Beschreibung:

Howard "Dutch" Darrin was perhaps the best known and most charismatic of all the American body designers. His name had graced the Titles of several prominent Coachbuilding shops both here and abroad. Hibbard and Darrin and Fernandez and Darrin both were prominent European coach building shops and Darrin was a rare American who infiltrated the European Coachbuilding industry. In the late thirties as the Custom era was winding down Darrin returned to America. Always having a knack for getting financial support for his next enterprise he wasted no time and set up a shop in Hollywood in 1938. This shop was cleverly named Darrin of Paris to capitalize on his European persona. Because of his location, well-bred manner and life-style Darrin became a favorite with Hollywood celebrities. As is today many of his clients were not satisfied with an off the shelf car and looked to Darrin to transform it into something befitting a celebrity. His first job was a Two-Seater sport body on a Ford chassis for Percy Morgan. His next project was a very clever conversion that would be one of his most famous contribution to motoring history. Starting with the very nicely styled Packard Eight coupe Darrin removed the roof cut-down the doors with a European sweep and fitted a handsome Victoria top. This design would be the first Packard Darrin and eventually be adopted as an actual model in 1941. In addition to these modifications the first two Packards Darrins produced in Hollywood also had very long hoods that went all the way to the split v-windshield frame. The combination of a long hood and a split v-windshield is a formula for success on a Packard and is direct a quote of the most famous custom Packards of 1934 from LeBaron and Dietrich. This custom work on the smaller 127" Eight chassis made for a nimble and sporty machine more akin in scale to the Delahayes, Delages and Alfa Romeos of Europe so fashionable at the time. The resulting Packard Eight was one of the only small, sporty custom bodied cars produced in that era and they reflect Darrin's long emersion in European auto industry. In Packard terms this may well be the holy grail for those that prize the innovative way in which Howard 'Dutch' Darrin was able to take the luxurious late 30s Packards and give them pure Hollywood glamour, which led to the adoption of this styling as a catalogued model. Although Darrin produced just one earlier Packard, this did not have the same styling cues which one associates with the design of the production automobile and can be found on the dozen customs built. Built for Chester Morris this remains one of the most attractive cars of the convertible victorias. The long hood, standard height radiator and the stock Packard running boards have a pleasing harmonious look that not all his designs achieved. Successfully taking advantage of the Packard's best features combined with his characteristic changes really works on this example. The Packard Eight Coupes were a high quality, well made and handsomely styled car. Eight became the designation for the 120 Series cars with eight-cylinder engines in 1938. The great Packard details and proportions were certainly what attracted Darrin to the model. The slope of the rear deck worked perfectly with the convertible Victoria top. The Eights cross-braced frame easily coped with the extra stress of the open top conversion. Under the hood a straight eight engine gave the car good performance and the three-speed transmission was smooth and quiet. The engine coolant temperature was regulated through automatic shutters in the radiator shell. It has also been told that Darrin had a supply of these Eight coupes he could buy at a discount price, this appealed to Darrin's business side. The Darrin was purchased by the current owner in 1984, and had received a relatively swift and unsympathetic refurbishment in the 1960s. Keen to research more about the car, the owner was able to track down a very old Rudy Stoessel who was able