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112-522: The Clipper was introduced in April 1941, as a mid- model year entry. It was available only as a four-door sedan . The Clipper line was aimed at the middle-price field of American automobiles that included DeSoto , Oldsmobile , Hudson , and Mercury . The Clipper name was re-introduced in 1953, for the automaker's lowest-priced lineup. By 1955, the Clipper models were seen as diluting Packard's marketing as

224-485: A "momentous effect" on custom car builders, appeared in several magazines at the time, and reappeared numerous times since, earning an honorable mention on Rod & Custom ' s "Twenty Best of All Time" list in 1991. The Eight remains a very popular subject for car modellers. In 1990, Hot Wheels created the Purple Passion , a model based on the 1949 Mercury with a chopped top. Fiberglass replicas of

336-493: A 104-pound (47 kg), nine-main-bearing crankshaft and hydraulic valve lifters, was the most powerful engine in the industry through 1948, exceeding Cadillac's V8 by 15 horsepower (11 kW). It could deliver 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) in second gear overdrive and take the 4,000-pound (1,800 kg) car to over 100 mph on Packard's Proving Grounds banked oval track. In 1950, ten years after Packard's nonpareil nine-main-bearing 356 inline 8 debuted, Rolls-Royce mirrored

448-715: A 118-inch wheelbase and had a carrying capacity rated at 10–12 cwt . The 1946 version was coded as the Model S9A and the 1947 and 1948 variants as the Model 6M. A panel van model was also offered. For 1949, Mercury introduced its first postwar model line. The first Mercury of the combined Lincoln-Mercury Division, the Mercury Eight now shared its body with the Lincoln (instead of the Ford). Keeping its 118-inch wheelbase,

560-498: A 148-inch (3,800 mm) wheelbase. For their type, these "professional Packards" enjoyed success. They compare with Cadillac's 1946–47 Seventy-five, beating it not only by 15 horsepower (11 kW) but by a foot of wheelbase, yet selling for about the same $ 4,500–$ 5,000. Counting several thousand bare chassis supplied to commercial body manufacturers, the Seventy-five outsold the long-wheelbase Clipper; but for finished cars from

672-406: A Packard first, introduced on all eight-cylinder 1940 models. Introduced in April 1941, as a single four-door sedan model, the introductory Clipper was by no means a cheap or even medium-priced car. Per Packard chronicler MGH Scott, the Clipper was neither junior nor senior, and priced as it was since the days of strictly high hat luxe were over thanks to more affordable engineering improvements from

784-438: A different name and remained wedded to them long after prosperity had returned. By 1941, the year the Clipper debuted, the least expensive Cadillac was priced at $ 1,445; the lowest priced Packard sold for only $ 927. Arguably its conservative design philosophy had stood Packard well in the years leading up to the Clipper. The company was able to advertise—and sold quite a few Packards with—styling continuity from year to year. There

896-589: A double red bar. By the end of 1940 Mercury could run with the headline "It's made 150,000 owners change cars!" The 1941 Mercury Eight got all-new styling and some engineering improvements. The Mercury now shared its bodyshell with the Ford Super DeLuxe and the wheelbase was expanded by 2.0 in (51 mm) to 118.0 in (2,997 mm). There were many chassis refinements, including improved spring lengths, rates, and deflections, plus changes in shackling, shocks, and an improved stabilizer bar, but

1008-514: A drafting table", yet Packard never paid him. Kaiser-Frazer stylist Bob Robillard admitted that Darrin had held onto his claim as the originator of the Clipper almost from the start. A 1946, Darrin paper delivered before the Society of Automotive Engineers, "Does Styling Control the Design of Cars?" stating that he widened the Clipper body because the continuous fender-line, which comes right through

1120-665: A given model year to be sold starting on January 2 of the previous calendar year. For example, a 2019 model year vehicle can legally go on sale starting January 2, 2018. This has resulted in a few cars in the following model year being introduced in advertisements during the NFL Super Bowl in February. A notable example of an early model year launch would be the Ford Mustang , introduced as an early 1965 model (informally referred to as "1964 1 ⁄ 2 ") in April 1964 at

1232-440: A later president, James Nance, stated, "handed the luxury car market to Cadillac on a silver platter." Professional designers have contemplated continuations of the Clipper into 1948–49, with a broader range of body styles including hardtops and convertibles. Their designs were beautiful and would have kept pace with the all-new Cadillacs and Lincolns of 1949, allowing Packard to come back with its first postwar redesign in 1950. But

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1344-485: A luxury automobile marque. The Clipper was classified as a stand-alone marque for the 1956 model year when it was produced by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation . Following the closure of Packard's Detroit , Michigan factory in 1956, the Clipper marque was discontinued, although the Clipper name was applied to 1957 Packards that were built at Studebaker's South Bend, Indiana , factory. By

1456-439: A market for from 12 to 14 million cars", and that was in a day when three million or so cars was considered a very good year. "In 1941," Fortune continued, "The 32 million American families owned 29,600,000 cars . . . As 1946 began, the cars were down to 22 million which is not very far from the danger point (18 million) of a transportation breakdown . . . of this remaining total, at least half are in their last days." It did not take

