Editing Packard (section)

===1899–1905===
Packard was founded by [[James Ward Packard]], his brother [[William Doud Packard|William]], and their partner, George Lewis Weiss, in [[Warren, Ohio]], where 400 Packard automobiles were built at their factory on 408 Dana Street Northeast, from 1899 until 1903. A mechanical engineer, James Packard believed they could build a better horseless carriage than the [[Winton Motor Carriage Company|Winton]] cars owned by Weiss, an important Winton stockholder, after Packard complained to [[Alexander Winton]] and offered suggestions for improvement, which were ignored. Winton replied to the suggestions by essentially telling Packard to "go build your own car".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.classicspeedsters.com/blog/2020/5/3/the-packard-speedster-experience |title=The Packard Speedster Experience |date=May 8, 2020 |website=classicspeedsters.com |access-date=May 1, 2022 |archive-date=March 28, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328231109/https://www.classicspeedsters.com/blog/2020/5/3/the-packard-speedster-experience}}</ref> Packard's first car was built in [[Warren, Ohio]], on November 6, 1899.<ref name="American Auto Millennium Edition page 19">{{cite book |last=Flammang |first=James M. |title=100 Years of the American Auto: Millennium Edition |year=1999 |publisher=Publications International |isbn=978-0-7853-3484-2 |page=19}}</ref>

[[Henry Bourne Joy]], a member of one of [[Detroit, Michigan|Detroit]]'s oldest and wealthiest families, bought a Packard. Impressed by its reliability, he visited the Packards and soon enlisted a group of investors, including [[Truman Handy Newberry]] and [[Russell A. Alger]] Jr. On October 2, 1902, this group refinanced and renamed the New York and Ohio Automobile Company as the Packard Motor Car Company, with James Packard as president. Alger later served as vice president.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gphistorical.org/autobarons/alger/index.htm |title=The Alger Family |publisher=Grosse Pointe Historical Society |access-date=September 15, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-date=September 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929042641/http://www.gphistorical.org/autobarons/alger/index.htm}}</ref> Packard moved operations to Detroit soon after, and Joy became general manager (later chairman of the board). An original Packard, reputedly the first manufactured, was donated by a grateful James Packard to his ''alma mater'', [[Lehigh University]], and is preserved there in the Packard Laboratory.<ref>{{cite web |title=Packard's 100th Anniversary |work=Rossin College of Engineering & Applied Science, Packard Laboratory, Lehigh University |url=http://www3.lehigh.edu/engineering/meche/news/events1.asp |access-date=May 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207104457/http://www3.lehigh.edu/engineering/meche/news/events1.asp |date=January 12, 2009 |archive-date=February 7, 2010}}</ref> Another is on display at the Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio.<ref>{{cite web |title=1903 Packard 2 Passenger Runabout |publisher=Remarkable Cars Picture Gallery |url=http://www.remarkablecars.com/ppads/showproduct.php/product/1809 |access-date=September 15, 2013 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924085915/http://www.remarkablecars.com/ppads/showproduct.php/product/1809}}</ref>

While the [[Black Motor Company]]'s Black went as low as $375,<ref>Clymer, p. 61.</ref> [[Western Tool Works (automobile company)|Western Tool Works]]' Gale Model A roadster was $500,<ref>Clymer, p. 51.</ref> the high-volume [[Oldsmobile]] [[Oldsmobile Curved Dash|Runabout]] went for $650,<ref>Clymer, p. 32.</ref> and the [[Cole Motor Car Company|Cole 30]] and [[Cole Motor Car Company|Cole Runabout]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Clymer |first=Floyd |title=Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925 |url=https://archive.org/details/treasuryofearlya00clym |url-access=registration |year=1971 |publisher=Bonanza Books |page=[https://archive.org/details/treasuryofearlya00clym/page/104 104]}}</ref> were $1,500,<ref>Clymer, p. 63.</ref> Packard concentrated on cars with prices starting at $2,600. The marque developed a following among wealthy purchasers in the United States and abroad, competing with European marques like [[Rolls-Royce Limited|Rolls-Royce]], [[Renault#Interwar years (1919–1938)|Renault]], [[Isotta Fraschini]], and [[Mercedes-Benz]].

The {{cvt|3500000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} [[Packard plant]] on East [[Grand Boulevard (Detroit)|Grand Boulevard]] in Detroit was located on over {{cvt|40|acre|0}} of land. Designed by [[Albert Kahn Associates]], it included an early use of reinforced concrete for an automotive factory when building #10 opened in 1906.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Michael G. |title=The First Concrete Auto Factory: An Error in the Historical Record |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |date=December 2019 |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=444–445 |doi=10.1525/jsah.2019.78.4.442 |s2cid=213601851}}</ref> Its craftsmen practised over 80 trades. The dilapidated plant stood until demolition commenced in September 2022,<ref>{{cite news |title=Once teeming with auto plants, Detroit now home to only a few nameplates |last=Wright |first=Richard A. |newspaper=Detroit News |date=January 16, 2000 |url=http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=16 |access-date=2012-01-31 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710060448/http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=16 |archive-date=2012-07-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/detroitderek/sets/72157604058904117/ |title=Abandoned Packard Plant |author=DetroitDerek Photography |date=May 19, 2010 |via=Flickr |access-date=September 15, 2013 |archive-date=February 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220044011/http://www.flickr.com/photos/detroitderek/sets/72157604058904117/ |url-status=live}}</ref> despite repeated fires.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wwmt.com/news/detroit-1364125-packard-plant.html |title=More fires break out at Packard Plant in Detroit |website=wwmt.com |date=June 29, 2009 |access-date=September 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302075237/http://www.wwmt.com/news/detroit-1364125-packard-plant.html |archive-date=March 2, 2012}}</ref> The factory is in close proximity to the current General Motors [[Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly]], which was the former site of the Dodge Vehicle factory from 1910 until 1980. Architect Kahn also designed the [[Packard Proving Grounds]] in [[Shelby Township, Michigan]].