PACKARD AUTOMOBILE'S - THE EARLY YEARS
From the William Cary Collection
We did not begin the manufacture of gasolene motor vehicles until we had
made an exhaustive examination of the various automobiles then on the
market.
Having studied the American conditions and requirements, we decided that
gasolene was the best propelling force, and in its application we employed
those principles which have proved most successful in the French and German
machines, modifying them and improving them according to our conception
of the ideal motor vehicle.
Our idea was to make a vehicle that would be strong, compact, graceful
in build; one which would travel over all sorts of roads, uphill and down,
at a high rate of speed, or slowly, as occasion would demand ; a machine
requiring the least manipulation on the part of the driver; and. lastly,
one that would be absolutely safe.
There was nothing radically new in all this, nor did we intend that there
should be. We sought prac¬ticability rather than novelty.
We had a large field to choose from—the motor
vehicles of a hundred makers. We selected the good points of each and
avoided the bad ones. Then we were ready to begin work.
It must not be understood that the is in any sense a copy of any other
vehicle in existence. It is a distinct creation, and one which fairly
bristles with points of merit belonging to none other.
But even then we did not hurry to get our vehicle on the market. We went
slowly and with consequent
sureness. We subjected our automobile to the most severe tests. We ran
it over all kinds of roads under all kinds of conditions. We learned what
it would do and how it would do it. We satisfied ourselves that we were
making the best motor vehicle that could be put together.
When we finally placed our automobile on the market we were in a position
to say to our customers ;
" This is not a perfect motor vehicle, but it is nearer perfection
than any other of which we know. It is an automobile that you can depend
upon to carry you to your destination. It is built for service and is
so simple that anyone can operate it."
We have given our vehicles many private tests and have kept careful record
of their performances in the hands of both amateurs and experts.
The results have fulfilled our fondest hopes. The Packard automobile has
proved a SUCCESS. Nor has the good work of our vehicles been con¬fined
to private tests ; they have distinguished themselves in public trials
Here is what the Packard automobiles accomplished in the New York-Buffalo
Endurance Contest as recorded in the official report of the Automobile
Club of America :
FIRST CLASS CERTIFICATE.
Average speed from 12 to 15 miles per hour.
C-24 12 H. P. Packard, average speed, 13.70.
C-56 14 H. P. Packard, " " 12.83.
C-23 12 H. P. Packard, " " 12.79.
C-79 16 H. P. Packard, " " 12.57.
SECOND CLASS CERTIFICATE.
Average speed from 10 to 12 miles per hour.
C-61
12 H. P. Packard, average speed, 10.rr.