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1955 Packard Clipper 
Class: Cars, Sedan — Model origin: 
![[*]](/res/star.png){kind=small}
Minor action vehicle or used in only a short scene
Comments about this vehicle| Author | Message |
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◊ 2006-11-19 10:04 |
I think you will find this is a 1955 Packard http://www.americandreamcars.com/1955packardclipper0903.jpg |
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◊ 2006-11-19 10:45 |
I agree, it's a 1955 Packard. I would say a Clipper Sedan, but I cant' say if it's a DeLuxe or a Super. Series 5540. I've read somewhere that this was the early side trim. |
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◊ 2006-11-19 13:27 |
Packard Custom Clipper Touring Sedan of 1955.( 55th series ,model 5560).The side trim of the Custom Clipper here differed from that of the Clipper Constellations Hardtop Coupes.This was the most expensive of the Clippers , powered by a 245 hp engine.It has the rear fender skirts , standard on the Custom. |
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◊ 2006-11-19 14:46 |
No Pilou, Archie was right, this is a 1955 Clipper Super 4-door sedan Body 5542 (it's a Super and not a DeLuxe beacause the bright rocker molding and the full wheel covers) This year, Clipper is a separate make from Packard. Nowhere on this car is mentionned the word PACKARD, only CLIPPPER |
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◊ 2006-11-19 19:31 |
I cannot agree entirely with you here : this is a 1955 and not a 1956 car, as shown by the grille: now ,in 1955 these cars were still considered as Packard Clippers and not as Clippers even if the word Packard was not mentionned. .Only in 1956 was the Clipper a marque on its own and no longer specifically advertised as a small Packard. 1956 was in fact the first, only, and last year that Packards and Clippers were considered individual makes and marketed as such .After 1956 they again became Packard Clippers.I can however agree that the absence of bright rocker molding would indicate a Super Touring Sedan 5542 rather than a Custom 5560.The rear fender skirts were standard on the Custom , but optional on the DeLuxe and Super cars, so in this case they would have been optional.To summarize :Packard Clipper Super Touring Sedan model 5542, 1955 |
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◊ 2008-07-22 19:25 |
Dans une galerie d'art du Palais Royal à Paris, un peintre expose et parmis ses toiles, copie "parfaite" de cette photo |
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◊ 2010-06-16 17:46 |
A belated comment here re: Packard vs Clipper. There is controversy over whether or not the 1956 Clippers should be considered a separate make. At the begining of the model year, Packard appeared to intend to list the Clipper separately and removed the Packard name and reference in the advertising. However, during the course of the year, they changed their mind and began referring to them again as "Packard Clipper". "Packard" nameplates were shipped to Packard/Clipper dealers for installation on all new and unsold 1956 Clippers and were available to the public at no charge for addition to their '56 Clippers. I my mind, since this decision occurred during the course of the same model year, I regard Packard as retroactively regarding all 1956's as "Packard Clippers" and feel they should be listed as such. |
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◊ 2010-09-09 20:07 |
Comments need correcting concerning the Deluxe, Super and Custom Clipper lines. Only the Deluxe did not have the rocker trim which both the Super and Custom carried. The Super and Custom trim lines were identical to each other on the sedans from the outside save for trunk lid nameplates. In the photo'ed car, I cannot quite tell if there is rocker trim or not. -- Last edit: 2010-09-09 20:07:54 |
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◊ 2011-03-20 14:14 |
More belated comments on this one: For me, Clipper was a make in 1956. It was listed as such in 1956, a fact that was mirrored not only in ads and promotions but also in the corporate structure (“Packard Division, Studebaker-Packard Corporation” in 1955; “Packard-Clipper Division, Studebaker-Packard Corporation” in 1956). There were (at least theoretically) Clipper dealer franchises - and it was the main target for president Nance since he took over the “helm” in 1952 to re-establish Packard in the luxury car field. In August, 1955, he even wrote in to the Sales Department: “The only excuse for us having the Clipper is to get volume to support the factory and our dealer organization“. Further, a Packard “clone” of the Clipper Custom appeared March 5th, 1956, replacing the Custom henceforth. Technically, every inch of the Executive was Clipper as was inside trim but it wore a “senior” front clip, senior dash board mesh (with Clipper instruments) and Packard ID aplenty, in- and outside. Rear was a mixture of Clipper and Packard, and side trim was unique with elements of both. So, why should Packard replace the Clipper Custom mid-year by a “packardized” Clipper when the intention anyway was to sell the Clipper as a Packard? And why replaced Packard the Custom only, not Supers and Deluxes? This decision only makes sense when it was planned to close a price gap between Clipper and Packard (Executives cost about $500 more than Customs). The story of the “Packard” script added on 1956 Clippers is well documented. It goes like this: When the 1956 Clippers appeared they wore no outside sign of Packard – with the exception of the Clipper Deluxe which had a “Packard Clipper” script on it’s