The first Packard automobiles were produced in , and the last in , with one of the last concept cars built in , the Packard Predictor.
A mechanical engineer, James Packard believed they could build a better horseless carriage than the Winton cars owned by Weiss, an important Winton stockholder, after Packard complained to Alexander Winton and offered suggestions for improvement, which were ignored; Packard's first car was built in Warren, Ohio, on November 6, Henry Bourne Joy, a member of one of Detroit's oldest and wealthiest families, bought a Packard. Impressed by its reliability, he visited the Packards and soon enlisted a group of investorsβincluding Truman Handy Newberry and Russell A.
Alger Jr. Alger later served as vice president. Packard moved operations to Detroit soon after, and Joy became general manager and 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.
Another is on display at the Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio. These quickly gained an excellent reputation and the name was changed on October 13, , to the Packard Motor Car Company. In the beginning, all Packards had a single-cylinder engine until Packard vehicles featured innovations, including the modern steering wheel and, years later, the first production cylinder engine, adapted from developing the Liberty L, and air-conditioning in a passenger car.
Packard produced its "Twin Six" model series of cylinder cars from to The marque developed a following among wealthy purchasers both in the United States and abroad, competing with European marques like Rolls-Royce and Mercedes Benz. The 3,,square-foot , m2 Packard plant on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit was located on over 40 acres 16 ha of land.
