(Model Body Number, not Chassis)

(####-#### Format)

1956

56th

5622

5640

Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan

*MISSING*

*MISSING*

*MISSING*

Current Owner

Flint, MI

Good

Mrs. Amanda Burton

Grand Blanc, MI

Good

13

MB

Dover White / Tahitian Jade Metallic

The upholstery is not the original material that the car left the factory with however it has been replaced with factory colors and materials earlier on in it's existence.

The body has the original paint on it with the exception of touch ups over some dings here and there (via the previous owner). The chrome is also original and in good condition.

352 (8 cyl, 240 hp)

*MISSING*

Ultramatic

Radio and heat.

To the best of my knowledge this car has had only two other owners before me: the gentleman I bought it from and his brother before him. The car originally resided in Missouri until the second brother brought it to Michigan. He enjoyed it for a long time until it was time for him to sell it. That's where I come in.

Just before my 18th birthday my parents moved our family from Arizona to Michigan. I graduated high school a semester early to make the move (No way was I going to a new high school for one semester- I was a Toro, I was graduating a Toro!) Anyway, I turned 18 and I had never owned my own car before and it was time to do so. The rules as my Dad and I had agreed to were that if I was buying it then I was picking it as long as it was in good working order. I don't think he expected it when I told him I wanted a classic car as my first car. I also think he was more surprised when I told him I wanted a 195's something sedan instead of the regular sports/muscle car coveted by most teenagers. He gave me a grin and told me if I could find one...

Well I did. It was listed in the Wednesday edition of the Flint Journal-a paper that was usually in the trash by the time I got home from work but on this Wednesday, I had the day off. I flipped to the classifieds and there was the listing with very little information and no price- not a good sign, it had to be out of my price range. And what was a Packard anyway? I had never heard of a Packard. I showed the ad to my dad and to entertain me he called the number listed. The gentleman said he was looking to sell it but since it was drizzling he didn't think it would be a good idea to take it out of the garage. Uh oh, this was ireally/i out of my budget. A few more minutes on the phone and my dad had directions and we were going to see it regardless of the weather.

Being new to the Flint area we got lost, and then we got lost again, we had given u
and were heading home when we finally saw the street we needed. We pulled around the corner and there it was parked by the curb. My mom and I just looked at each other as we listened to my dad give a friendly chuckle. We were all thinking the same thing: At least we get to look at it. It was perfect and almost original. The gentleman took us for a ride in it and it rode like a dream. All the while my dad was getting all the information he could and as my dad usually does he hit it off with the seller. Then came a key point in the conversation, the part when my dad told the man that he wasn't the one buying it that bI /bwas.

The man took one look at me and just smiled. He was tickled that not only was I an 18 year old kid but I was a petite, 5 foot tall girl. He put his arm around my shoulders and I waited for him to give me that speech that most adults were giving me- about how classic cars are such a huge responsibility and that I should buy a Neon instead- but instead he told me the price and that he would need a $1. deposit if that was in my budget. It was. Then he went on to tell me all the things he knew about it, work that had been done and how to handle it. We shook hands, I gave him my deposit and a couple days later we picked it up.

The day I drove it home I got pulled over twice. Once by a Flint police officer who first asked what kind of car it was and then asked whether or not my parents knew I was driving their car. The second time by a man (Bruce Blevins) who followed me home-turns out he lived around the corner from me anyway-and was the proud owner of 5 1933 Packards. He gave me a card to the Packard Club with his name and number on it if I wanted to Join. A few weeks later my dad and I were in Perrysburg, Ohio.

I had owned my car for a few months when I decided I needed to learn how to kee
it clean and detailed. There I was standing in the car wax aisle at Meijer without a clue about what products to use. So I asked the man next to me who told me he'd have no idea but I could ask his son in the next aisle over. Turns out his son was my age and working as a car detailer. I asked what the going rate for detailing was, programmed his number into my cell phone and 6 months later we were married. I never did pay him the amount for the detailing.

My husband and I have had many good adventures with this old car including being stranded waiting for a flat bed when the fuel pum
failed, winning a couple of trophies at local shows for categories like originality and "The Car Your Grandparents Would Have Drove" (yes that's what it was called).

Six years later I still have my first car, my 1956 Clipper Deluxe in like original condition.The car is in close to the same shape as it was when I bought it and as the previous owners had done it is my intention to kee
it as original as possible.

The only "custom" modifications are: a hidden CD player in the glove compartment in place of the radio. The radio still works but not much entertainment from the available stations. A set of white fuzzy dice around the rear view mirror, a replacement mechanical fuel pump, and a set of seat belts because my son's safety out weighs the $60.00 modification.