- Packard 180
The Packard 180 was introduced in 1940 by the
Packard Motor Car Company to replace the discontinuedV-12 as their top-of-the-line luxury model.The "180" or "One-Eighty" featured an in-line eight cylinder, convert|356|CID|cc|sing=on engine that developed 160
horsepower . It was advertised as the most powerful eight cylinder engine offered by any automobile manufacturer in 1940. (By contrast, theCadillac 346 cubic inch V-8 developed 150 hp) Packard also used this new engine in their mid-range "160" models.Packards of all series (110, 120, 160, 180) shared similar body styling in 1940 (which some later said led to a "cheapening" of the once-exclusive luxury marque.) However, the 180's featured finer interior detailing, fabrics and carpeting. There were minor styling changes in the 1941 and 1942 models.
The final 180's rolled off the Packard assembly line in February, 1942, as World War II brought a halt to civilian automobile production. The machinery was transferred to the
Soviet Union , and production continued until 1959 as theZIS-110 .
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