Editing Packard (section)

====Astral====
One unusual prototype, the Studebaker-Packard Astral, was made in 1957 and first unveiled at the South Bend Art Centre on January 12, 1958, and then at the March 1958 Geneva Motor Show.<ref>''Automobile Quarterly''. Volume 31, no. 1, 1992, pages 14–29.</ref> It had a single gyroscopic balanced wheel and the publicity data suggested it could be [[nuclear propulsion#Cars|nuclear powered]] or have what the designers described as an ionic engine. No working prototype was ever made, nor was it likely that one was ever intended.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.petersen.org/default.cfm?DocID=1008&index=5 |title=1957 Studebaker-Packard, Astral, Form of Power: Atomic |publisher=Petersen Automotive Museum |year=2010 |access-date=June 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624003559/http://www.petersen.org/default.cfm?DocID=1008&index=5 |archive-date=June 24, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Cruising the Misfits of Motordom |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/04/cruising-the-misfits-of-motordom/ |magazine=Wired |date=April 9, 2009 |access-date=June 11, 2022}}</ref>

The Astral was designed by Edward E. Herrmann, Studebaker-Packard's director of interior design,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.obitsforlife.com/obituary/472630/Herrmann-Edward.php |title=Edward Herrmann Obituary |website=obitsforlife.com |location=Fort CollinsS, Colorado |access-date=2016-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701073115/http://www.obitsforlife.com/obituary/472630/Herrmann-Edward.php |archive-date=2016-07-01}}</ref> as a project to give his team experience in working with glass-reinforced plastic. It was shown at Studebaker dealerships before being put into storage. Rediscovered 30 years later, the car was restored and put on display by the Studebaker museum.