'56 Packard Man

I’m an old guy, in 1963, I interned at the Studebaker Zone office on Rt 9W in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, while working on my MA at a school in NJ. I was there in Dec 1963 when the announced the South Bend closing. I recall, one guy was clearing out his desk and said to me something to the effect that I seemed supprised at the closing, to which I answered yes, I had hoped I could get a job here and work here the rest of my life………..His answer has stayed with me all these years…..he said truth is they went broke 40 years ago, but they were so big, it took them 40 years to shut the doors…………….Certainly it seems GM is in the same situation, maybe it will take 100 years, but they will likely be gone.
In these lock down times I decided I’d learn how to read a book again, and somehow picked up a book called Homestead, by William Serrin, a history of US Steel and roughly it’s home town (GM/Flint ?)….US Steel today is a shadow of itself, that is operating in 125 year old plants with 150 year old technoligy, history certainly repeats itself. One could say back in the early 20th century “whats good for US Steel is good for the USA”, like GM today, who cares, most people don’t know there is still a US Steel, GM is almost there, ask a HS kid who makes the Buick, and you might get a “whats a Buick” answer.
GM and/or some of their people may have seen the bleak future coming, but it’s a runaway train to the end, Mary Barra’s decision to go 100 percent electric will just quicken the end. Like so many people running companies or country’s, the only answer to some of the things they do, is “what were they thinking”
Westinghouse, Kodak, Studebaker, RCA, New York Central, Monty Ward, Woolworth, Railway Express, TWA, Allied Chemical. and so on, your beloved Packard all gone. The only thing for certain is the list will grow. But like people, company’s have a life also, we all certainly would have liked Packard to go on or perhaps had a better ending, maybe with a V-12, and a long wheelbase, instead of a pretty dressed up Studebaker President, but in truth Packard never could have handled the Asians coming into the market, so the end came as it had to, but at least there is still Packard metal around to enjoy.

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