Packard Historical Facts

Both well known and little known.

Thumbnail stories of Packard’s historical legacy.

By Robert J. Neal  

Number 1 of a series: 

The Packard “Victory Six” 

The first Packard was built in 1899 and was powered by a horizontal single-cylinder engine with 142.6 cubic inches of displacement. It developed 9 HP at 800 RPM and was capable of propelling the little car at “break-neck” speeds of perhaps 15 MPH. 

Only a single example of this first car was built but it was followed in 1900 through 1903 with 317 additional single cylinder cars with output reaching 12 HP by that date. By 1903 the design of both automobiles and their engines was improving quite rapidly. Packard went from single to four-cylinder engines with the introduction of the Model K. in 1903. The four-cylinder in various designs and sizes was continued in auto use through 1912 at which time a new 105 HP six was introduced for use in the 1-48 Model. (The Packard truck continued to use four-cylinder engines until the end of their production in 1923.) The new six was introduced in a T-head design but had been changed to an improved L-head by 1913. Packard advertised this big 525 cubic inch six as the “Boss of the Road.” They backed up the claim by putting a 1914 5-48  on the Indianapolis Speedway  on June 20, 1914 for a high speed endurance run of one hour during which it obtained an average speed of 70.447 MPH. 

May 1, 1915 brought the introduction of its replacement, the First Series Twin Six, a new V-12 of 424 cubic inch displacement rated at 85 HP @ 2,600 RPM. Smaller than the old six by some 100 cubic inches, it was never-the-less destined to gain a reputation as one of the most powerful and smoothest engines built. Packard put a standard seven-passenger touring on the Chicago Board Speedway at Maywood, Illinois on July 10, 1915 and made a 10-mile high speed run at an average speed of 72.7 MPH. 

The Twin Six was upgraded and introduced as the Second Series in August of 1916. Principal engine improvements were the introduction of removable heads and an improved water-cooling design. Engine rating remained unchanged. The Third Series was introduced in August of 1917. Other than to raise its ratings to 90 HP, the engine changed very little. The transmission, however, was completely redesigned and the shift lever moved from left of the driver to the right, now being mounted directly on the top of the transmission case. 

This brings us to the subject at hand, the Packard “Victory Six.” Packard became involved in the First World War effort early in the conflict, supplying autos for staff purposes and trucks for transport. The US entered the war in April of 1917 and Packard’s Jesse G. Vincent, Vice President of Engineering, was the co-designer of the government’s new  “U.S.A. Standardized Aircraft Engine,” soon to be known as the Liberty. One of the very basic requirements of the design was the ability to adopt its essential parts to the production of several sizes of engines, the controlling factor being the number of cylinders used in the particular engine size. This required the use of individual cylinders, each being of the same design. The original concept was to design engines of four, six, eight and twelve cylinders all based on the same basic set of parts, so far as was possible. This concept was carried through and all these sizes were built and tested. However, only the twelve was produced in quantity. 

Somewhere in this process, the exact date is unknown, Packard engineers seriously considered the possibility of producing an automobile engine based on this same cylinder design. Unfortunately we have as yet found no statistics on the engine. But several good detailed factory photographs have surfaced and they let us do a great deal of educated speculation. 

We can date the engine as concurrent with the early Third Series Twin Six because it used its transmission, carburetor and most other engine accessories. That places its construction as between August 1917 and August 1919. Thus it would appear the engine was most likely built during the war (which ended on November 11, 1918). 

If it used standard Liberty cylinders with their bore and stroke of 5 x 7 then its displacement was 624 cubic inches. A standard six cylinder Liberty engine of this displacement produced 221 HP @ 1,700 RPM and 240 HP @ 1,850 RPM. Maximum torque was 729 lbs. ft. @ 1,510 RPM. Photos of this new auto engine were captioned as the “Victory Six.” Since the engine was fitted with a modified Twin Six carburetor which without doubt reduced its output over the standard aircraft version’s pair of carburetors, we must assume these figures were reduced by 5 to 10%. If one compares this with the 90 HP @ 2,600 RPM and about 300 lbs. ft. of torque at about 1,300 RPM of the Twin Six we realize this engine had more than double the horsepower and torque of the engine it would replace. Engine weight would probably not increase. 

The performance of a then current Packard fitted with this engine would certainly have been spectacular by standards of the day and, for that matter, even by today’s standards. But unfortunately we can only dream of what such a car would have been. No records of its testing, either in or out of a car, survive and neither did the engine. Illustrations below show the engine as compared to the Third Series Twin Six it would have replaced along with a Third Series Twin Six Packard car it might have powered. Enjoy the dream!

 The 1918 Packard “Victory Six” engine. This experimental engine was built during or shortly after World War I. Although never introduced as a standard engine, it would have served as a replacement for the then current Third Series Twin Six but produced more than double the power of that engine.

Third Series Twin Six engine. Note the use of the same transmission as the “Victory Six” engine above.

Right side view of the 1918 “Victory Six” showing the use of the same design starter, generator, water pump and fuel tank pressure pump as the Third Series Twin Six engine. Ignition appears to have been by magneto driven from the rear of the water pump shaft.

Right side view of the Third Series Twin Six engine showing accessories of the same design as used on the “Victory Six” engine.

Left side view of the “Victory Six’ engine. Compare with the similar view of the Third Series Twin Six engine above.

This Third Series Twin Six phaeton by Fleetwood would have been an ideal car for the “Victory Six” engine. Just think of how it might have performed with the 200 HP and 700 lbs. ft. torque the “Victory Six” would have provided. Photo courtesy of NAHC.