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I found this car on Craigslist. I took a friend of mine who own a 1941 Studebaker to see it and he said if I didn't grab it - he was going to. I became hooked on PACKARDS the moment I saw it. I could ell these cars are some of the most well built solid cars ever made. I think all PACKARDs stand a good chance of significant appreciation because they are rare, unique and are of excellent quality. I installed a new bumper and taillights. My old rear bumper and guards needed to be rechromed and I found it less expensive to swap it out for new ones. I am very pleased with Tuscon Packard and Max Merritt's parts and service. I've had a major tune up, lub and had a new fuel pump installed pump. Included are pictures of the car for those who are interested. Thanks

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Frank: Very nice. Thanks for posting the pictures.


John F. Shireman

Beautiful car. When Kev gets his done, you guys will have a couple of the nicest 54 Deluxes around.

One thing I noticed on yours and double checked on Kev's is the wiper motor angle. It's curious that on a body supposedly the same from 51 on that the wiper motor is straight until 54, then straight again in 55-6. Never noticed that before & anyone have a theory or a reason?

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Frank, great car! I have the exact same model. Does it have a gear start Ultramatic or the regular Ultramaic? (2 indents on the selector before and after the "D") Also can you tell us the 4 digits on the firewall tag after the 5492 (5492-XXXX). That will tell us where your car was in the production run.

Also are you aware that your car has a 51-52 Grille, and not the normal '54 Junior grille?

Here is a picture of a '54 Clipper Deluxe Grille. It has the large parking lights instead of the "bullseye" lights. Also the grill guard extends back through the grille with a grey sheet metal filler panel. One other thing that is unique to the '54 Clipper Deluxes and Supers (not the Specials), is the flutted piece that wraps around the side of the fender between the bumper and the grille extension. That is a one-year only feature.

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Hi Frank,

That's a fine looking Clipper Deluxe! Thanks for posting the pictures. I bet you have allot of fun cruising around in it.

Jim

Kev - the model number is 5492-7862 and the shifter reads PNHLR. I'm not sure why the grill looks different but I'm very curious. I know the car came from South Dakota two owners ago. I'd appreciate any information you happen to have on this model. If I can share any information that might be helpful to you on your restoration, feel free to call. Thanks Frank

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A 5492 is a Clipper DeLuxe, the chassis is designated 5401 and you'll often need this number for chassis parts. Engine for the Clipper Deluxe was the 327 cubic inch, 5 main bearing, 8:1 compression and a 2-bbl carburetor. Std equipment included direction signals, dual front ash trays, dual sun visors, chrome no-draft deflectors, cigarette lighter, chrome horn ring, dual arm rest front and rear. Wheelbase is 122 inches.

Can you get the thief-proof number for me (large embossed number over the heater box)?

If your transmission filler is under the floor boards and not under the hood, you have the traditional Ultramatic trans and PNDLR is the pattern for all the Ultramatics. But in late 54 they had an early version of what in 55 and 56 was called Twin Ultramatic, and in that case you'd have the filler under the hood, and to very small diamonds or indicators on either side of the "H" indicating the 2 driving ranges. In 1954 they called this version "Gear Start" Ultramatic.

From his yesterday pict.

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Thanks Howard. How do you get an enlargement like that and keep the resolution so sharp? I've tried in PhotoShop but perhaps lack the skills.

Dave, nothing special. These were posted in pretty high res so clicked on image to expand it to largest. Then used the clip select feature on the Mac to narrow down to area of interest, saved and reposted. There is a sharpen feature I can use but sometimes it sharpens too much and gets grainy so seldom bother.