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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on May 4, 2012 19:10:30 GMT -5
Ooops I meant space 1999 Wrong Lady wrong show...UFO was 5 years before 1999 Acctually UFO morphed into 1999 but in the script the shows have no context. Wanda Ventham in A Promo Picture for UFO ... I've never even heard of this show... the only British Sci Fi series I know of is Dr Who (And I'll NEVER understand what made it so popular...talk about boring) Below, the only 2 reasons to watch Dr Who... the Dalek robots and Nicola Bryant, who played one of the Dr's many assistants Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on May 7, 2012 1:54:53 GMT -5
Apparently called the "Blastolene"; I have no idea where this car came from, or why it was built... just thought it was interesting Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on May 19, 2012 14:22:34 GMT -5
The Packard story; from luxury to travestyPart 2; The party is over During the 1920s, the Packard was selling well and epitomized the car of the rich: Long, powerful, expensive (The bare chassis cost as much as 3 Fords) However, at the end of 1929, the stock market crashed and the "Great Depression" began; soon people were more interested in where their next meal was coming from, and autos (particularly luxury cars) were becoming a luxury people were willing to do without; besides, when men were starving and desperate for work, the last thing anyone wanted to do was show off their wealth! By mid 1930 the Depression was becoming serious and Packard sales were almost non-existant, something had to be done, a crash program was implemented for a new "small" Packard for 1932; the new car would be called the "light 8" and, with it's beautifully curved grill, is often mentioned as the most beautiful car the company ever produced. Unfortunately, while the car was a hit with buyers, it was a disaster for Packard itself; the problem was that, while the car was priced far below the "senior" Packards, it cost almost as much to build; the company lost money on every one they produced! The Light8 would be a one year only model! cont...
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 18, 2012 5:55:07 GMT -5
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 25, 2012 23:46:19 GMT -5
Seen at a car show in China: (I can understand the "car hats" and the ugly bubble on wheels but, why are those models playing "bubble hockey" at a carshow in China?) Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 3, 2013 0:10:10 GMT -5
THE PACKARD STORY, CONTINUED...With the cancellation of the light 8, Packard needed a new way to ride out the depression; and there was only one answer, set up an automated assembly line! (Up to this time, Packards were all virtually hand-built) With higher "volume" sales in mind, the company hired George T. Christopher , who had built production lines for other automakers and gave him the task of retooling part of the factory for mass production. The large "Senior" Packards would still be built, in small numbers, but, a new kind of Packard was being readied, a Packard for the masses! The new car was dubbed 120 (For the 120 inch wheelbase; a large car by today's standards, but, tiny for a luxury car of the day); the car carried simplified styling , but, was still a Packard from the Ox-yoke grill to the tailpipe. Basically, it looked like a trunkated senior car; not quite as luxurious, but, still a luxury car, at a more affordable price; and it would be a huge hit, and eventually propel Christopher to the presidency of the company... unfortunately! Sales of the new 120 were brisk, not only could the rich downsize to a more affordable Packard, but, for the 1rst time, envious middle-class drivers (those who still had jobs, at least) could actually drive a Packard; a car that had previously been way out of their price range; this of course would eventually be a double-edged sword, once the Depression ended and the finny new post-WW2 Cadillacs would make super-luxury cars something to once again aspire to. Packard 120: Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 3, 2013 1:00:33 GMT -5
The Packard story; from luxury to travestyPart 3, The Clipper and WW2At the end of the 1930s, Packards were still fairly popular, mainly with the older generations, because, as good as they were, they were beginning to look rather dated, with their high cowls and upright grills, even the Caddys and Lincolns were far sleeker than anything offered by Packard. In 1936, Lincoln had raised the luxury car bar with the beautiful aerodynamic Zephyr and, in 1938, Cadillac introduced the first "modern" car to it's lineup, the groundbreaking 60 Special, a car built for the next generation of Caddy owners (The car's basic styling would influence all new American cars, until the mid-50s). Something had to be done, quickly, enter the first "modern" Packard, the Clipper, a car that looked as if it had been sculpted by the wind (The larger Packards were soon given Clipper-type styling!). Sadly, while the car was wildly popular, it's momentum would be curbed after the attack at Pearl Harbour brought the USA into Hitler's war, and the Packard plant would be retooled to build engines for bombers and fighter planes (Mainly they built Rolls-Royce designed airplane engines under licence), the new Clipper had it's "wings" clipped, just as it was taking off! Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 3, 2013 23:05:34 GMT -5
