Born: 1899 Nationality: American.
Will and Ward Packard set up the Packard Electric Company in Warren, Ohio, in 1850 to make light bulbs and other products. Ward, always inventive, graduated as an engineer, and soon became interested in the new "horseless carriages".
In 1898 he bought a Winton car from the maker in Cleveland. He quickly became dissatisfied, particularly when he had to have it towed by a horse on the last leg of his journey home after he collected it.
So he, his brother and business partner George Weiss set out to build their own car. They head-hunted Winton's chief designer to design the first Packard, which turned out as a tiller-steered wagon powered by a single-cylinder engine. That car is still in running order today.
From that first high-wheeled carriage, the Packards moved quite quickly in innovation, especially in the transmission area. Later models were turned out with three-speed gearboxes and had a reverse gear.
The brothers had a passion for perfection and they soon established a reputation for build and engineering excellence, which was later to result in the confident sales slogan: "Ask the Man Who Owns One". Some 500 cars were built before the firm moved to Detroit in 1903.
A 1903 Model F single-cylinder Packard was driven from San Francisco to New York by the editor of Automobile Magazine. The trip took 61 days. Nicknamed "Old Pacific", this car's feat was recreated in 1983.
A 1909 Model 18 Speedster was a typical rakish open car of its time, but shows even in its lines the tough build that was always a Packard hallmark.
Through the first decade and a half of the 20th century, Packards were powered by a range of 4-cylinder engines of steadily growing size, culminating in one of 432 cubic inches.
In 1916 the company introduced the Twin Six, a V12 engine that was to underpin the Packard name as a producer of large luxury cars. Typical of its applications was the Model 1-35 Town Car of that same year, and the 1918 Packard Brougham. A special Packard with this engine reached 149mph on a measured mile in 1919 at Daytona, bringing back to America a land speed record which had last been held in 1906 by a Stanley Steamer. The reputation and the quality carried the company successfully through the 1920s with cars such as the 1921 3-35 Phaeton, the 1923 1-26 Doctor's Coupe and the 1928 4-43 Roadster.
Success continued into the 1930s, despite the Great Depression that hinged the two decades. In part, Packard survived because it "cut its cloth" to the times, by introducing 6- and 8-cylinder engines, without compromising on quality.
The engines were "straight" configuration, and at a time when its traditional luxury market was being eroded by the V16 power of Cadillac, Packard had found a new market in the middle class which could now afford its famed quality. Typical of the cars were the 1934 Model 1100 Standard Eight Sedan and the 1936 Model 1400.
Packard's V12 engines were used during the second World War on PT boats and in aircraft. After the war, Packards were restyled to suit the new upbeat mood and developed its own V8 engines. But, like several other smaller manufacturers of the time, it found it difficult to compete with Ford, GM and Chrysler. A merger with Studebaker in 1955 failed to keep the brand alive, and the end of the line was reached in 1958 when the name disappeared in car terms, after two years of being "badged" Studebakers.
Pre-war Packard designs and tooling were sold to Russia after the war and the cars were built for decades as ZIL and ZIM for the Communist elite. The post-war designs also appeared in the USSR in the 1970s.
The Packard name survived to the end of the 20th century because the original Packard Electric had become part of GM in 1932, and later became Delphi Packard, providers of automotive electrical components. The company had a plant in Ireland making wiring looms until the late 1990s.
BEST CAR: The 1938 1608 V12, or the 1954 Caribbean
WORST CAR: Not let out of the factory
WEIRDEST CAR: The brand died before weird became fashionable.