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Good afternoon all...Well, I had a bit of time the other day and decided to see if I could find 'Miss Prudence' prior owner. We purchased her from a wholesaler in Minnesota. However, he had never registered her and so he sent along the registration from David A. Raile in Grand Island, Nebraska. It took me about an hour on the internet to find an address and a phone number, no e-mail address. What to do? I decided to just make a phone call and see what would happen. David is 80 years young and remembered 'Miss Prudence' well. We had a great conversation and while he could not come up with the name of the man he purchased from, he thought he had it in his files. He is going to look up the information and call me. If you have the time to work back, one owner at a time, it is definitely worth it. Ernie

Hi Ernie:

Not long after I bought my Bumblebee Clipper from a delightful couple near Richmond, VA, I attempted to track down the history of my car, without much luck. Unless you have a one- or two-owner car or a rare, documented car, tracking your car back to wherever it was sold and to whom seems almost impossible. Packard dealerships have long disappeared along with most of the company's sales records.

I was lucky to find out a few facts about the car through the meticulous details of its 1980s restoration. My car was originally sold in Albuquerque, NM, where it lived until 1982 when it was loaded onto a trailed and hauled to Minnesota. The oldest record for the car is a fragile April 1962 customer copy of a service appointment at a shop in Albuquerque. Suffice to say that shop no longer exists.

Like you, I called and talked with the gentleman who restored the Clipper, but he was unable to give me any more information than I already had. I sent a letter to the New Mexico Department of Motor Vehicles to see if they had any history of the car via registration, but learned that they only keep records back about 20 years.

Finally, on a hunch, I contacted the Studebaker Club of Albuquerque. A member got back with me and while he was sympathetic, no one in the club had any knowledge of the Clipper.

I wish you the best of luck finding the history of your car. It don't think it will be time searching that will pose your biggest problem, but rather the reality of trying to find out owners who are probably dead and records that are long lost.

Threads like this always remind me how fortunate I have been to have purchased both my Packards from the original owners. Just a reminder, if your car is between the late 30s and late 40s and your patent plate shows your car was delivered by Newtown Motors of Elmira NY, McCormack Brothers of Birmingham Alabama, Goss Motors of Aurora Illinois, or the Finnish Packard distributor Autolya OY, a handful of the original delivery cards still exist for these cars in private collections and I also have copies of most of them. If you've got such a vehicle, let me know.

Good Morning...At least we have information on one prior owner! I'll just stay after David and see if he can find anything. This week I'll speak to the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles and see if they have anything. I know it is a very long shot but even a blind pig procures a truffle once in a while. Enjoy your day. Ernie

Didnt JW's father own the dealership in NM around that time?

Regarding Mr. Bumble's Clipper, my father would not have sold that car. He was no longer a dealer after 1953, but did 'bootleg' in some 54s and 55s. He did, however, have a Constellation just like Bumble's, but I most seriously doubt that was the car. It had many modifications, including a switch from the TU to a pre-55 manual trans.

(o{}o)

I suppose it could have been my car. the transmission wasn't original in it. it was sold used out of Sherman Texas.

edit...just reread...you said manual trans. don't think it was mine either.

My car has its original Twin Ultramatic, as far as I can tell. There is no hole where a clutch would go and the steering column looks original as well.

We're lucky that our car has been owned since nearly new by my wife's family, her great grandfather bought it from a local lawyer who ordered it but found it was too much to handle (80 something yrs old and no power steering) and so traded it back in after just 2 or 3 days, and Grampa Ted traded a '49 Packard for this car. Here's a picture of Ted as a German Army soldier during the Boxer Rebellion in China, 1901. Google it, in that little war the Germans were good guys along with the US among others. He came to the US in 1903 and homesteaded in SW North Dakota in 1907. The original house still stands on the farm, though not used now.

Ted died in 1963 and that was the last year this car was licensed, after that it was used to chase cows and foxes, and eventually parked in the trees, then moved to the shed in the '70's. And that's where we pulled it out of in 2013, significantly beat up but not badly rusted.

That history is what makes this car worth fixing up and keeping. Too cool to part with now.

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Hans,
Great story, great history and great family attachment for you and your Packard!