1568-478: A mystic to comprehend these facts, as the late Hickman Price, Jr., who bought Willow Run for the Kaiser-Frazer partners, once said: "I believed we would have a period of three or four years—I remember putting 1950 as the terminal date in which we can sell everything we can make." Almost immediately after production got rolling in 1945, chief stylist John Reinhart was told, much against his judgment, to update

1680-399: A new car that was introduced eight months before the attack on Pearl Harbor . Packard's hopes for the future rode on the new Packard Clipper line that represented a break from traditional styling and embodied an abrupt change in construction techniques. However, World War II intervened. It made Packard's investment to produce one of the only all-new 1941 American cars impossible to realize in

1792-407: A series of costly strikes. These factors, of course, strangled production. At the same time, Americans were willing to spend freely to acquire most anything—especially new cars. Packard could not produce cars in the numbers intended, and it was selling the less profitable junior-series models. Packard management's chief interest after the war was in the same medium-priced cars that had saved it during

1904-433: A single One Sixty the only example known to exist. Postwar, about 600 senior coupes were made, compared to about 6,600 senior sedans. In 1946–47 the numerical designations were dropped, and the line consisted of Clipper Sixes and Eights on the 120-inch (3,000 mm) wheelbase and Supers and Custom Supers on the 127-inch (3,200 mm) wheelbase. For the first time there were now seven-passenger sedans and limousines, riding

2016-418: A success and Mercury wouldn't have another automatic transmission until Merc-O-Matic appeared in 1951, which was a true automatic. Mercury production for the short 1942 model year totaled only 1,902. Output was halted in February 1942 as American auto plants were converted to the exclusive production of war material. Although Mercury's prewar history was short, the Mercury Eight had already earned for itself

2128-423: A wagon." But the war intervened. Whereas Cadillac with its greater facilities was able to field a complete line of restyled 1942s, including convertibles, all of which came right back in 1946, Packard was able only to add a club coupe body before the war. The lower priced two-door club coupe was the sportier Clipper despite a weight saving of only 45 lbs., with about 40 built before production ended in February 1942;

2240-561: Is always made of Bill Mitchell's famous Cadillac Sixty Special. In particular, its thin window frames, squared-off roof, wider-than-high grille, and concealed running boards were bold steps forward. The Clipper had at least as many pioneering features in an even more integrated package. The original milestone 1941 Clipper rode the 120/160/180 wheelbase of 127 inches (3,200 mm) and used the One Twenty's 282-cubic-inch (4,620 cc) straight eight, but produced 125 bhp (five more than

2352-565: The Packard 200 , beginning in 1953. Clippers were available in Special and Deluxe trim models, as two- and four-door sedans. A 1953 Clipper went from 0 to 60 mph in 17.6 seconds in a Popular Mechanics test. The turning circle was 41 ft. Model year The model year (sometimes abbreviated as MY ) is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be

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2464-572: The World's Fair , several months before the usual start of the 1965 model year in August 1964. For recreational vehicles , the U.S. Federal Trade Commission allows a manufacturer to use a model year up to two years before the date that the vehicle was manufactured. In other countries, it is more common to identify specific vehicles by their year and month of production, and cars of a particular type by their generation, using terms such as "Mark III" or by

2576-450: The "Clipper" name. The Clipper nameplate was dropped for 1948 as Packard issued its Twenty-Second Series automobiles, which, while proclaimed by the company as "all-new," were actually restyled Clippers. Only the 1941–47 Clipper's roof and trunk lid survived. At this time, Packard's president, George Christopher, insisted upon concentrating on sales of the company's lower-priced cars, while longtime competitor Cadillac focused its attention on

2688-563: The 1942 and 1946 Mercurys. It had thin vertical bars surrounded by a trim piece painted the same color as the car. An "Eight" script now appeared down its center. The Liquimatic automatic transmission option was eliminated. The most distinctive new Mercury was the Sportsman convertible. It featured wood body panels. Only 205 examples of it were produced and it was discontinued the following model year. Mercury Eight sales totaled 86,603. Styling changes were slight in 1947. The Mercury name

2800-422: The Clipper an appearance never compromised by competitive imitators. In 1942 Cadillac and Buick adopted the same pontoon fender line, but the Clipper still looked unique, apart from and slightly above the crowd, especially the new 1942 senior Clippers, which alone retained the debut 1941's 127-inch (3,200 mm) wheelbase, longer hood, and front fenders. The Clipper was to be Packard's last bellringer not just for

2912-407: The Clipper was replaced by a bulbous 1948 upgrade that, while well received in its initial year, aged quickly in comparison with the new models from the "Big Three" and Nash. A 1949 Mercury Eight which had cost $ 2,000 new was still worth $ 430 five years later, while a 1949 Packard Eight which had cost $ 2,200 new was worth only $ 375. Motor Trend automotive journalist Tom McCahill, who had raved about

3024-418: The Clipper's. The 1941 Fords and Mercurys were evolutionary developments, clearly related to the 1940s they replaced. The Clipper was such a dramatic break with the previous Packard design as to preclude comparisons. After the war, while Packard opted to improve the Clipper, while other automakers restyled its models for 1949. While the bulbous 1941–48 Fords, Mercurys, and Nash's were replaced by modern designs,

3136-474: The Clipper. If Dutch Darrin had thought Packard loaded "gobs of clay" onto his original model in 1941, what must he have thought of the hideously bulbous 1948 models? Furthermore, there was no change in market orientation, still rooted firmly in the medium price field. Indeed, in 1948, the final year for President George Christopher, senior Packard production dwindled from 20 percent to 11 percent of total production, trailing Cadillac by tens of thousands. Packard, as