WW2 turned out to be a boon for Packard where it's bottom line was concerned; all that govt. money from the war chest meant that the company was no longer being held back by the Depression; it was in fact as healthy as it was in it's heyday... the next postwar Packard could bring the company back to being the supreme American luxury car; in the meantime the Clipper became the only offering in the Packard line, seeing as the Clipper had been created to replace the 120, in the first place; as for the larger super luxury "senior" Packards, they were literally sent to exile, in Russia! What happened was that Russia was in desperate need of steel for making tanks and other military vehicles to defend itself against Hitler's invasion of the country and a large scrap metal drive was initiated in the USA (Russia was an ally at the time). Christopher, who hated large cars offered the body dies for the senior cars to the scrap drive, and large Packards would only reappear for 1956 (But, more on that later). Interestingly, the dies were disabled so that they couldn't be used again, however, it wasn't long before the Russian ZIS auto company would introduce it's own new luxury car.... which had a strange resemblance to the old senior Packards! (Obviously, the Russians managed to straighten them out, much as VW managed to make cars on machines that were supposedly destroyed by Allied bombers, when they attacked the VW plant) Below:Postwar ZIS..... identical to a certain senior American car! Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 3, 2013 23:24:14 GMT -5
From 1946 to 1950, Packard sold only the Clipper, which was given an unfortunate "facelift" to make it seem "new" ; fans of it's former beautiful aero styling stayed away in droves, dubbing the second generation Clipper The "Pregnant Elephant"! Company directors begged Christopher to bring back the large luxury Packard, sales for the finny new Cadillac were skyrocketing; but as already mentioned, the President was a production line man, and had no love for low volume luxury cars; in fact, the first "all-new" postwar Packards would actually SHRINK, just as everyone else was making their cars larger! Next time, "High Pockets", the last true Packards (1951-56) Below, "Pregnant Elephant" Clipper Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 4, 2013 15:40:04 GMT -5
Another weird car from the past... the first true "Airflow" ? Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 5, 2013 16:52:18 GMT -5
The Packard story continues... "High Pockets", the last true Packards (1951-56)By 1949, most carmakers had introduced their first all-new cars since war ended production in 1942; for Packard, the time was ripe for a car to replace the chunky postwar Clipper with a long wide luxury car to compete with the super-popular new Caddys with their airplane-influenced tail fins; instead, Company Pres. Cristopher , decided to go head-head with the medium priced Oldsmobiles and Buicks (Some say that decision was the beginning of the end). Head car designer John Reinhardt came up with a car that was higher, thinner and shorter, at a time when the car-buying public were looking for the exact opposite (Especially luxury car buyers); this isn't to say that the new Packards were unattractive, but, they looked more like a new Ford than a Cadillac! The car had a couple of strange moon-shaped indentations between the fenders and hood ( Wings & bonnet to you English members) that resembled the pockets on a pair of pants, because if this, wags immediately nicknamed the car "High Pockets" Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 8, 2013 4:11:52 GMT -5
Around the same time as the High Pockets design was proving a flop, the company was looking for a new leader to replace Christopher, they chose James Nance, a younger, more dynamic CEO; he should have been just what Packard needed, sadly, his first big decision was to buy the Studebaker company and it's larger dealer network; unfortunately, Studebaker "hid" it's huge deficit by showing Packard overtly optimistic numbers; eventually, the cash drain would put the company on the brink. Meanwhile, something had to be done about the cars, themselves. Nance had a plan, facelift the High Pockets body for 1955 & again for 1956, with plans to bring in an all-new SUPER LUXURY Packard for 1957; a strategy that would likely have worked, if it had come to be. For 1955, Reinhardt was shown the door and replaced with a young designer, Dick Teague, who did a minor miracle with a clean and contemporary facelift, of course, he was stuck with a short chunky body , but, he made the most with what he had: Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 8, 2013 4:14:00 GMT -5
'55 Clipper Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 11, 2013 21:02:55 GMT -5
I'll be finishing the Packard story soon, but, in the meantime, here's some retro-designs I'd like to see from VW: Attachments:
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Post by mikado-AKA-Shoknifeman on Jun 16, 2013 2:32:20 GMT -5
The Packard story continues... "High Pockets", the last true Packards (1951-56) p3 In 1956, the Senior Packards were finally worthy of their classic predecessors, thanks to a new way to make body dies that allowed the company to stretch the senior cars and differentiate them from the Clipper line; Senior Packards could once again look a Cadillac face-to-face! The car was once again facelifted, taking the best features of the '55 design and improving on them, the now deeply hooded headlights and even chromier grill, were outstandingly beautiful! Sadly this would be the last year that a Packard wasn't just a tarted-up Studebaker. As for the Clipper, for '56, the "Junior" line got it's own "boomerang" version of the Cathedral taillights, but, was little changed, otherwise. Attachments:
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