale, trucks for sale and other affordable old cars for sale. If you’d like your car featured, reach out to us!

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Contact Us

©2022 Cars & Copy Media Co.

This Day in Automotive History is product of Spare Change Multimedia LLC, DBA Cars & Copy Inc.

Proud Member of the Port Gardner Vintage Auto Club
Click the Logo to Read Our Privacy Policy

If you learned something today,

please buy me a beer!