3248-538: The Depression, the Six and junior Eights. The company was still firmly run by President George Christopher, who had helped save it with the One Twenty. Christopher, a graduate of GM's Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac divisions. Christopher had junior Clippers in production by October 1945, but it was not until June 1946 that the first Super/Custom Super came down the line. Total Packard production in the first two postwar model years

3360-586: The Forties, but through the firm's 1956 demise, another reason its name brought back in 1953. Though introduced in April 1941, the Clipper, despite priced between the One-Twenty and One-Sixty, outsold the entire year's One-Twenty production. When considering the great transitional designs that brought us from the art decorations and speed-lining age of the Thirties into the envelope bodies of the Forties, much

3472-619: The Mercury division, Ford slotted the full-size Mercury Eight between the Ford Deluxe (later Custom ) model lines and the Lincoln . In total, Ford assembled three generations of the Eight (before and after World War II). During its production, the Eight offered a full range of body styles, including coupes, sedans, convertibles, and station wagons. For its first generation, the Eight

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3584-404: The Mercury was sized between its two divisional counterparts. In place of the updated prewar body, Mercury adopted a "pontoon" body, ending the use of running boards entirely, along with separate fenders. The 239 Flathead V8 was carried over, producing more power than in its Ford counterpart. In a change to the model line, the four-door station wagon was replaced by a two-door model; the design of

3696-713: The Minx Series IIIA, IIIB and IIIC) to distinguish what were mostly cosmetic updates rather than mechanical or structural improvements. As in America, the British motor industry did generally announce new models (or updates to existing ones) in September. However this was the norm long before it became practice in the US and did not originate with the television season. Instead it began because the long-established practice in

3808-528: The Monterey name made its first appearance, as Mercury introduced a high-end two-door coupe, similar to the Ford Crestliner, Lincoln Lido, and Lincoln Cosmopolitan Capri; the Monterey was intended to compete against the two-door hardtop coupes introduced by General Motors in 1949. The front suspension was independent with stabilizer bars. For 1952, as Mercury redesigned its model line, the Monterey

3920-478: The One Twenty). Despite the familiar engine, few Clipper parts were interchangeable with other models. The chassis was entirely new: a double-drop frame allowed a lower floor without reducing road clearance. The engine was mounted well forward and the rear shocks were angled to assist the traditional Packard fifth shock in controlling side-sway. The front suspension was entirely new since the lower frame eliminated

4032-467: The Packard Clipper, called the 1948 Packard "a goat". The Clipper's timing was unfortunate. The state of the world being beyond Packard's control, Clipper production came to a halt on February 9, 1942, just as it was hitting its stride and when Clipper styling had spread through the entire Packard model lineup. A full envelope body with a modern look was a long time coming at Packard. Cadillac

4144-576: The Packard line, except where special tooling existed—convertibles, taxis, wagons, and commercial cars. However, the market slot occupied by the 1941 Clipper was abandoned, recreating a gap between the base 282-ci Clipper Custom ($ 1.341) and the 356-ci One-Sixty Clipper ($ 1,688). The bulk of the 1942 production was concentrated on the 120-inch (3,000 mm) wheelbase junior models, but the One Sixty and One Eighty Clippers proved conclusively that Packard

4256-581: The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and United States Environmental Protection Agency and Transport Canada and Environment Canada , the letters MY often precede the year (as in MY2019 or MY93 ). Even without this prefix, however, in the North American context it is usually the model year rather than the vehicle's calendar year of production that is being referred to. The new model year typically begins in August to September of

4368-410: The altered conditions. The Clipper's market timing could not have been worse. After only 16,600 of the 1941 models were made, and a few thousand 1942s, Detroit stopped building civilian automobiles to concentrate on defense production. By the time cars began rolling off the lines again in late 1945, the still sleek Clipper's impact had been diminished by four years of war. The bright promise of its debut

4480-431: The automatic choke. Reithard's symmetrical dashboard contained a full ration of instruments, including an electric oil pressure gauge adapted from the One Sixty. Options included Packard's Electro-Matic vacuum-operated clutch, which let the driver ignore the clutch pedal in ordinary driving; "Aerodrive" (overdrive); an effective auxiliary under-seat heater, leather upholstery, fender skirts, and, for $ 275, air conditioning —

4592-464: The calendar year 1939 were barely at its break-even point. Packard achieved a profit of only half-million dollars. This precarious financial state, combined with new model developments among Packard's rivals (GM's LaSalle and Cadillac Series 61 , Chrysler Imperial , and the Lincoln-Zephyr ), meant Gilman quickly needed something radically new to keep the company going. The company developed

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4704-402: The car companies to launch their new models at a high-profile time of year. Imported cars use the model year convention in the U.S. and Canada, even when this system is not used for the same cars when sold in other countries. The concept of yearly styling updates (a practice adopted from the fashion industry) was introduced to General Motors' range of cars by Alfred P. Sloan in the 1920s. This

4816-426: The chiseled frontispiece; the grille recalling classic Greek architecture; the ox-yoke radiator/hood shape harkened back to the Model L of 1904. The cormorant mascot, red hexagon hubs, and arrowhead side-spear, were recognizable and timeless. To create a modern envelope body while retaining those famous hallmarks was no small undertaking. It was still one of the chief accomplishments of automotive industrial design that

