Description
The Packard One-Twenty (also known as the One Twenty and 120) is an automobile produced by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, from 1935 to 1937 and from 1939 through the 1941 model years. The One-Twenty model designation was replaced by the Packard 200.
The One-Twenty signified the first time that Packard had entered into the highly competitive mid-priced eight-cylinder car market. Packard enthusiasts view the production of the One-Twenty and the Six/ One-Ten models as the start of Packard's losing its hold on the market as the premier American luxury automotive brand. It was a marketing strategy shared with GM's LaSalle, the Chrysler Airstream, and the Lincoln-Zephyr. It was introduced after Rolls-Royce brought to market the Rolls-Royce 20, which was manufactured between 1922 and 1929, and replaced by the Rolls-Royce 20/ 25 which was built between 1929-1936.
The introduction of the One-Twenty (and later the Six/ One-Ten models) was a necessary move to keep Packard in business during the final years of the Great Depression, expanding on an earlier approach with the Packard Light Eight. Branding the One-Twenty a Packard afforded buyers the cachet of owning a Packard, a name long regarded as one of America's most prestigious cars. Other reasons the company decided to forgo the development of a companion brand name to sell the less expensive models may have been linked to its single production line capability at its Grand Boulevard manufacturing plant or to the expense of launching a new brand of automobile. It also ushered in a novel advertising approach, commissioning an advertising "jingle" called "When Heaven Was at the Corner of Sycamore and Main".
Second generation (1939–1941)
Returning to the Packard model range, the One-Twenty continued to be offered in a full range of body styles from coupe to Touring Limousine, with prices for the model range between $1, 099 and $1, 856. New for the year was introduction of column shifting (known in Packard parlance as Handishift), which did away with the floor shifter. Introduced in September 1938, a total of 17, 647 units were built.
In 1939, the company introduced a fifth, transverse shock absorber on the 120. It also offered Packard's Unimesh four-speed synchromesh transmission, the same as in the Twelve (and already standard on the Eight), as well as the new fourth-gear Econo-Drive overdrive, claimed to reduce engine speed 27. 8%, and able to be engaged at any speed over 30 mph (48 km/ h)
