Thanks for this great video. Enjoyed the coverage of the now crumbling Packard Plant. Showed the bridge across Grand Blvd., which collapsed several years ago. My buddy and I walked through the whole ruin before the collapse. Unfortunately now being demolished. Packard, a legendary marque...love my '55 "The 400" hardtop.

Most of that old Packard factory is still standing. It has become an iconic ruin and tourist destination. 😭

My 1940 Packard 120 Club Coupe is no better built nor equipped than a big Pontiac of that era. Packard had gone all-into the medium-priced field by then, however, and there was no returning: 92% of Packard sales in 1940 were of Junior cars, effectively marking the end of Packard as a luxury carmaker. Thus they had to tout their cars as, "Just like a big Packard, only somehow magically less expensive due to volume production, or something." That was certainly the showroom saleman's line, and a lot of folks who were desperate for a new car to ride out the looming world war swallowed it. Take a Junior apart, though -- esp. the interior -- and you'll easily spot the compromises that were made to reach the lower price point. Also, the 1940 Juniors had undergone so few changes since their introduction in 1935 that there was still a factory-provided oil can holder on the firewall, which they'd had since the '20s, yet which was basically useless. 1940 was the last year the competition would let Packard get away with offering a 5-y.o. design, so the middle of '41 brought us the Clipper, which was in fact a damn nice car and the way forward.

$888.00 in 1940 is a little over $19,000.00 today.

Price of a 1939 Chevy was $848 to $883. Pirce of a mid-level 1939 Buick was $1,175 - $1,713. So Packard was competing with the low-end price range of GM at the time, not the mid-price level. Was this a wise move?