4928-412: The coast for that amount of time, and if I didn't have anything before he left, it would be a lost cause. The company offered me a thousand dollars a day if I could meet the deadline." Confident in his ability to put a thousand a day to good use, Darrin said he thought he "could establish enough lines for a full- and quarter-scale model". Later he said that to meet the deadline, he "slept several nights on

5040-555: The company's Iron Mountain plant in Michigan 's Upper Peninsula . The "Eight" script was moved to the rear of the hood. 90,556 Mercury Eights were sold in the 1941 model year. In 1942 the Mercury Eight's slender bullet parking lights were replaced with rectangular units placed high on the fenders inboard of the headlights. Running boards were now completely concealed under flared door bottoms. The instrument panel now features two identical circles for speedometer and clock with gauges to

5152-401: The company's postwar cash reserves, Packard continued production of its now-dated L-head straight-eight engines through 1954, competing against a field of OHV V8s. Moreover, the small independent automakers could not achieve unit costs and tool amortization down to GM/Ford levels, nor afford the requisite TV advertising and annual model changes. For 1946–1947 all Packards used Clipper bodies and

5264-461: The dealerships ready for sale. Therefore, car models intended for sale during, say, 1960, would be announced and displayed in the third quarter of 1959, with sales beginning before the end of the year, and any improvements intended for 1961 would be announced in September 1960 and displayed at the 1960 Motor Show in October. This convention was not absolute; for instance the original Vauxhall Victor

5376-599: The decline of the Packard Motor Car Company includes views of designers such as Howard Darrin , John Reinhart, William Reithard, and Alex Tremulis. Prior to World War II, Packard, like most auto companies at the time, did not have a styling department. It was Harley Earl's formidable Art and Colour Section at General Motors that convinced the industry of the importance of styling. A handful of outside consultants, like Raymond Loewy at Studebaker, occasionally sold their designs to American producers. Sometimes

5488-628: The design for their nine-main bearing, F-head 346-ci B-80 inline 8, used only in a handful of Phantom IVs produced solely for heads of state, military vehicles, and Dennis fire trucks. Like Packard's 245-ci six used in junior Clippers, Packard's 1940–50 356 Super-8 engine also appeared in marine guise 1947-51. The top-of-the-line Clipper One Eighty offered two shades of leather or six colors of wool broadcloth upholstery, Mosstred carpeting from New York's Shulton Looms, walnut-grained instrument panels, amboyna burl garnish moldings, seatbacks stuffed with down and rear center armrests. Unlike any other contemporary,

5600-510: The designs even reached production without drastic changes by the body engineers, who at that point largely controlled the shape of cars. One such design consultant was Howard "Dutch" Darrin, whose involvement in the Clipper occurred because Packard was his favorite American make. After returning to America in 1937 following a successful career as a Paris coachbuilder, Darrin looked around for chassis on which to practice his automotive art. He said, "I concentrated on Packards knowing that by lowering

5712-465: The door past the A-pillar, required more width for the proper hinging of the door, "the net result being a wider and more roomy car." However, according to Reithard, "the parameters for track, wheelbase and overall length had been established. Other than that, we had very little to go on except some very rough sketches and hand-waving from Darrin." While Darrin held himself the central design figure and

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5824-475: The economy were to fall, it would make sense to market the low-priced Packards—the Clipper Sixes and Eights—rather than the upmarket Supers and Custom Supers. The postwar economy proved the experts wrong. It was healthy and many materials, notably sheet steel, were in short supply. Workers who would never have struck during the war, now demanded more money, and so the automakers and their suppliers endured

5936-445: The end of the 1930s, Packard president Max M. Gilman realized that efforts to improve the company's profitability during the previous decade. The Packard One-Twenty model was introduced in 1935 and its success in the marketplace helped save the company. The One-Ten had followed, achieving even higher volume. Despite a strong performance during 1937, Packard sales plummeted during the recession in 1938. The automaker's 76,000 sales for

6048-544: The facelift, as John Reinhart and others maintained, should have gone into an expansion of Clipper body styles to compete with Cadillac. Packard recognized this too late when it brought out a convertible as the first 1948 body style—a model it should have had by 1947 at the latest. Eighteen months later Cadillac was already out with the Coupe de Ville hardtop, while Packard's newest model was the Station Sedan. By 1948, it

6160-519: The factory, production was about 3,100 cars each for 1946–47 combined. Many economic experts predicted that the end of World War II would bring a severe recession or perhaps even another depression to the United States. They had history on their side because the US did experience a sharp, albeit brief economic downturn after World War I. Perhaps Packard's management team took these calamitous warnings to heart while planning its postwar strategy. If

6272-430: The fenders for greater visibility. Headlight bezels were redesigned. In all closed Mercurys the rear-quarter windows opened out. Front vent wings were now crank-operated, and in closed cars the ventilation wing support bars rolled down with the windows. The 4-door convertible , offered in 1940, was gone, but a station wagon was added. The woodie wagon's body behind the engine cowl was identical to Ford's, and produced at

