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I was puzzled by this RHD Clipper that is going to be auctioned in France early next year, but I found this thread which explains it all. Not sure how many do survive today.

I tried to read the sticker, but it's hard to guess. Here's a try (a dot denotes I can't read or guess, blue is a guess):

SUPPLIED BY
LEONARD WILLIAMS Co Ltd
SOLE CONCESSIONNAIRES
GREAT WEST ROAD
BRENTFORD
Phone: EALING 3400
MAIN SER........... & GENUINE
PACKARD SPARE PARTS
DEPARTMENT

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Fred,
Is the auction selling just cars or is there some automobilia items also. I asked because one of my Packards was originally imported to France in 1954 and I'm always looking for more information on the importer/dealership

Fred (PP56FR), thanks for sharing. Packardclub.org as well as AACA.org make mention of Leonard Williams.
To get further information meet the -> grandson of Leonard Williams.

Sure would be interesting to know the history on this car. Was it ordered over by someone stationed there after the war or was it bought by a native. I have read that England (and Europe as a whole) was in such poor shape after the war even up thru the early 50s that with the rationing and shortages the economy even for the obscenely wealthy was not very conducive to buying much in luxury items such as an American Packard would have been.

Howard, continental Europe lay in ashes, that's true. And the British Isles lost their position as global power. But England in poor shape?



image source: wikipedia

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I don't remember that many details on conditions other than some comments in classes during high school and some later British TV shows where it was a major part of the story line things were still in short supply and England was under some heavy rationing into the early 50s. I don't know if the British auto industry bounced back quickly but even if they did and cars were in decent supply in 47 I would bet a Packard was still a high dollar item and not something the ordinary citizen would be buying.

Yes, there was rationing in the UK but almost no comparision to the rest of Europe. Rationing in UK had a couple of reasons:

"Some aspects of rationing became stricter for some years after the war. At the time this was presented as needed to feed people in European areas under British control, whose economies had been devastated by the fighting. This was partly true, but with many British men still mobilised in the armed forces, an austere economic climate, and a centrally-planned economy under the post-war Labour government, resources were not available to expand food production and food imports. Frequent strikes by some workers (most critically dock workers) made things worse. A common ration book fraud was the ration books of the dead being kept and used by the Living" [source: wikipedia]


BTW: In the US ..."Most rationing restrictions ended in August of 1945 except for sugar rationing, which lasted until 1947 in some parts of the country." [source: Ameshistory.org]


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The a.m. source Ameshistory.org says "For many who served on the home front, rationing may be the most remembered daily aspect of the war."

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Just cars, and what's in them. See below the backseat of that Clipper. Quite a mess. As to the history of this car, it is unknown. In France, Ets Barbezat was (well, were, since Ets stands for Etablissements, which is plural ) the official importer of Packards.

And indeed, as said, during the era (1940s and early 1950s), only a very limited amount of people could afford such cars. In fact, in France, you needed to have Sterling Pounds or US Dollars to buy such cars. French francs weren't good enough. This restriction was removed in 1953 here.

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In Norway we had car rationing more or less until Oct 1st 1960,unless you could provide USD from sources outside Norway, typical "friends and relatives" living in USA.

Rationing in the UK ended on July 4, 1954.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/4/newsid_3818000/3818563.stm