The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company - Hardcover

Ward, James A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0804724571 ISBN 13: 9780804724579

Publisher: Stanford University Press, 1995

Synopsis

This is the compelling story of the puzzling decline and fall of one of America's most prestigious automobile manufacturers, a company that for most of the fifty-nine years of its history was a synonym for luxury, excellence, and corporate stability. For the first time, this book gives an authoritative and convincing explanation of why the Packard Motor Car Company collapsed in 1956 in the midst of one of the greatest automotive booms in history. Had Packard collapsed in the depression year of 1934 when it was producing its classic, beautifully handcrafted Twelves, its death would have been without doubt tragic, but more easily understood. The irony, however, was that having survived the Depression by successfully changing its manufacturing techniques, bringing out new models and pitching its advertising to different clientele, when the firm tried to repeat that strategy in the 1950s, it failed.

About this title

About the Author

James A. Ward is Guerry Professor of History at the University of Tennessee.

From the Back Cover

?Ward is one of our nation s top transportation historians. He chronicles Packard s curious rapid fall in a beautiful book with more plot twists and turns and odd characters than a Sam Spade murder mystery. Because Ward is curious about the interplay between institution and personalities, the book comes alive. . . . Resplendent with generous helpings of Packard photos. ?Chattanooga Free Press
?Packard elegance is a fading mystery, and this handsome volume serves as a respectful but realistic obituary. ?Journal of American History

Edition details

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0804724571
• ISBN 13: 9780804724579
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 324