6384-463: The first models to receive an aftermarket OHV engine swap, since Oldsmobile and Cadillac developed the first high-compression OHV V8 engines in 1949, whereas Ford was still using a sidevalve engine. Sam and George Barris also used the 1949 body style to build "the most famous custom car ever", the Hirohata Merc , for customer Bob Hirohata in 1953. Setting a style and an attitude, it had

6496-422: The first time. General Motors redesigned for 1942, arguably a piece of bad timing even worse than Packard's, but the 1942 cars were so relatively few in number that they still looked reasonably new when GM resumed automotive production in 1946. The Ford/Mercury comparison was not apt either, primarily because these were quite different cars from Packards, with no pretense of luxury. Nor did their design history mirror

6608-428: The front of the hood until the 1941 model year, sales literature prominently referred to the car as the "Mercury Eight" from the very beginning. This is no doubt because the actual series names, 99A in 1939 and 09A in 1940, were somewhat less enticing. A 1940 09A model has the words "Mercury Eight" in an emblem that runs from front to rear alongside the top hood lines on both sides. It appears as chrome wording on top of

6720-435: The idea that a big car could not also be economical. The Mercury two-door sedan was listed at US$ 946 ($ 20,721 in 2023 dollars ), several hundred dollars more than the 1937 Ford V-8 , several hundred less than the Lincoln-Zephyr and about the same as the upper-range Oldsmobile and Dodges , Hudsons , and the lower-range Buicks and DeSotos , sales from all of which, it was hoped that customers would trade in their cars for

6832-485: The image of being a fine performer in mph as well as mpg, this "hot car" image quite in keeping with its name, chosen by Edsel Ford , that of the fleet-footed messenger of the gods of Roman mythology . The Mercury Eight was strongly identified as an upmarket Ford during this period. In 1945 the Lincoln-Mercury division would be established to change that. A new grille was the most noticeable difference between

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6944-480: The in-roads made to the British market by car makers from other countries and the decline in market share by British firms finally led to the tradition of new models being introduced in September being abandoned, although the British Motor Show continued to be held in October. The standardized format of the vehicle identification number (VIN) used in the United States and Canada includes the model year of

7056-429: The industry," but upper-echelon GMobiles looked more modern than Packard's traditional 1941 bodies. 1941 Buick and Cadillac sales were up 24% while Packard's traditional bodied cars down an accordant amount. The Clipper changed that. The only thing hindering the Clipper's ascendency was War II, and after the war, the sheet steel shortages and strikes at vendors plagued all independents. After the war, for example, Chrysler

7168-432: The junior Hudsons, and others. James J. Nance became the company's president in 1952, and he immediately set to work on divorcing the lower-priced cars from the higher-end Packards. To this end, he decreed that the 200 and 200 Deluxe would be consolidated into a new line of Clippers for 1953. Nance originally hoped to introduce the new "Clipper" as a stand-alone marque, targeting the mid-range price field, which he believed

7280-455: The key failure was to reorder the corporation's priorities and establish it once again as the American luxury car it had been so successful for forty years. Packard lost its battle for survival since the company could not achieve GM volume, it would have been smarter to extract more profit from each car built. Not only were customers standing in line, but by putting top-of-the-line Packards on

7392-419: The labor force or contracting the facilities. The market for anything on wheels was bottomless; it did not matter whether the car cost $ 1,800 (Clipper Eight). $ 2,300 (Clipper Super) or $ 2,900 (Custom Super). It would have sold. Nor is this a hindsight judgment, since Packard management was capable of seeing this at the time. At the start of postwar car production, Fortune recorded a consensus that "there now exists

7504-437: The late '30s and more egalitarian times. The Clipper sold for around $ 1,400, in a market niche between the One Twenty and One Sixty, competing in the midst of Buick Roadmaster, Cadillac Sixty-One, Chrysler New Yorker, Lincoln Zephyr. Despite a mid-year start, the Clipper garnered 16,600 sales for the 1941 model year, eclipsing the total year's 17,100 less expensive One-Twenties. By the 1942 model year, Clipper styling spread through

7616-435: The left of the speedometer, a glove compartment to the right of the clock, and a large radio speaker cover in the center. The grille looked more like that of the Lincoln-Zephyr and Continental . The "Eight" script was gone but an "8" appeared at the top of the grille center. Horsepower was increased to 100. Mercury's biggest engineering news for 1942 was "Liquamatic", Ford's first semiautomatic transmission . It wasn't much of

7728-520: The low-volume Chrysler Crown Imperial (Lincoln had no long models) in the first two postwar years. Likewise, among owner-driver models, Packard had Cadillac neatly bracketed. The Cadillac Sixty-two sedan and coupe started around $ 2,300 in 1946—about the same price as the Super Clipper. Against Cadillac's $ 3,100 Sixty Special, which came only as a four-door sedan, Packard offered the more sumptuously trimmed Custom Super Clipper sedan or coupe for about

7840-427: The lower end of the mid-priced field with its new "200" and "250" models. While the 250 hardtop and convertible, which would soon be named Mayfair, were an attempt to market upscale coupes which were slightly less bulky than the high-line sedans, and were decorated with chrome side scallops reminiscent of the top-shelf 400, the 200 was a full-range, middle-priced line continuing to compete with Oldsmobile, DeSoto, Mercury,

