Sometimes Interesting

Packard was once one of the premier nameplates in the United States, mentioned in the same breath as Duesenberg, Cadillac, Pierce-Arrow, and Lincoln. The crown jewel for Packard was the Packard Factory, a 3.5 million square-foot complex sprawling across 35 acres. Operations were so expansive, at one point the plant boasted 75% of all the world’s automotive production. In the years following World War II, the Packard Motor Car Company struggled to keep pace with the larger automakers that had been buying-up the smaller companies to form “the Big Three.” Those not part of the Big Three had to merge to stay competitive: Kaiser and Willys formed Kaiser-Willys, Nash and Hudson formed American Motors, and Packard joined forces with Studebaker. The experiment was short-lived, however, and Packard plunged into bankruptcy almost immediately after. [picture intensive]

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Unfortunately for Packard, Studebaker was of lower prestige and quality. The effects of the merger quickly manifested themselves on Packard cars: poor build quality, less-innovative design, and horrendous planning. Studebaker’s influence had Packard building the wrong car at the wrong time. The 1950’s were not kind to Packard; they went from being one of the premier car builders – outselling Cadillac up until 1950 – to complete bankruptcy.

(click thumbnails to enlarge)

The entrance to the Packard factory: late ’40s and today

In 1957, the last Packard built by Packard Motor Car Company left the assembly line. For the next two years a handful of Studebaker models continued to wear the Packard badge, until Studebaker itself could no longer carry the brand. By 1959 the Packard nameplate was pulled from models, and by 1962 Studebaker had dropped the Packard name altogether. Studebaker would go on to meet the same fate several years later, having only survived longer due to the lower-price-higher-volume sales business model.

An advertisement for one of the last Packard models offered for sale

The Factory

The crown jewel of the entire Packard story, however, is the factory. Designed by Albert Kahn and opened in 1903, the factory was world-class in its day. The Detroit factory – 3.5 million square feet of space between 47 buildings spanning 35 acres – was the most modern facility of its time. The Packard factory was also the first to use reinforced concrete in industrial construction, and employed over 40,000 workers skilled in 80 trades.

The plant was closed when the last Packard rolled off the assembly line in 1956, leaving the factory vacant. Since there was no company in Detroit that required 3.5 million square-feet of space, the city considered parceling the factory out to multiple tenants but there wasn’t enough interest. Only one tenant other than Packard has ever occupied the factory long-term, and that was Chemical Processing Co., which moved into a small part of the factory in 1958. To put the footprints of the leased space into perspective, Chemical Processing’s operations required 57,000 square feet – less than 1% of the entire factory complex. They stayed until 2007, ultimately becoming a longer tenant of the factory than Packard itself – even though their lease started two years after Packard left. The owner of Chemical Processing admits part of the reason for his move in 2007 was due to vandals and break-ins around the factory. Not realizing a business is still operating there, scavengers often break-in and cut power and phone lines for the scrap copper.

The lobby is a popular target for the increasing number of vandals and squatters

(left: 2001, right: 2010, below: panorama 2010)

Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that the Packard Factory stands as the largest abandoned industrial complex in the world. In a country where property values have increased dramatically over the last century, it really is amazing to see a multi-billion-dollar factory left to rot for over 50 years in a major metropolitan area.

Packard Factory then & now: 1912 and 2007

The Packard factory will most likely stand for awhile longer; it is rumored that it would cost the city of Detroit over $10 million just to raze it, and the city can’t afford it.  The land was offered for sale for an extended period but there were no suitors; the only ownership group that ever expressed interest in the land hasn’t paid any property taxes on it since they bought it in 1987.

Recently the façade from the main entrance sold at auction for $1.5M

A Packard’s grave is also its birthplace

Video Tours:

Satellite image and map: click here

Interesting note on the map (if you click the link): a newer Cadillac factory – sitting just across I-94 from the Packard complex – dwarfs the old factory in size. You’ll notice everything south of I-94 and north of Gratiot Avenue is mostly vacant; this is the run-down area of old industrial Detroit. Despite being central to the overall area, the land here is very undesirable due to crime, decay, and the city’s complete lack of tending to the area. Plots of land sit vacant all over the place; some homes in the area have sold for as little as four digits.

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Below you’ll find more of one of the largest online Packard Factory photo galleries:

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Above: Mean-spirited ‘Packard Crushathon’ in late 70′s decimated the remaining Packard population

Below: Packard in its heyday

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