CarBrandLogos archive · Packard · 1924

PackardEight

The straight-eight that made a Detroit firm the equal of Rolls-Royce.

Photo: Stephen Foskett (Wikipedia User: sfoskett) · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Packard history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Packard Eight, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Packard introduced its straight-eight in 1924, and for the next dozen years it was the engine that defined American luxury motoring. The L-head unit grew from 282 to nearly 385 cubic inches over its life, and it was chosen for smoothness and durability rather than any headline figure: this was a car meant to run quietly and indefinitely, which is what its owners paid for. Four-wheel brakes arrived at the same time, an advance many rivals were still arguing about.

Flickr - DVS1mn - 27 Packard by Murphy · Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA · CC BY 2.0

Packard Clipper Eight Deluxe Touring Sedan Model 2111 1947

Design and engineering

Packard sold the Eight as a complete car and as a chassis for the great coachbuilders, and the body list ran from roadsters and dual-cowl phaetons to town cars and landaus. In the 1920s and early 1930s the marque outsold Cadillac at the top of the market and did serious export business, including to European buyers who had plenty of local alternatives.

Packard Clipper Eight Deluxe Touring Sedan Model 2111 1947 · Buch-t · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

In production

Its advertising line, asking the man who owns one, worked because it was largely true. Packard's reputation for engineering conservatism and build quality was the strongest of any American manufacturer.

1946 Packard Clipper · GPS 56 from New Zealand · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

The Depression eventually forced the company down-market, and the Eight gave way to the cheaper One-Twenty as the volume model. But the cars built under this name in the late 1920s and early 1930s are the ones that established the standard everything later Packard did was measured against.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1924–1936

Engine

282.1 CID Flathead engine

Body

•2-door roadster

Technical specification

The Eight, in detail.

Production: 1924–1936; 1938
Class: Luxury car
Body style: •2-door roadster; •2-door coupé; •2-door convertible Victoria; •4-door sedan; •4-door phaeton; •4-door dual-cowl phaeton & Sport Phaeton; •town car; •landau
Layout: Front engine, rear drive
Engine: 282.1 CID Flathead engine; L-head Straight-eight engine; I8 ; 319.2 CID Flathead engine; L-head I8 ; 357.8 CID Flathead engine; L-head I8 ; 384.8 CID Flathead engine; L-head I8
Transmission: 3-speed Manual transmission
Assembly: Packard Automotive Plant, Detroit, MI
Manufacturer: Packard