Ken's 1953 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan
Posted by kens53clip On 2009/7/31 16:36:16
I grew up with a Packard as my family's car. When I was born in 1955 my parents had a two tone 1953 Packard Clipper Touring Sedan with an Orchard Green bottom and Galahad Green Metallic top. It came with the 288 c.i. straight 8 and an Ultramatic transmission. My parents bought the car new and traded it in 1962 on an Oldsmobile Super 88 four-door sedan. Shortly before the Packard was traded in, I persuaded my Father to let me keep the plastic Packard crest which had broken off the front grille, which I still have to this day.
Speed forward to the early 1970's. Like most teenage boys I was interested in cars, in my case, particularly old cars. And being familiar with Packards from childhood it was only natural that I was interested in Packards. I happened to meet Charlie Hebb, who then owned a 1952 Packard. Charlie Hebb was President of Peachstate Packards, the Georgia chapter of Packard Automobile Classics a/k/a the Packard Club. Charlie invited me to attend the next Peachstate Packard club meet. I took him up on his offer, saw a good number of nice Packards owned by the membership, and I was hooked from that point on. I did not own a car period at that time. Charlie is now Historian for Peachstate Packards. The word that I wanted a Packard like the one my parents had somehow got around to another Peachstate Packard member, Homer Forrer, now deceased, and it so happened that he had a 1953 Packard Clipper Deluxe touring sedan in a barn where he kept a number of his Packards. Homer had some really nice Packards. Every time you bring home a six pack of any beverage from the grocery store you ought to thank Homer Forrer, as it was he who invented the first six pack packaging for Mead Packaging, called the Bottlemaster. The 1953 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan Homer had had a dark blue bottom and a white top, a 327 c.i. straight 8 engine and an Ultramatic transmission. Homer gave me a really good deal on the car because he wanted me to have it, and in November 1973, at age 18, I owned my first car, a 1953 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan. I got a good deal on it to be sure, but it still needed a lot of work. At that point I had just started college and had no money, so to speak of, so I couldn't do much about restoring the car, but I did the best I could, doing much of the work on it myself. I was a struggling young college student, then a struggling young law student, then a struggling young lawyer trying to establish his own law practice. In 1989, the Packard stopped running. Believing it was the fuel pump, with limited funds, I bought and installed a fuel pump repair kit. It still didn't run. I was definitely frustrated. I didn't have proper storage, nor did I have the funds I needed to properly restore it. I was approached by someone who wanted to buy the Packard, as is, not running. He had the funds and wanted to restore it. I wanted it to be restored. So I sold it to him. Word came back to me shortly afterward that he got it running. All it needed was a new fuel pump! Shortly before I bought my second Packard I called the guy I sold it to to see if he still had it. He fixed it up, kept it for about 14 years, and sold it to a guy living in Buford, Georgia, whose name he had forgotten.
I joined Packard Automobile Classics, Inc., also known as the Packard Club in 1972 or 1973, not long before I bought my first Packard and have remained a member since that date. I considered joining Packards International at that time as well, but primarily because the Packard Club had a local Georgia Chapter, Peachstate Packards, I chose to join the Packard Club. With the purchase of my latest Packard I have recently joined Packards International as well, and I find they have unique things to offer a Packard owner that are not duplicated by the Packard Club. I would recommend that anyone owning a Packard join at least one national club, both if you can afford it.
I bought my second and current 1953 Packard Deluxe Clipper Touring Sedan (originally Orchard Green bottom and Galahad Green Metallic top like my parents' car) on eBay Motors on February 3, 2008 from a landlady in Brunswick, Georgia who got the car from a tenant who had lost his job and gave the landlady the car as payment for rent. The Packard's license tag was a 1999 Georgia tag so that was apparently the last time the car was legally on the road. The tenant gave the landlady such keys as he had that he thought were to the car but the landlady later tried them and none of them appeared to work. The tenant told the landlady there were some car parts in the trunk, but since there was no key to the trunk, the landlady was not able to confirm that. At some point someone had realized there was no key to the doors as someone had gotten into the car and removed the driver's doorhandle from the door, perhaps to take it to a locksmith to get a key. When the landlady got the car it was not running and she had never seen it running. She took it to her mechanic who was able to get it running by "hotwiring" the car and running the engine by running a hose from a gas can to the carburetor. The mechanic put in a 12 volt battery to get it to run, which battery was sold with the car. The landlady, to her credit, advertised the car's condition as truthfully as she could, and even gave me the phone number of her mechanic, who was able to confirm that he got the engine running.
So here is what I bought. A 1953 Packard Deluxe Clipper Touring Sedan without any brakes, with an engine that would run only if you ran a hose from the gas can to the carburetor and "hotwired" the car. There appeared to be no keys that would start the car. There was no key to the trunk or doors. One rocker panel was nearly rusted out. One dogleg was rusted through. One rear fender skirt was in the car because part of the rear fender to which it attached was rusted through. The passenger side rear fender had hit something hard, bending it, breaking the glass taillight, and bending the chrome metal part of the taillight. Part of the passenger side front fender was rusted through. Both the driver and the front passenger floor pans were rusted through. Much of the chrome plating was in such awful shape that the previous owner had painted it silver to try to make it look halfway decent. There was also surface rust on various areas of the car where the paint had worn through. The driver's exterior door handle was taken off of the door but came with the car. The original interior appeared to be there but was in bad shape. The only parts appearing to be entirely missing (other than keys) were the Packard crest on the front grille, the stainless steel harpoon trim piece on the driver's front fender, the glove compartment lock, the wheel trim rings, and one dog dish hubcap. Also, the parking light lenses had been broken out and the radio antenna had been broken off.
