1947 PACKARD CUSTOM SUPER CLIPPER 7 PASSENGER SEDAN ON I-35 ON WAY TO SALADO, TX

This is not my car, but I have known the car and its history since 1969. In August of 1969, a friend of mine in Waco, Texas was doing collections work in East Waco when he spotted this car at a residence with some children playing in it. The car was still in good condition and he inquired about it. It had belonged to a Bishop of the Paul Quinn College in East Waco who had made long term provision for the car's storage after his death sometime in the mid-50's. For whatever reason, in the late 60's the storage was lost and some of his descendants had acquired it. They agreed to sell it to my friend and he brought it home with less than 60K miles on it and otherwise in nice original condition throughout. In September of 1969, we drove the car on the first Bugtussel Tour which started in the little wide place in the road called Bugtussel and wound up in Paris, Texas for the weekend. It was brought back to my friend's home in West and he drove it some over the next year. In the meantime, another friend married in December of 1968 and his son Trey was born in early September of 1969. In the summer of 1970, we drove down to Baytown to visit our friend's in-laws with Trey's playpen set up between the front and rear seats and over the jump seats. When we got to Baytown, our friend's father-in-law fell in love with the car and ultimately bought it from my friend in about 1971. However, he did nothing with it and it wound up in storage in his son-in-law's barn in Dime Box, TX until 1984. My friends brought the car back to the Waco area in 1984 to prepare it for driving to the National Packard Meet in Houston that summer, but he procrastinated and the car did not get to go to the meet. It was repainted sometime in the late 80's, but otherwise languished in another long-term storage until 2001. In 2001, my friend's father-in-law sold it to his oldest son in Plano for $19.47, not running. He had the car flat-bedded to Plano, but did nothing with it, tried to sell it a couple of times without success--I even considered buying it at one time. However, in December of 2008, he gave it to his now 39 year old nephew and we brought it back to Waco again on a flatbed wrecker. It was easily gotten running again, but the overdrive did not work--the car then only had 62,000 miles on it. Over the past couple of years, the carb has been worked on and three weeks ago a new overdrive solenoid was installed so we could take it to the Packard meet in Salado on April 1. This 100 mile round trip was its longest single drive in nearly 30 years and it ran perfectly!

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Salado
• 1947
• Packard
• Custom
• Super
• Clipper

[ByouDanseiKamiEnSai]

If i get the same type of clipper, and it has no overdrive feature, is it possible to install one? Even if it wasnt a packard product?

[NDrLoR]

@ByouDanseiKamiEnSai That's something I don't have the expertise to answer. It's very unlikely you'll find one without overdrive, 'tho, because they seem to have been almost universally equipped with them even 'tho they were an extra cost option.

[75capriceconvertible]

That dashboard is a work of art. And following the Super Clipper must have been fun, almost like being inside an old movie! The front-end and grille are really unusual, very jet-like; way ahead of its time

[NDrLoR]

@75capriceconvertible That's the way it was when the designers had free-reign without any interference from government safety regulations. I'm sure today's cars are much safer, but they lack the emotional appeals of those models! That was the last really attractive re-design of the 1940's--the ones that came out in '48 are called the bathtub models and very appropriately so! Thanks!

[75capriceconvertible]

@NDrLoR you hit the nail on the head Eddie: Emotional Appeal... I own the vehicles I own, and many other belongings, because they invoke emotions within me, I totally get that! And yes bathtub model is very appropriate, that's a very cool moniker

[NDrLoR]

@75capriceconvertible Thanks! And what's ironic, is that not only Packard, but both Nash and Hudson came out with models in the exact same three years '48-'50 ('51 in Nash's case) that all resemble bathtubs. Of course, that was considered streamlining, but they still look fat.

[NDrLoR]

@gadgetguy2k Oh yes, with the overdrive engaged it can cruise at 70 MPH without working hard, the engine turning about 1,900 RPM.

[gadgetguy2k]

At speed on Interstate 35? Impressive