7952-750: The manufacturer's code for that kind of car (such as "BL" being the code for a Mazda 3 built between November 2008 and June 2013). In Europe, the lesser use of model years as a descriptor is partly because since the 1980s many vehicles are introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in March, the Frankfurt Motor Show in September or the Paris Motor Show in September. New models have increasingly been launched in June or July. As with

8064-484: The manufacturing industries of the English Midlands , especially Coventry and Birmingham where the British car industry developed out of the established bicycle and machine tool trades, was to close factories and give workers a two-week holiday in August or September. This was used as a chance to renew tooling in the factory and was an ideal time to introduce new products which would begin production when

8176-429: The mid 1930s until then president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order to release vehicle model years in the fall of the preceding year in order to standardize employment in the automotive industry. The practice of beginning production of next year's model before the end of the year has become a long-standing tradition in America. For purposes such as VINs and emissions control , regulations allow cars of

8288-462: The mixed review "bathtub" or "pregnant elephant" 1948–1950 Packards. There were only two other automakers that introduced all-new 1941 models which were stopped short by the American entry into World War II and thus rendered obsolete before their time. Besides Packard, Ford brought out a much-changed design for the 1941 model year — the restyled Ford and its Mercury clone. Nash also produced all-new 1941 models, using monocoque "unitized" construction for

8400-463: The need for Packard's traditional long torque arms, the same reason Rolls-Royce and Bentley, despite copying nut for bolt Packard's prewar Saf-t-fleX i.f.s, also went with a similar GM-type i.f.s. in the '56-on Silver Cloud/Bentley S series; a double-link connection between the Pitman arm and steering brackets, with a crossbar and idler arm and two cross tubes, controlled wheel movement. The 1941 Clipper

8512-715: The new Mercury. Its engine was a 95 hp version of the Ford flathead V8 engine , its styling was inspired by the Zephyr , and it had standard equipment hydraulic brakes using 12-inch drums . With a wheelbase of 116.0 in (2,946 mm) and an overall length of 196.0 in (4,978 mm), it was a good-sized car, which the Ford company advertised extensively, together with its up-to-20 mpg performance—"few cars of any size can equal such economy". Double sun visors became standard in 1940. Although "Eight" script would not appear on

8624-435: The old fashioned transverse springs were still used. The new body featured door bottoms that flared out over the running boards, allowing for wider seats and interiors. The car had 2.0 in (51 mm) more headroom, two-piece front fenders (three-piece at first), and more glass area. The front pillars were made slimmer and the windshield was widened, deepened, and angled more steeply. Parking lights were separate and set atop

8736-427: The original design "called for a sweeping front fender-line that carried right through the doors to the rise of the rear fender, similar to a custom Clipper I built later for Errol Flynn". However, Packard shortened the sweep to fade away at mid-door. This was done as a hedge because no one knew if the through-fender-line would sell. He said Packard Styling also "vandalized the design by throwing on huge gobs of clay along

8848-408: The people who created the Packard Clipper were able to do so flawlessly. Advertising invited America to "Skipper the Clipper" in 1941. It was showing the country an obviously brand-new, up to date, in Packard's words, "Windstream" or "Speed-Stream" automobile, yet one which was still undeniably a Packard. Though it did not owe a curve or contour to any previous model, the milestone 1941 Clipper carried

8960-516: The post-war Custom Super's headliner was seamed fore to aft instead of sideways. Packard claimed that the unique headliner was adopted "to provide a more spacious feel to the interior." With a nearly full line of Clippers, Packard managed to build 34,000 1942 models before production ceased in February (an annual rate of around 80,000). According to John Reinhart, there is no doubt that Clipper styling would have proliferated in 1943–45. "The next logical step would have been convertibles and commercials—and

9072-466: The preceding calendar year, though can be as early as February, such being the case for the fourth generation 2022 Acura MDX , which started production in January 2021. This was partly due to the advertising of a new model being coordinated with the launch of the new television season in late September, because of the heavy dependence between television to offer products from automakers to advertise, and

9184-481: The radiator I could make a very beautiful custom-bodied Packard with little change in its basic structure." The result was a long skein of dramatic Packard-Darrins, which were actually cataloged by the company at one point and which led to Darrin's role in the Clipper. "Around 1940, Packard called and asked if I'd design a new standard line car for them. The hitch was that I had only ten days to do so, Chief stylist Ed Macauley (actually vice-president for design) would be on

9296-797: The rest of Europe, the motor industry in the United Kingdom did not regularly make use of model years in the way common in the US, since cars were not as regularly updated or altered. Some exceptions existed; for instance in the 1950s and 1960s the Rootes Group deliberately copied American practice and performed annual small alterations to its key models such as the Hillman Minx and the Humber Super Snipe . However these were still not identified by model years but by Series numbers, sometimes with alphabetical designations (such as

9408-416: The road, the public's image of Packard as a luxury car builder would have been enhanced. The 1948 facelift lost the design continuum the Clipper had offered. Though it retained the Clipper's basic shell, the 1948 model bore no resemblance to its predecessor. The bulbous 1948 design became known to some as the "upside-down bathtub" or "pregnant elephant" and Packard's market share declined. The money spent on

9520-444: The same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured. Automobiles in the United States and Canada are identified and regulated by model year, whereas other markets use production date (month/year) to identify specific vehicles, and model codes in place of the "year" (model year) in the North American make-model-year identifier. In technical documents generated within the auto industry and its regulating agencies such as

