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The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899 and the brand went off the market in 1958. Packard automobiles are highly sought after by collectors today, and the marque enjoys an active collectors club system. Packards were advertised with the slogan "Ask the Man Who Owns One". 1899-1929Packard was founded by brothers James Ward Packard (Lehigh University Class of 1884) and William Dowd Packard in the city of Warren, Ohio . The Packards believed that they could build a better automobile and James, a mechanical engineer, had some ideas how to improve on the designs of current automobiles. By 1899, the brothers were building vehicles in their native Warren, Ohio. The company, which they called the Ohio Automobile Company, quickly introduced a number of innovations in its designs, including the modern steering wheel and the first production 12-cylinder engine. While Henry Ford was producing cars that sold for $440, the Packards concentrated on more upscale cars that started at $2,600. Packard automobiles developed a following not only in the United States, but also abroad, with many heads of state owning them. In need of more capital, the Packard brothers would find it when 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 investors that included his brother-in-law, Truman Handy Newberry. On October 2, 1902, Ohio Automobile Company became Packard Motor Car Company, with James as president. Packard moved its automobile operation to Detroit soon after and Joy became general manager and later chairman of the board. One of, if not the, original Packards is still located at the Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio on Mahoning Avenue. The Packard's factory on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit was designed by Albert Kahn, and included the first use of reinforced concrete for industrial construction in Detroit. When opened, it was considered the most modern automobile manufacturing facility in the world and its skilled craftsmen practiced over eighty trades. The 3.5 million ft2 (325,000 m²) plant covered over 35 acres (142,000 m²) and straddled East Grand Boulevard. It was later subdivided by eighty-seven different companies. Kahn also designed The Packard Proving Grounds at Utica, Michigan. Throughout the nineteen-teens and twenties, Packard built vehicles consistently were among the elite in luxury automobiles. The company was commonly referred to as being one of the three "P's" of American motordom royalty, along with Pierce-Arrow of Buffalo, New York and Peerless of Cleveland, Ohio. Packard's cachet was so strong that its production was quickly placed ahead of General Motors Cadillac automobiles.
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