Re: Clipper registrations in '55 and '56

Posted by DavidPackard On 2024/6/21 18:41:01

Don, I understand and appreciate your preciseness to detail on this subject.

Don other than badging are there any identification plates that state ‘Clipper’ on your car (same question for R Anderson)? The web confirms that for ’56 only, the Clipper was classified as a stand-alone marque produced by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation, so I assumed some type of ID plate would contain the name Clipper, only because later ID tags for other short lived ‘brands’ identified the new brand name. The web also acknowledges a process of authorization of Clipper dealers by the S-P Corporation prior to the ’56 model year, and if there was no Packard dealers close at hand Studebaker dealers could join in and become Clipper dealers. My assumption is we likely had local businesses that were Packard-Clipper dealers, or Studebaker-Clipper dealers, but no Clipper alone dealers. I’ve also assumed that HH56’s comment about state’s bureaucracy is absolutely true, in that the 48 individual states would have to agree/approve that the ‘new brand’ met the automotive standards for that state, prior to the titling/registration process. Perhaps there were gaps in the state submittal/approval process for the ’56 Clipper, but the car would otherwise be acceptable if registered as a Packard. All of this surely predates the ’58 ‘Monroney sticker’ legislation, and 17 character VINs. Sounds a lot like the 4 GM companion cars in the late ‘20s

R Anderson’s comment about last couple of years confusion seems to explain the situation quite well. At the local car shows I have a hard enough time explaining my car is a Packard, but imagine trying to explain a Clipper. I won’t mind having a ’56 Clipper as long as it was a standard transmission, non-power brakes, and non-torsion bar suspension . . . assuming there was one of those produced as long as we are going rare let’s go all the way.

dp