Howard A. " Dutch " Darrin , the man behind the 1937 - 1942 Packard Darrin leave an indelible imprint , not only on the automobile , but on the people he met in the old elevator car motion , long after his career building and designing cars had ended .
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Dutch Darrin was a kind of " breakaway designer . " He was crusty , hardbitten and had no reticence about expressing his opinions . He had ostentate blue eye , snowy snowy tomentum in later lifespan , a bubbling enthusiasm for what he like , a shrivel up contempt for what he did n’t . Interviewing and describe on Dutch was a tryout of a writer ’s finesse : the artwork of equilibrize Darrin ’s fierce conviction with the popular opinion of others who sometimes saw matters in quite a unlike way .
You ca n’t please all of the hoi polloi all of the time , and on occasion a diarist would credit the haywire designer . Do this with Brooks Stevens and he ’d send an elegant and polite correction by ring armour ; do it with Raymond Loewy and he ’d jeopardize to sue ; do it with Dutch and he ’d ring : " I take issue with your conclusions and will not have my name attached to them . Goodbye . " number to think of it , he did the same thing at Kaiser - Frazer , when he took umbrage at something they ’d done to neuter his design for the 1951 Kaiser – so in 1952 , off get the piffling chrome " Darrin Styled " nameplate , which Dutch had insist they put on in the first place !
He had an automotive program vitae that put to pity most of his pattern contemporaries . go in the adolescent as a Westinghouse engineer , he invented an electric shifter for John North Willys , deciding then and there to spend his career on cars instead of electronics . When he decease to France with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I , he drop in love with Paris .
In 1920 he establish America ’s first scheduled airline business , Aero Ltd. , but he soon returned to Paris and fix himself up as a custom coachbuilder , initially using the Minerva chassis . He was shortly building customs bodies for the cream of European lodge , working on his own or in successful partnership with designer Tom Hibbard and , later , a banker make Fernandez .
To keep reading about Dutch Darrin ’s fiery personality and history in the motorcar industry , turn to the next pageboy .
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Dutch Darrin, the 1937-1942 Packard Darrin Creator
To have known Dutch Darrin – graphic designer of the 1937 Packard Darrin – in legendary , between - state of war Paris would have provided a writer with grist for a lifetime . Forty year later he would sparkle as he recalled Moulin Rouge , the Left Bank , and Montmartre in the Roaring Twenties .
His friends were people the eternal sleep of us have only read about : René Mathis of Ford - France , André Citröen , Louis Renault , the brothers Panhard , Ettore Bugatti , Sir John Siddeley , princes and dictator , presidents and Marco Polo player . To have associated with all these ; to have had the unbelievable luck he always acknowledge ; to have delight a rich career , and to have had fun doing it , is surely what the philosopher have in mind when he talked about living life to the fullest .
In 1937 , Darrin moved to California , transfer his activities from individual to semi - custom-made bodies , but keep a clear-cut style that mark them instantly as his own . Here he was help by two experienced coachbuilders , Paul Erdos and Rudy Stoessel , the latter going on to found California ’s long - hold up Coachcraft Inc. Typically , Darrin made do with little , buy a former bottling factory with a good location : Sunset Strip , Hollywood .
" After fix the place up I did n’t have money to spend on dental plate glass windows , " he said , " so we station a plyboard sectionalization 10 feet behind the store front and display our Modern cars in the open . You could stand there at night and hear the scream of brake and see cars gage up and mass getting out to examine our product . "
He styled himself " Darrin of Paris , " and like Raymond Loewy he had an aristocratic French accent that he could turn on or off as the motive arose . Dutch ’s clientele now include the New World ’s nobility , such as Errol Flynn , Constance Bennett , Clark Gable , Ann Sheridan , and Carole Lombard .
Innately gifted , Dutch was always in person regard in the cars that bore his name : everything from his custom bodies of the twenties and thirties through his reskinned Rolls - Royce Silver Shadows in the 1970s . Unlike Raymond Loewy , he was not a stylist - become - marketing expert , who discovered and hired talented employees and require credit ( as Loewy had a rightfield to do ) for what they farm . Dutch did it all – even supervise the construction of semi - customs like the famous Packard Darrins . They might not have been paragons of craftsmanship , but by gosh they were singular , beautiful , and as dashing as all get - out .
Darrin ’s Packard connection stemmed from his decision to refund to America from France in 1937 . He realized that the eld of full - custom bodies was waning , but thought the Hollywood film colony would purchase rakish semi - customs . His construct , for which he deserves deferred payment as a pioneer , was to customize production cars and produce articulated lorry - customs – comparatively inexpensive , yet distinct from aggregative - market material . Of Packard he said , " Its chassis was unimpeachable , and its classical grille was a great starting item . " He had always picture himself " a strong grille Isle of Man , " count on the radiator to focus his design , though his favorite American output motorcar was the grilleless Cord 810/812 , designed by a Isle of Man Dutch considered a genius , the late Gordon Miller Buehrig .
Darrin began designing what would be the first model of the Packard Darrin series . On the next page study about the thought process that go into the design of the car .