The pictures represent the car basically as bought, with a bit of cleanup, with new radiator hoses, with the brake job, carburetor rebuild, and the tune up. Not shown but coming with the car are a driver's exterior door handle, three dog dish hubcaps in bad shape needing chrome, and a passenger side windshield wiper.
kens53clip
Ken Dunning
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Speed forward to the early 1970's. Like most teenage boys I was interested in cars, in my case, particularly old cars. And being familiar with Packards from childhood it was only natural that I was interested in Packards. I happened to meet Charlie Hebb, who then owned a 1952 Packard. Charlie Hebb was President of Peachstate Packards, the Georgia chapter of Packard Automobile Classics a/k/a the Packard Club. Charlie invited me to attend the next Peachstate Packard club meet. I took him up on his offer, saw a good number of nice Packards owned by the membership, and I was hooked from that point on. I did not own a car period at that time. Charlie is now Historian for Peachstate Packards. The word that I wanted a Packard like the one my parents had somehow got around to another Peachstate Packard member, Homer Forrer, now deceased, and it so happened that he had a 1953 Packard Clipper Deluxe touring sedan in a barn where he kept a number of his Packards. Homer had some really nice Packards. Every time you bring home a six pack of any beverage from the grocery store you ought to thank Homer Forrer, as it was he who invented the first six pack packaging for Mead Packaging, called the Bottlemaster. The 1953 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan Homer had had a dark blue bottom and a white top, a 327 c.i. straight 8 engine and an Ultramatic transmission. Homer gave me a really good deal on the car because he wanted me to have it, and in November 1973, at age 18, I owned my first car, a 1953 Packard Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan. I got a good deal on it to be sure, but it still needed a lot of work. At that point I had just started college and had no money, so to speak of, so I couldn't do much about restoring the car, but I did the best I could, doing much of the work on it myself. I was a struggling young college student, then a struggling young law student, then a struggling young lawyer trying to establish his own law practice. In 1989, the Packard stopped running. Believing it was the fuel pump, with limited funds, I bought and installed a fuel pump repair kit. It still didn't run. I was definitely frustrated. I didn't have proper storage, nor did I have the funds I needed to properly restore it. I was approached by someone who wanted to buy the Packard, as is, not running. He had the funds and wanted to restore it. I wanted it to be restored. So I sold it to him. Word came back to me shortly afterward that he got it running. All it needed was a new fuel pump! Shortly before I bought my second Packard I called the guy I sold it to to see if he still had it. He fixed it up, kept it for about 14 years, and sold it to a guy living in Buford, Georgia, whose name he had forgotten.
I joined Packard Automobile Classics, Inc., also known as the Packard Club in 1972 or 1973, not long before I bought my first Packard and have remained a member since that date. I considered joining Packards International at that time as well, but primarily because the Packard Club had a local Georgia Chapter, Peachstate Packards, I chose to join the Packard Club. With the purchase of my latest Packard I have recently joined Packards International as well, and I find they have unique things to offer a Packard owner that are not duplicated by the Packard Club. I would recommend that anyone owning a Packard join at least one national club, both if you can afford it.
I bought my second and current 1953 Packard Deluxe Clipper Touring Sedan (originally Orchard Green bottom and Galahad Green Metallic top like my parents' car) on eBay Motors on February 3, 2008 from a landlady in Brunswick, Georgia who got the car from a tenant who had lost his job and gave the landlady the car as payment for rent. The Packard's license tag was a 1999 Georgia tag so that was apparently the last time the car was legally on the road. The tenant gave the landlady such keys as he had that he thought were to the car but the landlady later tried them and none of them appeared to work. The tenant told the landlady there were some car parts in the trunk, but since there was no key to the trunk, the landlady was not able to confirm that. At some point someone had realized there was no key to the doors as someone had gotten into the car and removed the driver's doorhandle from the door, perhaps to take it to a locksmith to get a key. When the landlady got the car it was not running and she had never seen it running. She took it to her mechanic who was able to get it running by "hotwiring" the car and running the engine by running a hose from a gas can to the carburetor. The mechanic put in a 12 volt battery to get it to run, which battery was sold with the car. The landlady, to her credit, advertised the car's condition as truthfully as she could, and even gave me the phone number of her mechanic, who was able to confirm that he got the engine running.
So here is what I bought. A 1953 Packard Deluxe Clipper Touring Sedan without any brakes, with an engine that would run only if you ran a hose from the gas can to the carburetor and "hotwired" the car. There appeared to be no keys that would start the car. There was no key to the trunk or doors. One rocker panel was nearly rusted out. One dogleg was rusted through. One rear fender skirt was in the car because part of the rear fender to which it attached was rusted through. The passenger side rear fender had hit something hard, bending it, breaking the glass taillight, and bending the chrome metal part of the taillight. Part of the passenger side front fender was rusted through. Both the driver and the front passenger floor pans were rusted through. Much of the chrome plating was in such awful shape that the previous owner had painted it silver to try to make it look halfway decent. There was also surface rust on various areas of the car where the paint had worn through. The driver's exterior door handle was taken off of the door but came with the car. The original interior appeared to be there but was in bad shape. The only parts appearing to be entirely missing (other than keys) were the Packard crest on the front grille, the stainless steel harpoon trim piece on the driver's front fender, the glove compartment lock, the wheel trim rings, and one dog dish hubcap. Also, the parking light lenses had been broken out and the radio antenna had been broken off.
The pictures represent the car basically as bought, with a bit of cleanup, with new radiator hoses, with the brake job, carburetor rebuild, and the tune up. Not shown but coming with the car are a driver's exterior door handle, three dog dish hubcaps in bad shape needing chrome, and a passenger side windshield wiper.
kens53clip
Ken Dunning
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