welcome back to the ancestral findings podcast
packard cars were among the most iconic american automobiles
ever made and there's a beautiful dayton museum devoted to them listen on to learn more about it
if there's one auto brand that you won't see very often on the road anymore it's packard
these cars were an american classic that for a time were so popular that they outsold cadillacs
packard was a detroit based automaker that was founded by james ward packard brother william
packard and a partner george louis weiss in 1899. originally the trio founded packard in warren ohio
and their first car was built there on november 6 1899 but later henry bourne joy who belonged
to a wealthy family in detroit bought packard operations moved to detroit and from that point
on the company manufactured cars all the way through 1958 when the company's south bend
indiana factory finally closed down here in ohio if you happen to have an interest in antique cars
or in packard automobiles specifically well you're in luck one of the world's best automobile museums
america's packard museum is located in dayton and there are lots of interesting things to see
here let's take a virtual trip through some of what the museum has to offer and we can
all learn a little bit about packard's history along the way facts about the packard museum
the museum itself has a lot of interesting history behind it robert cignom the second
a longtime car collector founded it in 1922. one of the coolest things about this museum is that
it actually used to be a packard dealership one that was built in 1917 back when cars were still
being sold from the building and lot it was called the citizens motor car company in fact the museum
still runs under the official the citizens motor car company name but it's more popularly known as
america's packard museum today the museum houses the world's largest collection of packard cars
and packard memorabilia it's so large that car collector magazine named it among their top 10
auto museums in the nation and they've even won a james j bradley award which is a prestigious
award given to auto museums and historians in this case america's packard museum won
for their work in preserving historical motor vehicles and associated artifacts
what you'll find at the museum there are lots of reasons to visit america's packard museum
if you're a car enthusiast then you'll love it simply for all cars and artifacts on display
and for some it might even feature in family history packard was a major manufacturer of
luxury automobiles that was founded in ohio and had facilities in michigan and indiana for many
that means their ancestors could have worked on packard production lines or even at dealerships
that sold these cars whether it's a trip back to your roots or a visit to see vintage cars at
america's packard museum you'll find cars dating from 1903 to 1956. there are more than 50 cars all
told and the way the museum is set up you'll get to relive the old-fashioned dealership experience
cars and other artifacts are displayed in a beautifully restored art deco showroom
as well as the original service department and in a pavilion packard historical background
early in automobile history packard truly was a big name they started building cars in 1899
and it wasn't long before the company rose to prominence as a manufacturer of fine automobiles
this happened when the grey wolf came out in 1904 the grey wolf featured a four-cylinder engine
and it was designed to be a speedster in fact it was the first american-made race car to be
made available to consumers and that was in large part responsible for packard's rise to prominence
packer became the leading luxury car maker in 1916 when they came out with the twin 6. the twin 6
was extraordinary featuring a v12 engine which was a technological revolution at the time
what's most interesting is that the engine was so revolutionary that when world war
one broke out and factories around the united states converted production to the war effort
packard's twin six was adapted to be used as the liberty aircraft engine as such packard's
engine became the absolute most important war material produced by the united states
during world war one so if packard was once among the most prominent automakers in the
united states then what led to the halt in their production part of it was the development
of a v16 engine in the 1930s by general motors with this development cadillac rose to prominence
as the foremost luxury car even above packard in response packard created a more affordable car
the 120 which boosted their sales for a time however world war ii brought the american auto
industry to a halt as car production converted to wartime efforts once more
the war itself left packard in a fantastic shape financially with a gross worth near 33 million
but issues started to drain those resources when packard started producing cars again in 1945 they
termed these models 1946 models but in reality these cars only featured small updates from
those developed in 1942 before production shut down other automakers began to outpace packard
in design and production more and more packard cars were seen as outdated and less fashionable
than the futuristic designs that brands like cadillac were producing in the 1950s sales started
drying up for packard and studebaker at the time a much larger automaker ended up buying packard with
the merger packard studebaker became the fourth largest automaker in the u.s but unfortunately
studebaker had its own problems which led to them discontinuing packards and the larger studebakers
in 1956 the detroit packard plant shut down and the decline continued until 1958 when the company
finally closed up completely packards might not be on the road anymore but they're a vital part of
american history and that's what makes america's packard museum important here you can delve into
their history and learn all about the rise and fall of one of america's most iconic automakers
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historical postcard giveaway i hope you have a wonderful day and as always happy searching