Packard

Performance luxury sedans are the perfect middle ground for those seeking comfort, practicality and performance in a single package. And while we have gotten plenty of great examples like the BMW M5, Mercedes AMG GT63, Porsche Panamera, and others, there are those that came to us as concepts, but never delivered in the real world. Here are the most prominent culprits.

One of the most iconic luxury car brands that no longer exist, Packard was established in 1899 and disappeared in 1959, five years after it purchased the failing Studebaker Corporation. Packard rolled out its final Detroit-built cars in 1956, and the Caribbean was one of them. A 1955-model-year version was recently featured by Jay Leno’s Garage, and it’s a great reminder of how cool the Caribbean is. Not to mention how it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves nowadays.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world, automakers are shutting down car production and preparing for the oncoming recession. Governments are working on bills to help them but there are fears that some companies will go out of business. Mainly because it has happened before. The car industry was affected by several recessions over the last 100 years and each of them left a mark by sending important automakers into bankruptcy. Here’s a list of legendary companies that we lost.

So, the brief but exciting 2013 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is in the books and we can officially announce the winner of its most coveted award: "Best of Show." This award is just what it sounds like; out of all of the possible classes in the entire Concours, this model was the most amazing of them all. Sure, winning any of the various class awards is great, but a "Best of Show" award is one that an owner can brag about for an entire lifetime.

This year’s winner is a 1934 Packard 1108 Twelve Dietrich ConvertibleVictoria, and we swear that it did not win on name length alone — though that may have been a part of the judging process... This monster of a drop top, which is better known as simply the Packard Twelve, comes courtesy of Joseph and Margie Cassini III from West Orange, New Jersey.

This classic Packard took home the prize, despite plenty of top-line competition from the other nominees, which included a 1932 Lincoln KB Murphy Roadster; a 1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Vanvooren Coupé; and a 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Van den Plas Belgium Torpedo

Read more about the 1934 Packard 1108 Twelve Dietrich Convertible Victoria after the jump