Editing Packard (section)

===1942–1945===
In 1942, the Packard Motor Car Company converted to 100% war production.<ref name="Moranz">{{cite book |last=Moranz |first=John |year=1945 |title=Leaders of Wartime Michigan |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |publisher=Douglas Offset |page=52}}</ref> During [[World War II]], Packard again built airplane engines, licensing the [[Rolls-Royce Merlin|Merlin]] engine from [[Rolls-Royce Limited|Rolls-Royce]] as the [[Packard V-1650|V-1650]], which powered the [[North American P-51 Mustang|P-51 Mustang]] fighter, ironically known as the "Cadillac of the Skies" by GIs in WWII.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Herman |first1=Arthur |title=Freedom's forge: how American business produced victory in World War II |date=2012 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8129-8204-6 |pages=103–5, 110, 203}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Parker |first1=Dana T. |title=Building victory: aircraft manufacturing in the Los Angeles area in World War II |date=2013 |publisher=D.T. Parker |location=Cypress, CA |isbn=978-0-9897906-0-4 |pages=77, 90–92}}</ref> Packard also built 1350-, 1400-, and 1500-hp V-12 marine engines for American [[PT boat#Engines|PT boat]]s (each boat used three) and some of [[Fairmile D motor torpedo boat|Britain's patrol boats]]. Packard ranked 18th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peck |first1=Merton J. |first2=Frederic M. |last2=Scherer |title=The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis |year=1962 |publisher=Harvard Business School |page=619}}</ref>

By the end of the war in Europe, Packard Motor Car Company had produced over 55,000 combat engines. Sales in 1944 were $455,118,600. By May 6, 1945, Packard had a backlog on war orders of $568&nbsp;million.<ref name="Moranz"/>