Start with what the Packard 300 is: a 4-door sedan with 327 cuin flat-head Straight-eight engine, from Packard. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to John Reinhart.
How it came about
The Packard 300 is an automobile built and sold by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan for model years 1951 and 1952. The 300 represented the upper mid-range Packard model and provided better appointments than the Packard 200 or the Packard 250 models, and replaced the Packard Super Eight. The Packard Patrician 400 became the top level "senior" Packard replacing the Custom Super Eight. The 300 was positioned against the Buick Roadmaster, Cadillac Series 61, Chrysler Saratoga, Frazier Manhattan and Lincoln Cosmopolitan. For both model years, the Packard 300 was built as a four-door sedan only and was mounted on Packard's 127-inch (3,200 mm) wheelbase. The car included the basic trim appointments found in the 200 and 200 Deluxe model lines and featured tinted windows, a robe rail for backseat passengers, and striped interior fabrics.
Exterior trim included full wheel covers and Packard's "Winged Goddess" cormorant hood ornament. The 300 also had a wraparound rear window, which it shared with the Patrician models. All Packards beginning in 1951 offered exterior door handles installed in the stainless steel beltline that ran along the bottom of the windshield, side windows, and rear window. Power for the car in both years came from Packard's venerable Super Eight engine, the 327-cubic-inch (5,360 cc) "Thunderbolt" inline eight, which was shared with the 250 line. A three-speed manual shift was standard, while Packard's Ultramatic automatic transmission was offered as optional equipment. A total of 22,309 Packard 300s were built in the model's two years on the ma
The hardware
The engine is 327 cuin flat-head Straight-eight engine. On the scales it comes to 3925 lb. Drive goes through a 3-speed Manual transmission / manual / 3-speed Manual transmission / manual with Overdrive (mechanics) / overdrive / 2-speed Ultramatic#1949-1954: Ultramatic Drive / Ultramatic Aut. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 127 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
In the Packard line-up the Packard 300 has a clear place: it replaced the Packard Super Eight (1950); it handed the line to the Packard Executive; the factory was Packard Automotive Plant, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.. Its Packard stablemates include the Packard 160 and the Packard 180.