More Great Cars

Like any automobile buff, Brock Yates is entitled to his opinions concerning the ten greatest American automobiles (February/March issue). That he selected the Cord and Packard pleases me, since 1 once owned a 1933 Packard Super Eight Club Sedan and still own a 1936 Cord 810 Beverly.

However, Mr. Yates errs in at least two cases. The Packard Motor Car Company survived the Great Depression because the company started producing lowerpriced cars in 1935, in addition to their slow-selling luxury line of cars. Had the company not made the decision to pro- duce less expensive cars, it would have met the same fate as Fierce-Arrow, Stutz, Franklin, and the other legendary classic automobile manufacturers.

But ironically the decision to manufacture lower-priced cars eventually contributed to Packard’s demise. When just about anyone who wished to own a Packard could do so, the marque lost much of its mystique as America’s près- tige luxury automobile.

Re the Cord: Mr. Yates says the supercharger added two thousand dollars to the price of the car. Actually, the supercharger was offered as an option in late 1936 at an approximate additional cost of four hundred dollars.