Editing Ultramatic (section)

==1954: Gear-Start Ultramatic Drive==
Packard's new Ultramatic model introduced in the middle of the 1954 [[model year]] was officially called '''Gear-Start Ultramatic Drive''', offering a new selector sequence on the column shift: 'D', for Drive, placed in between High and Low, with High now represented by a simple dot (PN•DLR). In this new DRIVE range, it would use the low ratio and torque converter to start off, switching to the high ratio and ultimately to direct drive as the car accelerated, effectively automating what many Packard drivers had been doing manually with the older Ultramatic Drive.

During 1954, and into 1955, Packard Motor Car Company, later Studebaker-Packard, went on a modernization spree of its aging facilities. It was decided by Packard President James J. Nance (1952–1956), and his manufacturing Vice-President, Ray Powers (1954–1956), that their East Grand Boulevard complex was no longer able, due to age and deterioration of that facility, to be further modified to handle the expected increase in production for the company in 1955 and beyond. A new facility was therefore planned and built for use by Packard as a transmission and engine facility in Utica, Michigan. This facility was actually built on the N/E corner of Packard Proving Ground Complex on Van Dyke Rd. The facility was sided by both 22 Mile Rd, and Mound. After completion, Packard moved the machinery, and production line for the Ultramatic, as well as its yet to be introduced V-8 engine during the summer and early fall of 1954. This facility therefore produced all 1954 "Gear-Start", 1955 "Twin-Ultramatic", and 1956 Ultramatic derivatives through the fall of 1956 when this facility was deactivated and sold as part of a corporate buyout deal with the Curtiss-Wright Company.