Saturday AACA car show . . .
Read MoreBeginning in 1937, revered luxury car builder, Packard, did the unthinkable and introduced a line of entry level cars. The idea was simply to increase sales volume, something the company needed in the post-Depression era. The entry level series was designated the "Six," because it featured an inline 6-cylinder engine, (the rest of Packard's products were powered by either an inline 8-cylinder or V12). In 1940 the Six line became the "110," which was written as "One-Ten."
From what I read, there are varying opinions on whether or not entry-level model production was the beginning of the end for Packard. Increased sales volume was necessary for the bottom line, especially in the wake of the Great Depression. But some believe Packard hurt its reputation as a superior luxury car maker by offering an entry level product.
The Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company was founded in 1926 by George Bacon. While working as the chief engineer for the Detroit Electric Vehicle Company, Bacon developed a milk delivery van in 1922. His design incorporated features unique to multi-stop delivery vans such as being able to drive the van from four different positions, (front, rear, and either running board).
The first generation of the Ford F-Series pickup debuted for the 1948 model year and marked the debut of a platform specifically designed and engineered for truck use. Before that, the Ford pickup chassis was based on that of the contemporary Ford car. Truck models were designated F1 through F8 with each representing a different weight class. The F1 designation represents the light duty "half-ton" model.
Designer Tony Southgate joined Dan Gurney's All American Racing (AAR) team in late 1967, and designed the "Santa Anna" Eagle Gurney would pilot to 2nd place in the 1969 Indianapolis 500. For 1970 season, the Santa Anna chassis was redesigned by Len Terry. AAR developed and built six of the redesigned Eagle chassis for the 1970 Indy Car season. Two of them were for Gurney's own AAR team (chassis 801 and 805), and the other four were for other teams.