The Packard Pan-American is a concept car produced for the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit , Michigan in 1952.
3-405: Conceived as a moderate-performance two-seater by Hugh Ferry , president of Packard, it was built by Henney , which was responsible for fitting custom hearse and ambulance bodies on Packard chassis. A status symbol for a carmaker at the time, this sort of car was a very unlikely project for Packard. With styling by Henney, it was based on the 1951 Series 250 convertible, and ready in time for
6-409: A time when the top-line Lincoln Capri six-passenger convertible went for US$ 3,665 ($ 42,051 in 2023 dollars ), the premier eight-place Cadillac Series 75 Fleetwood US$ 5643 ($ 64,746 in 2023 dollars ), and even Packard's Patrician 400 , their most expensive production model, was only US$ 3,767 ($ 43,221 in 2023 dollars ), and a six-seater. As many as six examples were built. The Pan-American did inspire
9-508: The 1952 New York International Motor Sports Show . Sectioned and channelled , in a fashion reminiscent of the 1953 Skylark , and wearing the trademark Packard grille, it "was elegantly trimmed throughout". Packard spent US$ 10,000 ($ 114,737 in 2023 dollars ) building the Pan-American, and management tried in vain to imagine, let alone develop, a market for a roadster projected to cost at least US$ 18,000 ($ 206,526 in 2023 dollars ), at
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