THE HISTORY OF OUR 1948 FLXIBLE CLIPPER. . .
Our Bus - what a classic !!
We wanted to let you know about a little of her background and the grand company that built these classic coaches !!
Enjoy
The History of our Clipper's
Our 1st Clipper -
1945 Clipper - VIN# 6644.
This good ole girl began her life with the Gibson Line of Sacramento, Calafornia in 1945.
(See photo gallery for pictures).
From what we can determine she spent 10 years running from Chico,CA. to Sacramento,CA.
She was sold to Martin Luther College of Ministry in New Ulm, MN in the late fifties where she provided service for students.
Around 1962 a private family in MN. purchased her from the college, restored her and did the current conversion.
The family named the old girl - Our Marvelious Toy.
They had her for 30+ years using her for camping, mostly summers in northern Minnesota.
Then in 1997, they sold her to another man in MN.
He kept her for 3 years until we purchased her in October of 2000.
What a grand history she has - just think of the thousands of miles and all the lives she has touched, and is still going strong after 56 years.
Well a sad story, I lost this coach to a storage yard that said one thing and then charged major $$$, so he is the new owner. It didn't make sense to spend thousands more on this unit - sad - but I can get alot better unit on e-bay that runs - without all the non-running headaches - cost of this old girl - I'll miss her - but I'll survive.
Our Current Clipper -
1948 Clipper - VIN# 8760.
The Clipper that we own is known as Pinehollow II.
This coach as I stated on our home page was delivered to Continental Trailways of Dallas, Texas in August of 1948.
Equipped with (4) 50 gallon fuel tanks she did some serious highway traveling.
We believe she lasted 10 years or so with Trailways, running routes from Topeka, KS to Minneapolis, MN. ( Per the orginal destination marker).
I found that she spent some time working as a transit in Minneapolis/St.Paul area - found a token for the Twin Cities bus line - not sure what timeframe it was in use there.
Then there is a big hole in her background.
The previous owner told me a man from Grand Forks, MN converted the coach in an around 1987, changing out the engine ( now a 6V53 Detroit Diesel), tranny ( Allison 6-speed automatic), and steering ( GM Power steering).
He kept the coach for about 10 years, 1987 to 1997. From what I have found he used her mostly for hunting in Northern MN.
Then a family in Laporte, MN purchased her in 1997, they had the old girl for 3 years. An FOI member - he listed the older coach on e-bay.
So - why buy (1) of anything - I purchased both in December of 2000.
Now we have started the process of doing a "slow" & complete up to date conversion on her....
The Flxible Company
They started in business by manufacturing a flexible joint for the motorcycle sidecar industry.
Flexible being a common name, they changed the spelling an copywrited the Companies name - Flxible.
With the decline of motorcycle sidecar business, after Henry Ford offered a cheap car.
Then the Flxible company went into the bus business.
We are all glad they did.
Most of the early Flx's where built with GM frames & engines.
Most Flxible Clippers of the 40's had Buick straight 8's, some also had Chevy engines, from my research.
The Flxible company was purchased by the Gruman company in the 1970's, shifted focus to more of the city transit buses, until in 1995, when they went out of business.