Development of the 1937-1938 Packard Darrin
The first 1937 Packard Darrin taught Dutch a nifty deal about his semi - custom-made concept . Built in a Los Angeles body and fender shop class before Darrin moved into Sunset Strip , it was created for actor Dick Powell . The chassis was from a 1938 Eight ( aka One Twenty ) and the body looked splendid , with sweeping fenders and a abject beltline display the characteristic " Darrin dip " at the doors . But Dutch had cut up a business coupe to build it , and human body for closed car were n’t as strict as those for candid models . The car leaked like a sieve and had too much consistence flex .
Darrin built two more five - passenger Packard Darrins at another body shop before the move to Sunset Strip , trade one to Clark Gable . Like the first example , these had wooden cowls , which contributed most of the shake , rattle , and pealing . Once " production " got rolling at Sunset Strip , clever Rudy Stoessel design a cast Al cowl , which made a immense difference on the 16 - 18 Darrin Packards build in 1938 - 1939 .
Among their buyers were Rosalind Russell , Chester Morris , and Al Jolson , who each paid a nerveless $ 4200 - 5200 , probably equivalent to six figures in today ’s money . ( That was peanuts compared to some of the esoteric special the picture show crowd was buy at the time , support Dutch ’s estimation of relying hard on production car components . ) For some of these customers , Packard Darrins were only too special . Dick Powell sold automobile number one after a few months because citizenry were noticing , wave , and chasing him for autographs .
These former Darrins were strictly freelance occupation with no mill sanction or blessing . Indeed , the sophisticated , honest-to-god - telephone circuit Packard Company back on Grand Boulevard in Detroit search askance at Hollywood ’s custom body builder , producing slender open four - seaters instead of square toes - edged Rollston limos or LeBaron town cars . Dutch , however , was determined to sell the Darrin to Packard as a catalog offering .
Darrin in reality preferred the chassis of the medium - price Packard One Twenty to that of the Super Eight or Twelve for the design of his Packard Darrin . " For one affair , it was more up to date , and for another it was considerably lighter , " he said . " By lowering the radiator I knew I could make a very beautiful customs - incarnate Packard One Twenty with little change in its introductory structure . "
Like Loewy , Darrin believe that " weighting is the Enemy . " There was also an economic side to his reasoning : a One Twenty was much brassy than a older Packard , and considerably easier to modify .
In 1938 , he convinced the Detroit Packard dealer council to commission a Darrin for their one-year show at the Packard Proving Grounds – the party ’s home turf . It was another campaign into what Dutch always bid " my dangerous undertaking in the American self-propelled hobo camp . "
" Art Fitzpatrick , who achieved fame as a commercial-grade creative person for Pontiac , was work for me at the time , " Dutch drop a line inAutomobile Quarterlyin 1972 . " He and a supporter drive day and night to get there in time . They scat into a inebriated driver who smash one whole side of the elevator car . "
It was still driveable , so Darrin had his male child drive it ( unauthorized ) onto the Proving Grounds and park it off to one side with the undamaged side showing . " A great lot of enthusiasm was created , " continued Dutch , but " Packard establishment were furious and would n’t speak to me for for a while . " At first the Company refused to catalogue Darrins , but dealer in conclusion raised so much clamor that Packard chairman Alvan Macauley called on Dutch to speak thing over on one of his trip-up to California .
Dutch Darrin had an unorthodox method for getting his point across at time . On the next page take about how he got Packard to approve the Darrin Victoria for production in 1940 .
The 1940 Packard Darrin
Because the 1937 - 1938 Packard Darrin was make such a bombilation , packard Chairman Alvan Macauley take it upon himself to go to California and see the automobile for himself .
When Macauley ventured that the Packard Darrins had a repute for body flex , Dutch leaped up on the hood of the nearest example in his shop . " Get off , " yelled Macauley , " you ’ll destroy it for sure ! " Dutch just grinned at him , leap up and down . Unbeknown to Macauley , it was one of those with Rudy Stoessel ’s cast aluminum cowling . " I asked if he think it was strong enough . That was how I got Packard to approve the Darrin Victoria for product . " It appeared for the first time in Packard ’s 1940 catalogue .
There were strings attached to this deal : one was Alvan Macauley ’s stipulation that most Darrins be built on the Super Eight chassis , this for prestige purposes . He said Dutch could turn out a handful on the One Twenty chassis – with a considerably reduce list Mary Leontyne Price of $ 3800 , f.o.b . – but the majority had to be Super Eights . Packard also specified two extra body dash , a Convertible Sedan and a four - doorway Sport Sedan .
The late Warren Fitzgerald , an towering Packard agency , entertain the Convertible Sedan the best conception of the three : " It had the long 138 - inch wheelbase , compound with the three - inch - long hood , which made for arresting proportions . " Dutch accord with this thought , but thought the Sport Sedan should not have been ramp up at all : " It was n’t possible to alter it as dramatically as the open models . " Yet it depend fabulous today , somewhat reminiscent of Bill Mitchell ’s pacesetting Cadillac Sixty Specials , but tout ensemble sleeker , more flowing .
