Start with what the Packard Pacific is: a 2-door hardtop with 359 cuin 4-bbl. L-head I8, from Packard. What it meant takes a little longer.
Where it came from
The Packard Pacific is an automobile manufactured by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan for the 1954 model year. It replaced the Mayfair and was sold exclusively as a two-door hardtop. In the early 1950s, Packard used a numeric naming scheme that designated Packard's least expensive models as the Packard 200 and 200 Deluxe, while two-door hardtops and convertibles were designated Packard 250 and its mid-range sedan the Packard 300. For model years 1951 through 1953, the 250 hardtop was named the Mayfair; for model year 1954 only, the hardtop was given the model name Pacific.
The Mayfair, Packard's first hardtop offering, was created for the 1951 model year in order to keep in competition with the Oldsmobile 98 Holiday, Buick Roadmaster Riviera, Lincoln Capri and Chrysler New Yorker Newport hardtop coupes. The Mayfair was named after the exclusive Mayfair district of London. When the hardtop was renamed as the Pacific, Packard associated the model with its senior level, personal luxury car offering, the Caribbean. Both the Mayfair and Pacific shared the same flat-head straight-eight engines (a 327-cubic inch for the Mayfair and a 359-cubic inch for the Pacific) with top-of-the-line, or "senior" Packards, but used the shorter 122-inch (3,100 mm) wheelbase of the "junior" models. The Pacific came standard-equipped with Packard's Ultramatic automatic transmission., while a four-way power seat, power steering, power assist "Easamatic" brakes, heater and windshield defroster, chrome cormorant hood ornament, and power windows were available as extra cost options.
Under the skin
The engine is 359 cuin 4-bbl. L-head I8. On the scales it comes to 4040 lb. Drive goes through a 2-speed Ultramatic automatic / 3-speed manual w/overdrive. 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 122 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Packard line-up the Packard Pacific has a clear place: it replaced the Packard Mayfair; it handed the line to the Packard Four Hundred; the factory was Packard Automotive Plant, Detroit, Michigan, United States. Nearby in the Packard catalogue sit the Packard 160 and the Packard 180.