The Clipper series was Flxible’s family of intercity coaches, built in three generations — Clipper, VisiCoach and StarLiner — from the 1930s until 1967. It is the line most often preserved today: the majority of coaches owned by members of Flxible Owners International belong to it.
Flxible Clipper series at a glance
| Maker | Flxible, Loudonville, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Series | Clipper, VisiCoach, StarLiner |
| Production | 1930s–1967 |
| Type | intercity coach |
| Company | founded 1913, closed 1996 |
| Owners’ club | Flxible Owners International, founded in the mid-1980s |
| Club rally | Loudonville, Ohio, every even-numbered year in mid-July |
| Most preserved | yes — the Clipper series is the line most often kept |
| Later coach models | VL100 (VistaLiner), Hi Level, Flxliner |
Wikipedia has no article on the Clipper series; this page uses the section on it in the English article on Flxible (one source).
History of the Flxible Clipper series
Flxible built its first bus in 1924, a 12-passenger sedan on a Studebaker chassis delivered to E.L. Harter for his passenger line between Ashland and Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and by the mid-1930s it was offering the Airway bus on a Chevrolet chassis. The Clipper series continued that highway-coach tradition and became the company’s best-known coach line.
Clipper, VisiCoach and StarLiner
The series was produced from the 1930s until 1967 and covered three model names: Clipper, VisiCoach and StarLiner. It was built while Flxible’s output was shifting from highway coaches and other products to transit buses, a change that took place over the years 1953–1970.
Survivors
The Clipper series is the best represented Flxible line among preserved vehicles. Flxible Owners International was founded in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the Family Motor Coach Association, and most of the vehicles owned by its members are Clipper-series coaches; many of them have been converted to motor homes. The organisation holds a rally in Loudonville in even-numbered years, normally in mid-July, where preserved Flxible coaches and buses can be seen.
Design and features
- Three names, one series: the Clipper, VisiCoach and StarLiner were successive models of the same coach family.
- Long production: built from the 1930s until 1967.
- Highway coaches: part of Flxible’s intercity line, which also included the Airway of the mid-1930s.
- Most preserved Flxible: the majority of coaches kept by the owners’ club belong to this series.
- Built during the changeover: the series overlapped Flxible’s move from coaches to transit buses between 1953 and 1970.
Flxible Clipper series versions
- Clipper: the model that gave the series its name.
- VisiCoach: the second name in the series.
- StarLiner: the last of the three, built until 1967.
- Later coaches: the VL100 (VistaLiner), Hi Level and Flxliner came after the Clipper series in Flxible’s range.
The later coaches are described in the Flxible VL-100 (VistaLiner) article, the company’s history in Flxible: the Ohio bus maker, and its last transit bus in the Flxible Metro page. More vehicles are in the Flxible collection.
Video: Flxible Clipper Club at Lake Eildon Easter 2013
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Flxible, English Wikipedia: Clipper series dates and preservation
