Packard Pacific
| Packard Pacific | |
|---|---|
 1954 Packard Pacific | |
| Overview | |
| Production | 1954 |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door hardtop |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 359CID 4-bbl. L-head 212 hp 8-cylinder(1954)[1] |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 122 in (3,099 mm) |
| Curb weight | 4,065 lb (1,844 kg) |
The Packard Pacific is an automobile. In the early 1950s, the Packard Motor Corporation of Detroit, Michigan used a numeric naming scheme that designated Packard's least expensive models as Packard 200 and 200 Deluxe while two-door hardtops and convertibles were designated Packard 250 and its mid-range sedan the Packard 300. For model years 1951-1953, the 250 hardtop was named the Mayfair; for model year 1954 only, the hardtop was given the model name Pacific.[2]
The Mayfair was created for the 1951 model year in order to keep in competition with Cadillac, Buick, and Imperial from Chrysler, whose hardtop sales were booming. The Mayfair was named after the exclusive Mayfair district of London. In renaming it as the Pacific, Packard associated the model with its personal luxury car Caribbean offering. Both Mayfair and Pacific shared the straight-eight engines (a 327-cubic-inch (5.36 L) for Mayfair, a 359-cubic-inch (5.88 L) for Pacific)[3] of top-of-the-line, or "senior" Packards, but were mounted on the 122-inch wheelbase of less expensive, or "junior" models.
The Pacific and Mayfair were distinguished by high levels of interior trim: for instance, leather upholstery was provided, and the cars' interior headliners were ornamented with chrome strips intended to suggest a convertible top. The cars were also given innovative exterior color schemes; most were given two-tone paint jobs (for example: "Carnation" (white) and "Amethyst" (lavender)), as was fashionable at the time.[4]
Pacific hardtops were built for the 1954 model year only.[5] Starting in 1955, Packard renamed its senior hardtop the Four Hundred.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ Flory, Jr., J. "Kelly" (2008). American Cars, 1946-1959 Every Model Every Year. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-3229-5.
- ↑ Consumer Guide, Auto Editors of (1989). 50 Years of American Automobiles. Beekman House. ISBN 0-517-68640-6.
- ↑ Consumer Guide, pp. 637-638
- ↑ Langworth, p. 110
- ↑ Langworth, Richard M. (1991). Illustrated Packard Buyer's Guide: All Packard Cars and Commercial Vehicles, 1899 to 1958. Motorbooks International. ISBN 0-87938-427-1.