1950
Welcome to 1950s Cars – Packard
1950 Packard Super Eight
1950 is a good year for auto sales except for Packard
sales dip placing the Company in 15th place,
the bathtub design has fallen out of favor
and will be replaced in the next model year
Cost: $2,608.00
Check out the Wood Grained Interior
1951
1951 Packard Mayfair
The Packard receives it’s long overdue re-design
gone is the inverted bathtub look and in, is a new more modern squared off look
also gone was the ultra opulence, the new Packard’s were aimed
at the moderately priced car market
Cost: $3,665.00
1951 Packard 250 Convertible
Packard’s cars not only got a new look this year
but the whole line received new names as well
the 200 was on the low end of the price scale,
250 and 300 are in the mid-priced range
and the Patrician 400 at the very top,
the new lineup was voted most the beautiful cars of the year
Cost: $3,391.00
1952
1952 Packard 250 Mayfair
Only minor cosmetic changes for ’52
including side trim, hood badge and ornament,
a larger change was at the top with a new president
and a new focus back towards luxury cars
Cost: $3,320.00
1953
1953 Packard Clipper
More new names for Packard lineup
the 300 and 400 are now called Cavalier and Patrician (no more number designations)
Mayfair stayed in the middle and
the lower end Clipper name is dug up from a 1940’s model and reused
Cost: $2,545.00
New grill work on the ’53 Packard
1954
1954 Packard Caribbean
Packard merges with Studebaker
even though both companies are in poor financial health
Packard is the healthier of the two and it’s President takes the reigns of Studebaker-Packard Corp.
the Caribbean is the top of the line but only 400 of this convertible were sold
Cost: $6,100.00
1955
1955 Packard Clipper Custom
Packard got a major facelift
with trim, paint, windshield and fenders
but they sat on the same frame as they had since 1951,
lower priced Clippers got their own style grill and taillights
differentiating them from higher priced Packard’s
Cost: $3,075.00
1956
1956 Packard Executive
The Executive was launched to fill in the mid-priced line
critics said that it diluted the image of the more expensive Packard’s
this years cars are called the last true Packard’s built entirely in their own facilities
Packard goes hunting for a new merger partner to try and stay afloat
Cost: $3,480.00
1957
1957 Studebaker-Packard Clipper
Packard’s were known on the street as Packardbaker’s
what they were was a re-designed Studebaker with a combination of components
only two models are offered now, the Clipper and a Country Sedan station wagon
plans to produce a new “true” Packard never materialized and the revered name lost it’s luster
Cost: $3,212.00
1958
1958 Studebaker-Packard Starlight
Packard’s last cars, production ends mid-season
and sadly enough they are Studebaker’s with tail fins and quad headlights glued on,
under 700 Starlights and 500 Hawks were produced before they pulled the plug
this was a very unglamorous end to what was once the most glamorous car on the road
Cost: $3,262.00
