Courtesy of Worldwide Auctioneers
Chassis Number: 18072009

According to a report filed by some of the top Packard historians in the country, such as Richard Langworth, Bob Turnquist and Don Figone, fewer than 150 Packard Darrins were produced between 1937 and 1942. Of those, just 11 Convertible Sedans were constructed and 10 are known to survive today, making this 1940 Packard Custom Super Eight 180 Convertible Sedan a rare and seldom-seen automobile.

Known history of this custom-coachwork Packard began when it was delivered new to a Packard dealer in Evanston, IL, per its firewall tag. Retailing for a staggering $6,300, it was purchased by a Chicagoland resident. By 1951, this Packard Darrin would make its way to the West Coast, where it was stored on a peanut farm in Arvin, CA. It would stay in storage until 1967, when Dr. Richard Steiner of Torrance, CA, stumbled upon it and instantly fell in love. Knowing the importance of this vehicle, he purchased it with the intent to restore.

During his time researching the car, he would get oversight and guidance from a nearby Santa Monica resident, Mr. Howard “Dutch” Darrin himself. Dr. Steiner would finish the restoration in 1994 and on June 8, 1995, it would make its debut at the Classic Car Club of America California Grand Classic, where it scored an impressive 98 out of 100 points. Shortly after, this Packard Darrin garnered its CCCA Senior badge, number 1898, which is still proudly affixed to the cowl.

It was sold in May 1996 to well-known collector, the late Otis Chandler. A gem in his storied collection of prized pre-war classics, it would be sold in 2003 to a known West Coast collector, who would then sell it to the collection of the late Richard Kughn. A favorite among the Detroit-based collection, the Kughns would show this special Packard at numerous concours, including Meadow Brook and Amelia Island. In 2010, it would add to its award list by capturing its CCCA Premier honors with a first place at the Michigan Grand Classic. In 2014, this Super-Eight 180 Convertible Sedan would find a new home in the collection of John O. Bohmer, who had a focus on Full Classics, and retained this Packard until it was sold along with his estate in 2023.

Today, this Laguna Maroon Custom Packard still presents very well. Not only is it a seldom-seen example because of its low production, it is elegantly equipped with various original period accessories, which include bumper guards, driving lights, an under-dash heater, a radio, a backup light and the desirable Econo-Drive overdrive. Equipped with a nicely sorted 160-horsepower, 356-cubic-inch L-head straight-8 engine and 3-speed manual transmission with overdrive, it presents as an ideal choice for CCCA CARavan events and tours.

SCM Analysis

Detailing

Vehicle:1940 Packard Custom Super Eight 180 Darrin Convertible Sedan
Years Produced:1940
Number Produced:11
Tune Up Cost:$2,000
Chassis Number Location:Tag on the right-hand side of engine compartment
Engine Number Location:Machined pad on engine block toward the back on the driver’s side
Club Info:The Packard Club
Website:http://www.packardclub.org
Alternatives:1930 Duesenberg Model J Hibbard & Darrin, 1938–40 Cadillac Sixteen, 1940–42 Lincoln Continental

This car, Lot 276, sold for $263,200, including buyer’s premium, at Worldwide Auctioneers’ Auburn, IN, auction on April 27, 2024.

Given his intriguing life story and decades-long influence on automotive design, it’s surprising how little recent attention has been devoted to the career of designer and coachbuilder Howard “Dutch” Darrin. (His papers are held by the Syracuse University Library, for anyone who’s interested.) Most of what we know about him in his own words comes from a handful of articles, primarily in Automobile Quarterly, where Darrin enthusiastically recounted — with occasional exaggeration — the varied and interesting milestones of his life. This included creating a self-shifting transmission for John North Willys of Willys-Overland, serving as an aerial spotter in World War I, founding what he claimed was the first scheduled U.S. airline, and playing polo with Hollywood studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck. Darrin’s coachbuilding exploits seem restrained by comparison.

Vive la France

Darrin was born in 1897 to privilege in Cranford, NJ, about 20 miles west of New York City. His relations ran the Automatic Switch Company, whose products included automatic controls for elevators and generators, essential elements for a rapidly rising Manhattan skyline. Joining other affluent and patriotic young men of the era, Darrin flew with the fledgling Allied air forces in World War I. He returned to France in 1923, founding with LeBaron’s Tom Hibbard a Paris-based coachbuilding firm targeting moneyed American visitors aiming to travel the Continent in style. “We were two young kids when we came to Paris with only an idea,” Darrin wrote. “We weren’t actually very experienced, but we had one thing in our favor — our way of thinking.”

That proved lucrative, catapulting Hibbard and Darrin (and later Fernandez and Darrin) to the top echelon of European coachbuilders, at least until war clouds threatened in the late 1930s. A chance meeting with Zanuck brought Darrin to Los Angeles, where he reinvented himself on the Sunset Strip as “Darrin of Paris,” occasionally impressing clients with an ersatz French accent. “With a name like Darrin, and that sign ‘Darrin of Paris,’ everyone assumed I was French,” he told Motor Trend in 1953. “In Hollywood, that was worth more than all the work I had ever done.”

The bold-faced names took notice, among them actor Dick Powell, who commissioned a smart roadster with cut-down doors on a 1937 Ford chassis. Then came Packard-based Victorias with similar designs for Chester Morris and Clark Gable, among others. Soon Darrin was overwhelmed with demand.

The burgeoning Packard custom business (which Darrin called “prodifying”) caught the attention of Packard boss Alvan Macauley, who then upgraded Darrin’s artisanal operation to a more-serious facility in Crawfordsville, IN. The new Darrins helped Macauley with a problem, as the Depression had decimated America’s luxury brands. Packard was skirting collapse on the back of its lower-priced 1935 120 Series, but by 1939, its famed Twelve was scheduled to be dropped, and the sexy new Darrin models would provide some distraction. Three entries were listed: Darrin’s original Convertible Victoria plus a 4-door Sport Convertible Sedan as well as a Custom Sport Sedan. The last two, priced at $6,300 and $6,100, respectively, were $2,000 costlier than any other Packard that year.

Bring your friends

Of the three, the Convertible Sedan offered the best of both worlds, combining the racy visage and swept-back windshield of the Victoria with the benefit of full 4-passenger open seating. (Though notable Packard collector Ralph Marano notes that it takes “two guys and two hours to put the top up or down.”) While it lacked the Victoria’s distinctive “Darrin dip,” its straight-through beltline and lack of running boards (still used on most of its competitors) made for dramatic proportions, emphasized in profile by the 138-inch wheelbase. Yet the combination of high price and mounting wartime anxiety crimped demand. Just 11 were reportedly constructed, and the variant disappeared from the Packard catalog entirely in 1941.

Trying to peg values on such a rare and singular car is challenging; prices for the few that have been sold at public auction have bounced between $250k and $350k. Our subject car has changed hands a few times in the past 20 years at the lower end of that range, including selling for $236,500 at an RM sale in 2014 (SCM# 244345). It most recently changed ownership at Gooding & Company’s 2023 Pebble Beach sale for the bargain price of just $162,400. Presuming that astute buyer was the consignor here, we have to consider the car well sold, though its new owner should also be satisfied.

At a time when grand classic collectors are aging out faster than younger buyers are emerging to take their place, a Packard Darrin of any variety is a welcome guest at most any event — especially a car as rarely seen as this. Though its restoration dates to the 1990s, its limited production, pedigreed ownership history and long list of honors indicate a fair price for a capital-C Classic that will never go out of style. ♦

(Introductory description courtesy of Worldwide Auctioneers.)

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