9632-659: The same inimitable radiator and hood shape, as well as the same arrowheads and red hexes, and the same long hood and close-coupled profile of Packards of the past. Writing in The Classic Car and The Packard Cormorant , Joel Prescott published an account of the Clipper design which considerably revised the picture offered by George Hamlin and Dwight Heinmuller in Packard: A History of the Motor Car and The Company , published by Automotive Quarterly. James A. Ward's book on

9744-430: The same money. The 1946–47 Cadillac Series 62 and 60 Special outsold the concurrent Packard Super and Custom Super Clipper three to one, simply because George Christopher's board chose to focus on building junior models, which accounted for 80% of Packard's postwar production. This is a new point that has been missed in the many postmortems of Packard's fall: Reverting to strictly luxury cars would not have meant downsizing

9856-425: The same official weight or significant to buyers as they did in America. During the 1960s British car makers began giving journalists access to upcoming models earlier in the year to get announcements out ahead of their rivals and clear of the busy September period. This developed into increasingly lavish and sophisticated media and marketing events happening earlier and earlier in the year. Changes to working practices,

9968-422: The same time. GM's designs caught the buying public's fancy, while the "bathtubs" quickly fell from favor. Following a round of bitter corporate infighting in 1949, Packard management finally decided to phase out the "bathtubs" and create the all-new Twenty-Fourth Series for 1951. The new "high-pockets" design (so-called because of its high beltline) was much more modern. However, Packard continued to push hard into

10080-418: The time Packard contacted Darrin about designing a production car in the theme of his limited-production Victorias, the company was, according to Darrin, "....so afraid of GM they couldn't see straight." GM's new C bodies, introduced midway through the 1940 model year, made Packard's traditional bodies, only facelifted since their 1938 introduction, look dated. Packard had, as Darrin said, "....the best chassis in

10192-426: The traditional third-side window, ventipanes were incorporated in the rear doors, providing controllable flow-through ventilation. The battery made its first move from under the seat to under the hood, where it stayed warmer and was more accessible. There was a "Ventalarm" whistle to warn when the tank was within a gallon of being full, and an accelerator-activated starter button, so the act of starting simultaneously set

10304-406: The upper end of the market. The Twenty-Second and Twenty-Third Series (from mid-1949) cars wore the "upside-down bathtub" styling that was briefly in vogue in the late 1940s. Unfortunately for Packard, Nash , Lincoln-Mercury , and Hudson , the four manufacturers who embraced this type of styling, General Motors introduced designs that were lower-slung, more tightly drawn and less bulbous at around

10416-531: The vehicle as the 10th digit. The actual date that the vehicle was produced is not part of the VIN, but it is required to be shown on the vehicle safety certification label. In addition to automobiles, some other products that often have model years include: Mercury Eight The Mercury Eight is an automobile that was produced by the American manufacturer Ford Motor Company under their now defunct division Mercury between 1939 and 1951. The debut model line of

10528-540: The wagon body structure had shifted to steel, relegating wood to body paneling (still manufactured at the Ford Iron Mountain Plant ). An 8 tube AM radio was introduced as an option; full instrumentation was added to the dashboard. A new overdrive system was optional, activated by a handle under the dash. The shift of the Mercury to the Lincoln body proved successful; alongside its Ford counterpart, Mercury broke sales records for 1949. For 1950,

10640-451: The wheelbase" creating a flare to the lower part of the doors to hide the running boards they added for the same reason. Thus, by Darrin's own admission, the Clipper that appeared in production was not entirely his work. Few designers besides Darrin believed this splendid car was the product of ten days' work. But despite the work of Packard's designers, the Clipper's theme was clearly Darrin's, confirmed by Alex Tremulis and other insiders. At

10752-471: The workers returned and the factory restarted. Thus the working year in the car industry ran from September to September. New or improved models would be announced in the summer and would be displayed at the British Motor Show which was held in October. Here they would be seen by the wider industry and buying public for the first time, just as the cars produced in the previous weeks began reaching

10864-588: Was 82,000, against 91,000 Cadillacs. The difference was that the vast bulk of Packard production was of Clipper Sixes and Eights priced $ 1,700–2,200. Other than the less popular Series 61 price leader, which replaced the LaSalle for 1941, postwar Cadillacs began at around $ 2,300. Packard could have built and sold as many senior Clippers as Cadillac did Series 62s and 60Specials, had Christopher and his team so chosen. The long-wheelbase (147-inch) Clipper seven-passenger sedan and limousine were competitive with Cadillac and

10976-593: Was a family resemblance between a 1939 and a 1932. In 1939, the comparison of its One Twenty with the LaSalle, the company declared that: "Packard has style identity...Packard styling is consistent...But look at the 1938 LaSalle! About the only similarity is in the name, and who can be sure that a sudden fanciful style change won't make the 1939 a style orphan?" Mercedes-Benz and Rolls-Royce survived for years with very expensive but dated designs. Packard also survived with limited styling change for at least eight or nine years up through 1940. Packard's hallmarks were good ones:

11088-608: Was an early form of planned obsolescence in the car industry, where yearly styling changes meant consumers could easily discern a car's newness, or lack of it. Other major changes to the model range usually coincided with the launch of the new model year., for example the 1928 model year of the Ford Model A began production in October 1927 and the 1955 model year of the Ford Thunderbird began production in September 1954. Model year followed with calendar year until

