• After more than 60 years of sitting idle, the Packard automobile plant is destroyed.
• Packard ceased operations as an independent company in the U.S. in 1958.
• The site houses about 10 buildings spread over 3.5 million sq ft.
• It is possible that some of the site will be preserved, hopefully, to honour the brand’s past.
If you've ever driven in the Detroit area in Michigan, you've probably come across this impressive structure, unfortunately abandoned for ages. We're referring to the plant belonging to the Packard auto company, which disappeared from the landscape in the late 1950s.
After years of delays, the demolition of the plant recently began; a big piece of automotive history is thus about to disappear, to the chagrin of history buffs in general and of car lovers in particular.
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Located off Interstate 94 and closy by the General Motors (GM) Zero plant, the buildings that made up the Packard plant have been abandoned for over 60 years. Multiple redevelopment projects for the site have been presented and studied over the years, but never led anywhere. For the city of Detroit, enough was enough; the dilapidated buildings had to go.
Since 2013, The Drive website reports, Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo owned the site, having purchased the 3.5 million sq-ft complex for a mere $405,000. Unfortunately, he was not able to bring the old factory to life as he had hoped. An order earlier this year required him to tear down the structures for safety reasons.
Admittedly, it was easy to understand the city’s decision. The buildings looked almost like they’d been heavily bombed and was only a matter of time before they started to collapse. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said parts of the site would be preserved for redevelopment, but did not provide details. There are about 10 buildings on the site.
It would be great if at least one of them could be preserved, if only to remind the world of Packard’s rich history. The automaker produced some extraordinary cars, many of which are sold today for several hundred thousand dollars on the collector's market. Before the crash of 1929, American luxury was the purview of the three Ps: Peerless, Pierce-Arrow and Packard. It was in that order that the three companies disappeared (1931, 1938 and 1958).
As for the factory, it was founded in 1903 before closing its doors in 1958. Packard merged with Studebaker at that point, but that company then disappeared from the landscape (1964 in the United States and 1966 in Canada).