Ahoy: ’55 Packard Clipper Constellation
Under the reign of company president, Jim Nance, Packard was shuffling around trying to find out exactly who they were. Originally a main competitor of Cadillac, Packard offered many lower priced models in the Oldsmobile, Pontiac segment. They were referred to as the 200 and 250. But in 1953, they became known as Clippers. Nance’s strategy was to spin-off the Clipper nameplate so Packard could focus on high-end cars. The dealers didn’t like that so the Packard Clipper stayed. In 1955, Packard and Studebaker merged and that signaled the unraveling of that great brand. But the 1955 Packard Clipper, like today’s featured car, was actually pretty neat. It was the first car to have a torsion bar front suspension called Torsion-Level Ride in the brochure. This car was restored to its former glory as an original west coast car. It maintains its original engine and Ultramatic transmission. It is equipped with power steering, brakes, seats, windows and radio antenna. The seller states it drives straight and true. It has bias-ply whitewalls to keep in tradition. The interior particularly the dash, is really great. We like the black and white paint scheme compared what it could be like salmon pink, gray and white. But the black and white would look good if we put on decent blackwall radials and lost the wheel covers. How cool would that be? The asking price is $16,000. Hagerty has these at $14,000 to $41,000 so this could be a bit of a deal if all checks out. Contact the seller by clicking here.