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Ohio inventions and firsts · Company innovation · 1899

Packard automobiles begin in Warren

Brothers James Ward and William Doud Packard, with George L. Weiss, built the first Packards in Warren in 1899; about 400 cars were made there before the company moved to Detroit in 1903.

At a glance

Year
1899
By
James Ward Packard, William Doud Packard
Company
Packard Motor Car Company
Place
Warren, Trumbull County ZIP 44481 · Warren · Trumbull County

The story

In the 1890s Alexander Winton of Cleveland made cars, and James Ward Packard, who owned one, thought it could be better. When Packard complained, Winton told him to go build his own. Packard and his brother William did just that in Warren, Ohio, in 1899.

The first Packard was built on November 6, 1899. About 400 vehicles were made in Warren before the business moved to Detroit in 1903. In 1902 Henry Bourne Joy, impressed by a Packard's reliability, helped refinance the firm as the Packard Motor Car Company, and became general manager and later chairman.

In Detroit the company built a huge 3.5 million square-foot plant designed by Albert Kahn Associates. Packard became one of the Three Ps of luxury American cars, with Pierce-Arrow and Peerless, and its slogan was Ask the Man Who Owns One.

The last fully Packard-designed car was built June 25, 1956, and the final Packard production ended July 16, 1958. The original 1899 car is at Lehigh University, and the Packard Museum in Warren honors the Ohio origins.

Timeline

  • 1899-11-06: The first Packard is built. (Warren, OH) source
  • 1902-10-02: Henry Joy helps refinance the company as the Packard Motor Car Company. (Detroit, MI) source
  • 1903: Production moves from Warren to Detroit after about 400 vehicles. (Warren, OH / Detroit, MI) source
  • 1956-06-25: The last fully Packard-designed vehicle is built. (Detroit, MI) source
  • 1958-07-16: Final Packard production. (Detroit, MI) source

What it changed

  • About 400 cars built in Warren.
  • Packard stayed in production for 59 years after the first car.

Why it matters

Luxury-car maker (one of the 'Three Ps').

Places in Ohio to see

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.