1953 Chevrolet 210

In the early Fifties, Chevrolet sold one basic car, the full-size Chevy. In 1953 it came in three basic forms. At the bottom of the totem pole was the 150. This was a stripped down model, largely devoid of chrome trim, mostly intended for fleet and government sales (although not limited to them). It had a largely painted metal interior with rubber floor mats and plain upholstery.

At the other end of the scale was the Bel Air, with lots of chrome inside and out, a carpeted interior, and shiny hubcaps.

In the middle was the 210, like the '53 model seen here parked on College Avenue on an August afternoon in 2022.

This one, a 2-door sedan (distinguished from the sports coupe by the heavily-framed door glass and B-pillar) features some classic hot rod style touches, like baby moons (the owner later added a partially blacked-out grille). Most of the luxury frills that were standard on the Bel Air could be ordered as options on the 210.

This one has the 235 cubic inch Blue Flame Six engine, with a 7.5:1 compression ratio and a single 1-bbl carburetor, putting out 115 SAE gross horsepower through a 2-speed Powerglide automatic transmission. Popular Mechanics at the time clocked a 4-door '53 Bel Air with this powertrain at 19.6 seconds zero-to-sixty and 21.9 through the quarter mile.

This one's been spotted around the neighborhood a couple times, as you can see, but I'll always make time for it.

The top shot was with a Nikon D3 and a 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G zoom; the second time, in October of 2023, I snapped it with the Olympus E-5 & PanaLeica 14-150mm f/3.5-5.6.

1953 Packard Clipper Deluxe

When the "Clipper" name was brought back for the 1953 model year, it was originally intended to be peeled off as a separate brand, leaving Packards free to be marketed exclusively as competitors to ultra-luxury market rival Cadillac.

Packard dealers were worried, though, that the loss of the lower priced models from their showrooms would hurt sales, so it remained as the entry-level Packard line. "Entry-level", of course, was relative, since the Clipper was still priced and optioned to compete with upscale-ish nameplates like Buick, Olds, and Chrysler.

Available in regular or Deluxe trim levels, the Clipper sold well.

Both versions were powered by Packard's Thunderbolt engine, a flathead straight eight, with a 289 cid engine in the standard models and the one in the Deluxe displacing 327 cubic inches. Breathing through a 2-bbl Carter carb and featuring a then-racy 8.0:1 compression ratio, the larger Thunderbolt was already a little archaic in 1953, since Oldsmobile was selling their 88 with the overhead valve 303 cubic inch Rocket V-8 and Dodge was offering the Red Ram 241 cube hemi-head V-8 in their Coronet, both of which were priced lower than the Clipper.

The slightly undersquare 327 Thunderbolt was rated at 160 SAE gross horsepower, only twenty more than the much smaller, lighter Dodge Red Ram, with its more modern heads, intake, and oversquare dimensions, while the Olds Rocket put out 165 SAE gross in its 4bbl configuration.

The Dresden Gray 1953 Clipper Deluxe Touring Sedan in the photos wound up being the next-to-last year for the Thunderbolt, with Packard debuting their own OHV V-8 in 1955.

For the 1956 model year, Clipper did become its own brand, before being subsumed along with the rest of Packard into the Studebaker lineup.

The photos in this post were taken with a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS zoom lens in October of 2023.