1900 Packard Model B

Packard produced 49 examples of the Model B by the end of 1900, and it was the first production model produced by the newly formed company. The Warren Daily Chronicle reported on April 13, 1900: 'The New York & Ohio Co. this morning shipped its first automobiles to a Cleveland gentleman. The company will ship six more machines this month and has the same number of machines under construction at its manufactory. The autos are as fine as any made and tests have proved them superior in many points to the other machines.'

James Ward Packard was a successful industrialist whose Packard Electric Company was a manufacturer of cable and electrical devices. He purchased one of the first motorcars built by Alexander Winton. Dissatisfied with his product, he offered suggestions for its improvement. Mr. Winton responded, 'Why don't you make a car yourself?' Mr. Packard did just that, and it would become a pinnacle of the luxury car market for the next sixty years.

Introduced in the Spring of 1900, the Packard Model B was powered by a single-cylinder, 142.6 cubic-inch engine with a 5.5-inch bore and a 6-inch stroke, delivering nine horsepower. It was matted to a planetary transmission with two forward speeds and a center chain drive, and used various gearing as required for different localities. The 76-inch wheelbase chassis used wire spoke wheels wrapped with 34x3 single tube tires and wore a four-passenger carriage body with a dos-a-dos rear seat (a latter a $50 option) built by the Morgan & Williams Carriage Manufacturing Company of Warren, Ohio. There was a single solar light mounted centrally at the front, and steering was by spade handle lever.

At the New York Automobile Show in November 1900, Packard displayed a Model B. The Model B remained in the company's catalog through 1901.

By 1903, the Packard automobiles had grown in reliability and sophistication that a 1902 Model F powered by Packard's single-cylinder 12 HP engine with automatic ignition advance and 3-speed sliding gear transmission made the transcontinental trip from San Francisco to New York in 53 days.

Henry Joy organized a Packard expansion in 1902, moving the company from its original home in Warren, Ohio, to Detroit where it was recapitalized as the Packard Motor Car Company. Around the same time, Packard moved away from buggy-style runabouts and tourers, embracing front-engined, rear-wheel drive configuration with the Model K and its successor, the Model L.

by Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2024