standard wheel covers. But that was only because they had to reuse the ‘55 covers as someone forgot to retool the part for ’56; more expensive Supers and Customs read “Clipper” only. Dealers heavily complained about that, so Packard was forced to act. They added this script to all Clippers mid-year and made it available as a no-cost dealer installation kit after May 5th, 1956. IIRC this script on the ’56 Clipper Deluxe I owned in the early 90s read “by Packard”, not “Packard”. Door sill plates read “Body by Packard”. Silly details of thes cars were by the way a huge cover between radiator and fan to hide that the V-8 sat in the same chassis as the much longer straight eight in the year before. The other was the dual exhaust ports in the rear bumpers. Deluxes and Supers had only one exhaust, so there was a fake tube of about 3 ft installed the other side. |
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◊ 2011-03-20 14:25 |
That wouldn’t help for sure, anyway, as this trim parts were available as an option on Deluxes. As far as I know, there is only one thing to securely distinguish '55 Clipper trim levels from outside: The trunk lid script. Inside, Deluxes have less ornate decoration and cheaper materials, and there is a huge model designation on the dash board. But there are further interesting details on this car. At first, it is an early built example; visible by the straight front fender trim. When Packard learned that Pontiac had a very similar looking two-tone scheme that year they changed front fender trim by curving it down to the rocker, thus creating another section for the second color. Second, colors (not color scheme) look strange. While the lighte color could be "Agate", I found no tone matching the darker shade. 1956 Deluxes have more trim differences to distinguish them from the other series. Outside, they have their own, minimal chrome side trim. “Deluxe”, “Super” or “Custom” script is placed on trunk lids but also on the front fenders (Rear fender on Executives and other Packards), and they use different (1955?) rear window frames. (Optional) two-toning is restricted to an alternate color on the roof only (my car was Dover White with a roof in Maltese grey. |
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◊ 2011-03-20 15:58 |
Nice additional comments, Chief. For the record, though, there were NO separate Clipper dealerships. I continue to feel that Packard ultimately decided the Clipper should be a Packard by the addition of the Packard names including adding them to earlier '56 models, even to the point of supplying them free to early '56 Clipper owners. What would be the point if they were not intending to make them Packards? -- Last edit: 2011-03-20 20:05:11 |
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◊ 2011-03-26 07:36 |
The addition of the Packard script was to placate, that's the point. Clipper buyers wanted the Packard association at a cheaper price. I believe that Nance filed officially to list Clipper as a separate make for '56, and I don't think the company undid that officially when they added the script option. Of course, after the '57 monstrosities they dumped the name anyway because PanAm was going to sue over the use of the Clipper name. I didn't think that Super Sedans had the rocker molding either. I've got one Super sedan now and had another one about a decade ago and neither had rocker bright work. And both had Super on the fenders and Clipper on the trunk. This '55 is oddly colored - could it be poor colorization? I seemed to remember it being shades of blue in my DVD copy. I'll have to watch it again and see. |
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◊ 2011-03-26 16:02 |
I must strongly disagree with your characterization of the '57 Clipper as a "monstrosity". I feel it was an exceptionally beautiful car with nicely balanced lines which carried that particular Studebaker President body to it's ultimate peak. Of course, you may feel all mid to late '50's cars were "monstrosities" but the Packard Clipper was certainly no worse than any of the others of its period. The REASON for adding the Packard nameplate might have been to placate but it's hard to say it was physically not a Packard when it SAYS Packard right there on the car! The '55 brochures show rocker moulding on the Supers and The Standard Catalog of American cars is explicit that the Supers carried this feature. -- Last edit: 2011-03-26 16:20:36 |
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◊ 2011-03-27 20:32 |
After further research using multiple sources, I have concluded that rocker panel moulding was STANDARD on all Super and Custom 1955 models. It was OPTIONAL on Deluxes. There was NO exterior differences between ANY Super and Custom sedan save for the trunklid nameplate. -- Last edit: 2011-03-27 20:34:55 |
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◊ 2011-03-28 02:28 |
Example of a '55 Clipper Deluxe without the rocker moulding: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2549/3923499736_3388796426_z.jpg |
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◊ 2011-09-13 05:20 |
y'all been decusing this thing for 5 years and no one looked at the front fender??? it says in plain site custom right above the bumper and below the first trim line zoom,,zoom, |
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◊ 2011-09-13 05:25 |
oh and a 56 says clipper on the hood |
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◊ 2011-09-13 15:32 |
Sorry, BARKLR. That script says "Clipper", not "Custom". /vehicle_36939-Packard-Clipper-5560-1955.html -- Last edit: 2011-09-13 17:59:34 |
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