11200-422: Was as much a builder of luxury cars as ever. The 1942 160/180 Clipper was 9.5 inches (240 mm) longer and 140 pounds (64 kg) heavier than its square-rigged 1941 predecessor, with wider cabin, nearly as much rear legroom as the long wheelbase 1941-42 160/180, which retained the old-style Packard body. The smooth 356-cubic-inch (5,830 cc) straight-eight of the One Sixty and One Eighty Clippers, featuring

11312-600: Was clear that the future of the car business belonged to the giants. At least one independent manufacturer was ready to make that happen; George W. Mason , President of Nash-Kelvinator . Mason wanted a postwar combination of independents, a fourth player in an automotive Big Four, with Packard as the luxury division. All independent automakers faced problems. By 1954, there was only a "Big Two," as Chrysler's market share fell to 12.9%. All Cadillacs had been downsized for 1936, and were effectively junior cars ever since, increasingly sharing components with GM's other divisions. Despite

11424-474: Was dragging down the Packard image. When word was leaked to the Packard dealer network that they would be losing their best-selling Packard model to "Clipper", they balked. As an appeasement, Nance rolled the Clipper out as a Packard and worked to transition the cars toward their own make. Thus, the Packard Clipper name was reintroduced and applied to the company's entry-level models, previously known as

11536-539: Was established as a stand-alone nameplate, with Mercury renaming the Eight as the Mercury Custom. Within its era and beyond, the third-generation Mercury Eight was popular with customizers. In 1949, Sam Barris built the first lead sled from a 1949 Mercury Eight; the Eight became the definitive " lead sled ", much as the Ford V-8 (as the "deuce" ) was becoming the definitive hot rod . The Eights were among

11648-538: Was gone. 86,363 Mercury Eights were sold. For all practical purposes the 1948 Mercury Eights were identical to the 1947s. The major changes consisted of different dial faces and no steering column lock. 50,268 Mercury Eights were sold. A unique coupe utility variant of the Mercury was produced in Australia from 1946 to 1948. Marketed as the Mercury Club Coupe Utility, it was built on

11760-532: Was held up for weeks just by a strike at the supplier of their door locks. Being a holding company, GM was better able to weather this situation. Perhaps the best summation of the Clipper's design comes from Joel Prescott: "The truth may well be that the Clipper should be remembered as automotive history's most successful committee design, because assigning the genius of its beautiful lines exclusively to one particular designer cannot now be done with any degree of certainty." And as it turned out, this new look guaranteed

11872-461: Was limited by late introduction; what should have been its solid sophomore year was weakened by World War II . Its third and fourth years were postponed until 1946–47. Though Packard designer John Reinhart and other Company insiders wanted to retain and "sweeten" (in Reinhart's words) the Clipper's svelte lines, Packard management felt pressured by new, industry-wide postwar designs, thus introducing

11984-611: Was officially announced in February 1957 with sales beginning later the same month, and subsequent additions and updates to the Victor range were all introduced in February - notably Vauxhall's factory was outside the traditional centre of the industry, being in Luton , and so did not follow the common working calendar. Being owned by General Motors , Vauxhall also generally made minor changes to its cars year by year, even referring to 'model years' in some of its literature, but these did not have

12096-412: Was placed on the side of the hood. Different hubcaps were used. The border around the grille was chrome plated. The "Eight" script still ran down its center. There was also new trunk trim. More chrome was used on the interior and the dash dial faces were redesigned. The convertible and station wagon came with leather upholstery. The other body styles used fabric. The wood paneled Sportsman convertible

12208-507: Was produced with its own body, adapting its own version of a Ford body for its second generation; for the third generation, the Eight shared its body with the Lincoln . For the 1952 model year, Ford expanded its namesake division to three nameplates and Lincoln and Mercury to two each, with Mercury replacing the Eight with Monterey (introduced in 1950 as a trim option), lasting until 1974. The advertisements for this car declared it to be "The car that truly dares to ask 'Why? ' ", referring to

12320-524: Was the skirted fender which appeared in 1933. Packard – like Lincoln and Cadillac – had survived the Depression by building medium-priced cars: the One Twenty, Zephyr, and LaSalle, respectively. But unlike its rivals, Packard styling had remained arch-traditional. Unlike Lincoln, Packard followed the medium-priced One-Twenty with an almost-low-priced car, the Six (later briefly known as the One Ten). Unlike Cadillac, Packard refused to market its cheaper models by

12432-422: Was the widest production car in the industry and the first to be wider than it was tall—a foot wider. The body from cowl to deck was a single piece of steel, the largest in the industry, and the floor pan had only one welded seam from end to end. Single pieces of sheet metal comprised the rear quarters and hood. The hood could be lifted from either side of the car or removed entirely by throwing two levers. Instead of

12544-568: Was wearing pontoon fenders and flowing lines by 1934 and had adopted all-steel bodies by 1935. In 1936, Lincoln announced the Zephyr , with an all-steel unibody, and a shape so advanced that derivations of it were still in production twelve years later. Chrysler also tried introducing a streamlined platform which the market didn't respond well to, named the Chrysler Airflow . By comparison, Packard adhered to traditional, crisp, conservative styling. Its main acknowledgment of new-era styling

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