Packards war effort

[clonelark]

Great video from Packard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRVWyZf5MQk#t=113

[studeclunker]

Thank you very much for posting this! Tooting their own horn a lot, but still quite interesting. Such a shame this excellent company is now gone. Then again, all of our manufacturing is gone and with it the country's economy.

By the by, I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment in your sig. line. A man out doing a man's job should be paid a man's wages. Unlike how it is; where a man out playing a child's game is paid a fortune.

[EssexExport]

Great video. I too find it hard to believe they're gone.

[Commander Eddie]

Studebaker tooted their own horn during the war as well. And well they should. They made a great contribution to the war effort and it is sad they too did not survive. I think some of the best, most innovative companies fell by the wayside because of the marketing juggernauts, the big 3. It just goes to prove you don't have the best product to sell the most.
My dad tells me that during WWII he saw a lot of Studebaker products doing duty in the military. It is one of the reasons he bought a Studebaker after he returned to civilian life.

[DEEPNHOCK]

Was brought up here a few weeks ago.... Good video!

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?82438-Packard-History-Great-Video-on-the-quot-Merlin-quot-Engine&highlight=Packard

Great video from Packard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRVWyZf5MQk#t=113

[jnormanh]

Great video from Packard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRVWyZf5MQk#t=113

Packard did the RR engines for aircraft and their own engines for PT boats because of their engineering excellence. But they weren't the only ones. Ford used their new Willow Run facility to built fighters, Chrysler built tanks, IBM
built machine guns, Studebaker built rotary aircraft engines, NCR ( my company) built small arms, Norden bombsights and broke the German code. We won WWII because we overpowered the Germans Nd Japanese with better technology and massive manufacturing capacity.

At that time the USA was absolutely superior in engineering technology and manufacturing capacity.

Today we're becoming a second rate power. We've outsourced almost everything to lower cost/higher profit.

I'm glad that I'm old.

[Mikado282]

Packard did the RR engines for aircraft and their own engines for PT boats because of their engineering excellence. But they weren't the only ones. Ford used their new Willow Run facility to built fighters, Chrysler built tanks, IBM
built machine guns, Studebaker built rotary aircraft engines, NCR ( my company) built small arms, Norden bombsights and broke the German code. We won WWII because we overpowered the Germans Nd Japanese with better technology and massive manufacturing capacity.

At that time the USA was absolutely superior in engineering technology and manufacturing capacity.

Today we're becoming a second rate power. We've outsourced almost everything to lower cost/higher profit.

I'm glad that I'm old.

I agree. The Studebaker Corporation's automotive division's demise was a blueprint for the neutering of industrial manufacturing in the US. We won WWII because of our manufacturing prowess, we sadly no longer have that capability. At least the wealthy in the past left us with industrial capacity when they raped the nation in their greed, today they leave us with empty shells

[57pack]

Thank you for sharing!
My Dad also purchased a new Studebaker after the war, a 1946 Champion.
He often spoke about the Studebaker Weasel, doing some "fun" off roading!
Too bad we didn't have a Big 4. If Packard, Studebaker, Hudson, and Nash had merged as Mr. Mason proposed, who knows.

[Deaf Mute]

Great Video!
We still have it in us to produce if needed to, but each day more of us old farts that have the gumption to get it done are passing away. In my area there are several "mom & pop" machine and fabricating shops that keep John Deere & the like in business & if they needed to they could step up production BUT it would take a while to expand their facilities.
If our government would let the military do it's job, we could once again be tops!

[jnormanh]

If our government would let the military do it's job!

Military spending is 20% of our GDP, one dollar out of every five, three times as much as China, five times as much as Russia. Adjusted for inflation, it's twice what it was during the Viet Nam war. How much more do you want to spend?



Oops...did I contradict some fantasy of yours about cutting military spending??

[Dick K]

An odd bit of history(?). Given the mood of the world and the Russians right now I hesitate to say this but when I was in Russia a few years ago I needed a few heavy haul trucks to move some machinery. The guy with me (Russian) told me there were some "Studebakers" on the way. Sure enough some heavy haul trucks showed up the next day. They weren't really Studebakers but apparently in Russia if you want something "heavyhaul" you tell someone you want a Studebaker and they know exactly what to get you. (As info, the US provided Russia over six thousand trucks during WW2, the majority of them being Studebaker duece and halfs and five tons. That is apparently where the name Studebaker became the same as "heavy haul" in Russia.)

[Corvanti]

yep "Dick K", i haven't been to Russia (or the USSR), but all the history i've read is if you say "Studebaker" there, you will get a large truck that is in great shape!

[clonelark]

Yeah we spend too much on the military, but it's better than not spending enough. But we have the best money can buy.

[Ron Cee]

Great film.

PT Boat Lt. Commander Buckley was in command of the PT boat that successfully transported General Douglas MacArthur, Jean MacArthur and son Arthur MacArthur from the Phillipines, through the Japanese blockade to Australia.