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I use MS Excel on my iMac for the maintenance and repair logs on my cars. Very handy. So far all my receipts are in their paper form. Good suggestion, thanks.

(o{}o)

I've got 3 ring binders for all my cars including the DD's (after all, that's how our Packardscstarted out). The binders start with ads, brochuers, sale receipts, DMV then maintainence in order.
One thing I've learned: NEVER add up the amounts spent.

Jim:

Wiser advise was never better said! I keep telling my wife over and over again that we must maintain our investment. I think I've almost got her convinced that owning a 57-year-old car is reasonable and makes good sense. That or she is simply humoring me ...

I think I've got my family convinced of that too. Either that, or they are simply gathering evidence for a future "Committal Hearing".

MrBumble,

Another source for information on people and businesses is a publication called City Directory. I don't know if they were published as late as the 1980s, but if so provide a wealth of information.

I recently used the New Mexico State Library and their collection of City Directories for Santa Fe to do research on my father's businesses and residences from the 1920s to the 1940s. I found the various places he lived in those years, and with my son, visited them and took photos.

I would assume that the same was available for Albuquerque, but maybe not as late as you need.

Just a suggestion...

(o{}o)

Hey ... good suggestion. Definitely worth a shot. Thank you.

I just called the gentleman who restored my car during the early 1980s to try to clarify some points that confused me as I went through and tried to chronologically organize the repair/parts receipts included with my car.

Arranged on a timeline, it appeared that he was buing parts and materials for a car that, according to its first references in notes from its shipper, he did not even possess! I suppose one could go out and buy parts for a car that he intended to buy a few months later; I've just never known anyone who did a restoration that way. I found out that he had previously purchased another 1955 Clipper Constellation that turned out to be "a basket case."

He told me that he was in contact with a friend in Albuquerque who found my car in a junk yard in 1982. This car was not titled and described by the shipper as "a parts car" in his notes. The shipper said the car did run and the body was straight (no rust), so he bought it and shipped it to his home in Minnesota. While looking throught it, he found the service receipt from April 1962 from a shop in Albuquerque. It was the New Mexico car that was restored using some parts from the originally purchased Clipper. He emphasized that the engine and transmission were original to the NM car, which is why all numbers match.

The gentleman from Minnesota was not particularly interested in the history of the Clipper and did not seem to care much about the car as it is today. He did receive the letter I wrote his that contained photos of the car, but he not bothered to reply. But at least he did talk to me and cleared up a couple of points. He did not remember the name of the junk yard, which is not surprising after 31 years. He did keep the Clipper for 12 years, however, so he must have been fond of it at some point.

I have more work to do before a pull the plug on my search.

Frustrating that the previous owner is not more forth coming about the history of the Clipper, but looking at the positive side, you have gained more information about your Packard. You never know where a bit of information will lead you next. Easy enough to go to the Albuquerque public library and see if they will give you a listing of auto salvage yards, from their telephone directories, there in the early 1980s. This will not tell you which yard your Clipper was found, but you never know...

(o{}o)

I went online to see if I could gain access to the directories, but I cannot go into the Albuquerque publc library because I am in Northern Virginia. The library's online site is not condusive to tracking information about auto-related subject matters. I can track down the auto salvage yards in the Albuquerque area, but finding records about vehicle sales of abandoned cars from 31 years ago might be harder than tracking a car through a state departmetn of motor vehicles. But I have nothing to lose, right?

The letter that I had sent to a man in San Angelo, Texas regarding my Clipper was returned over a week ago unopened. It seems that the first address listed in Spokeo.com was no longer valid. I used Spokeo to track down the previous owner of my car, as well as this man who might have owned it.

After some thought, I decidecd to re-address the letter and send it to the other address listed on the site.

Wouldn't it be a hoot if this man actually remembered my car?