Should some auto companies read about Packard?
June 25 1956 The Last Packard The last 1956 Packard was produced, marking the end of production at Packard’s Connor Avenue plant in Detroit, Michigan. Packard would continue to manufacture cars in South Bend, Indiana, until 1958, but for those familiar with Packard the last 1956 is considered the last true Packard car. In 1902, a group of Detroit investors, led by Henry Joy, purchased Packard from its founder, James Ward Packard, and moved the company to Detroit. The following year, Joy hired industrial designer Albert Kahn, the pioneer of reinforced concrete, to build a new production facility for the Packard Motor Company. The first Packard cars–including “Old Pacific,” the first car to travel across the United States–were affordable, durable one-cylinder vehicles. But Packard quickly moved up the pricing ladder, offering four-cylinder engines. By the 1916 release of the revolutionary V-12 Twin Six, Packard had established itself as the country’s leading luxury-car manufacturer, re
