1957/1958 Packard Trucks

[Frank54]

I copied a paragraph from Skip’s history of Studebaker trucks on the main SDC site, see below. Does anyone have any further information, pictures, speculations or swags about these 48 Packard trucks? It would be so cool to actually own one…


Total calendar year 1957 3E truck production fell to 7686 B/U and 2238 CKD, for a total of 9924 units, a loss of 31%. The 1957 production data sheets also show an adjustment of minus 48 units “reported built in 1956, later cancelled”. The 1958 production data sheets also show a minus 48 entry with the note “Argentina cancellation”. These were presumably the Studebaker pickups that were ordered by a Packard dealer in Buenos Aires, but subsequently cancelled because he was not able to obtain a license to import Studebakers.24 They eventually were produced in 1958 as Packard pickups, perhaps the only ones in the world. Since these were CKD units, the word “built” presumably meant that they had been assembled and crated for shipment in response to a firm order. But when the order was cancelled, they had to be subtracted from the “built” category. Otherwise, why Studebaker would record these as being built if they hadn’t actually been built is a mystery.

[mbstude]

I don’t have any other info, but here’s a Packard truck in Ayacucho, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[bensherb]

The really interesting thing here is that the Dodge service truck was a Studebaker / Packard and not a Dodge . Even Dodge knew the better marque when they needed it!

[8E45E]

More information and other photos posted here: The last Packard - Studebaker Drivers Club Forum

Craig

[Skip Lackie]

I have always suspected that that photo of the Argentine Packard tow truck was actually a Studebaker 1-ton (or larger) with the hood from one of the Packard pickups. (I think the emblem on the door says Studebaker Deluxe. and the wheel is too big for a half-ton truck.) All the data I have indicate that the Packard trucks were half-ton 3E7 models. There is quite a bit of uncertainty about what model the Argentine trucks were: half or 3/4 ton?; 2 or 4WD? The reason for this uncertainty is that Studebaker took pictures of one-of-a-kind prototype trucks that were never built. I suspect that the company had a mule truck that was modified as needed for photography purposes (no Photo Shop in those days). This issue is discussed in more detail in the Stude truck history that was excerpted by Frank54 above.

[Frank54]

Thanks all.

[altair]

This is from the Studebaker Century Book by E. hall and R Langworth

[Skip Lackie]

Yes, this photo is discussed in the Stude truck history on the main SDC website.

"CKD units totaled 1500 (including 576 for Mexico), and included 144 1958-model 3E7s. These 3E7s were probably the 1958 Packard pickups discussed above, ordered in 1956, but not actually delivered until 1959. Presumably they were assembled and crated in 1956, set aside or uncrated in 1958 when the order was cancelled, reassembled with new hoods and tailgates marked Packard, and recrated and shipped in 1959. The 3E-series Packard pickups present an intriguing mystery. First, although Hall and Langworth present a plausible explanation for the existence of such a vehicle, at this late date there is no way to really verify the details of their original production, supposed revisions, and eventual sale. Second is the fact that factory publicity photographs exist of a 1958 ¾-ton, 4WD Packard pickup, model 3E12D-22 that is equipped with a special front bumper, tow hooks, and winch. However, the aforementioned 144 ½-ton 3E7s were neither 4WD nor were they ¾-ton 3E12s, so it’s possible that they were not the Packard pickups shipped to Argentina. If they weren’t, then their export customer is unknown. In his history of the 3E-series trucks, Fred Fox includes production numbers for 3E-series 4WD trucks that were developed by an analysis of individual production orders by another party. This summary shows that 32 model 3E11D and another 32 model 3E12D pickups were built for export, presumably to Argentina. This was an unusually large number of 4WD trucks to be built for export in a single year, and does lend plausibility to the claim that the 3E pickups shipped to Argentina were ¾-ton, 4WD units like the one pictured in the publicity photo. Unfortunately, there’s no way to verify these numbers, as Studebaker’s 1958 3E-series production records do not separately break out 4WD production in that year, and only show nine model 4E11Ds and 21 model 4E12Ds built in 1959. None of these 4WD trucks are identified as being previous-year 3E-series trucks (which the Packard pickups supposedly were). Given the above, it’s entirely possible that the 3E12D Packard pickup shown in the publicity photo was a one-of-kind, B/U unit produced for publicity and photography purposes – and may be the “Truck Pilot Job” produced in December 1957."