Packard Patrician History

Launched for 1951 as the top of Packard's restyled range, the Patrician was the marque's flagship four-door sedan and the last 'senior-level' Packard. Early cars used Packard's storied straight-eight — 327 then 359 cubic inches — before the company introduced its first V8, a 374-cubic-inch unit, for 1955–1956.

The Patrician carried Packard's luxury claim through its final independent years and into the Studebaker-Packard merger. Fittingly, the last true Detroit-built Packard was a black Patrician sedan that rolled off the line on June 25, 1956; afterward only Studebaker-based 'Packardbaker' models were built in South Bend through 1958.