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This past weekend I went back and organized the restoration receipts for my Clipper. Among them was and oldest receipt -- a normal vehicle service receipt from a service center in Albuquerque in April 1962. At the time the Clipper had about 52,000 miles plus change. A closer inspection revealed a name -- Leroy Anderson. This got me to thinking ...

I went on the Internet and there was a Mr. Anderson listed who had lived in Albuquerque and now lives in San Angelo, Texas. He is 67 years old. Doing a little math, I realized that Mr. Anderson would have been 17 years old in 1962, definitely old enough to drive and own a car. I got my first car -- a 1960 Ford Sunliner -- in 1967 when I was 16. The Clipper would have been seven years old, which is about right for a lot of teenagers' first cars. Could this Mr. Anderson be the same as the owner listed on the service receipt?

Intrigued, I then went to Facebook and quickly found Mr. Anderson. I sent him a message containing the details of my search, as well as a few photos of the car to possibly jar his memory. Unfortunately, I have not heard back from him. I figure that toward the end of this week, I will try to contact him again.

MrBumble, good detective work. I hope you get a reply from Mr. Anderson. My guess is it was probably his father who owned the Clipper. We are waiting to hear about the latest on your search.

(o{}o)

Well, I've got to tell you that I am unhappy with where I am at this point in my search. Those who I had hoped would have replied to my inquiries. I have to guess that they either:

a) Think I'm some kind of nut;

b) Do not have any knowledge but don't think it matters whether they respond or not; or

c) They don't check their e-mail or Facebook messages.

While I am hoping that it is the latter, I really don't know and thus, I am bummed out. But I will continue to persist because a) I must be some kind of a nut!

Just keep trying, it's worth the effort.

(o{}o)

I feel like I am reaching the end of my rope. Today I received an e-mail from the Studebaker Museum telling me that it does not have a copy of the Clipper's build sheet. Another dead end. I just sent an e-mail the previous owner; hopefully he will respond, but since I received nothing from my letter to him, I'm not holding out much hope this time.

there is only so much you can do. create a new history now.

i haven't got much on my car either, but it doesn't bother me....it has a new home. ;0)

Hang in there, you may get a response. Myself, I rarely check facebook and never for messages. A lot of us are wrapped up in our lives and can only do so much on a computer. Just sayin.

You are right, Hank. My car does have a good home and a bright future. I don't think that I will make up a story about it, however. It really makes me feel good to see how much time and effort you have put into your car, and I look forward to the day when you and I can wait at the line for the green light on the Christmas tree at the local drag strip to see which one of us can take the other in a quarter mile!

Just kidding! I was just thinking about what a drag (no pun) it was when you found out about the original Ultramatic in your car and how it was trashed by some bonehead who thought a Clipper should be able to take a Bel Air or a Fairlane off the line. I'd bet before that happened the gears in that Ultramatic must have shifted a lot better than the gears in that guy's brain, wouldn't you say?

But I digress ... I will still try to find out whatever I can and will continue to keep you posted.

Craig

Quote:

Apparently he had a brother. I have parts of what's left of a 55 Ultra in my backyard which came from a Clipper where the owner thought he and the car would fit in well on a Porsche rally. They didn't.

I recently modified my Clipper Constellation to lay to rest the myth that the Twin Ultramatic cannot handle drag racing and that the Packard makes a superlative funny car.

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