A fourth type , never catalogued , was a magnificent Model 1806 ( 1940 ) Coupe de Ville , its elegant landau bars complement the bend of Darrin ’s beltline . This car was built as an motorcar show particular , but several others survey in 1941 ; at least one has survived .
The Super Eight Darrins were priced at $ 4570 for the Convertible Victoria , around $ 6100 for the Sport Sedan , and $ 6300 for the Convertible Sedan – the latter two were more expensive than any other model in the 1940 catalog by nearly $ 2000 . Even at these prices , demand would be brisk , however , and Darrin knew he ’d need more cars than he could produce at Sunset Strip . So he format with Roy Faulkner , United States President of the almost defunct Auburn Motor Car Company , to produce 1940 Packard Darrins at the Auburn plant in Connersville , Indiana .
Production estimates vary . The Sport Sedan was drop after a reported two were built ; figures of five Convertible Sedans and 40 Victorias are commonly quoted . raw serial / eubstance number analysis by Charles Blackman of the Packard Club may alter these numbers .
Whatever the real figures , yield was inevitably throttle . Packard must have presently like there were more to go around . Showroom floor dealings increase 300 pct when a Darrin was on display , and a bargainer was allocated a Darrin only if he ’d promise to keep it on the floor for a month whether it was sold or not .
On the next page interpret about the unusual stunt Dutch Darrin would perform to advertize the 1941 and 1942 Packard Darrins .
The 1941-1942 Packard Darrin
Back in Hollywood , Dutch Darrin was promoting the 1940 Packard Darrin with his common dash : " One of the stunts we did was to leave one of the cars in front of Romanoff ’s where many of the Hollywood personalities had lunch . We ’d bribe the doorman to keep an empty space right by the door , so anyone alight could n’t help but notice it . We also find a lot of free publicity , and made a little side money by renting our car to the studios for movies . "
Dutch was hinge on high : " I figured I ’d strike the big time . Packard was the most prestigious luxury car manufacturer in the country , and they would sure enough take every Darrin I could hand them . We were soon dispiritedly backlogged and I lead to Detroit looking for more production facility . "
Dutch was unable to set up any product in Detroit , and Auburn closed its automotive air division at the end of 1940 . Darrin then transferred the mathematical operation to the hearse and blossom car builder Sayers and Scoville in Cincinnati , Ohio . " Their director were all on hand to watch the first 1941 Packard Darrin come off the communication channel – followed nearly by a hearse ! " Dutch said . " It was quite a mint . "
Quoted output figures for the Cincinnati Darrins , all Super Eight Convertible Victorias , were 35 for 1941 and 15 for 1942 . A Sport Sedan was catalogued for 1941 , but there is no record of any production . In design , the Cincinnati cars followed established Darrin lines , with trim shuffling to cooccur with exemplar year face - lifts : cowcatcher - top parking lights for 1941 , low horizontal flanking grilles on each side of the main lattice for 1942 .
Some Packard follower have wondered why the company itself never took on Darrin production . There are many good grounds , the main one being the transfer of Packard body production from its own Grand Boulevard plant to Briggs commencing in 1940 .
Other factors included the strong emphasis on medium- and broken - medium price models by 1940 , and the relatively modified market for Darrins ; had Packard made the cars usable in straight-out quantity , emptor for such esoteric manakin would have eventually petered out because there simply were n’t that many to go around , even with the Depression ending .
Finally , Packard never entirely get over its doubt about the geomorphologic rigidness of the Darrin , Rudy Stoessel ’s aluminum cowls notwithstanding . P.S. de Beaumont , a prewar Packard railroad engineer , said the company actually produced kits to improve front - end strength , because Dutch had move out the radiator cradle to lower the grille . The Darrins look fantastic , management may have reasoned , but they still were n’t up to Packard body monetary standard .
Because of World War II , Dutch switched his focal point to other pursuits . Read about the final days of the Packard Darrin on the next pageboy .
The Final Days of the Packard Darrin
World War II and the Second Coming of Christ of the gasbag - body Clipper brought the final end to Packard Darrin production . ( A two-fold irony : Dutch claimed that he for the most part designed the Clipper , but that Packard never paid him for it . ) Darrin end run with cars and run off to serve train pilots for the air war , continuing to tie in with exalted figures , notably flier / industrialist Howard Hughes .
At war ’s end , he went back to torso building , and played a major office in both figure generations of Kaiser - Frazer , contributed to the Jeep Wagoneer , and ran off stillborn marriage offer for Crosley , DKW , Ilian of Israel , and Kaiser - Argentina .
One of his last projects was a Darrin edition of the Rolls - Royce Silver Shadow , in which he transmute a boxy , Volvo - same affaire into a curvaceous sedan chair along intimate line , with his patented beltline pickpocket and jutting , rounded fenders . He never worked again for Packard , though he did conceive an challenging four - nates convertible with two - way sliding doors allow entry to the front or rear compartment . The idea was utterly impractical , but it sport one of the most beautiful modern adaptation of the traditional Packard grille ever conceptualize .
Howard A. " Dutch " Darrin had very firm ideas about how such projects should be deal . He sailed confidently frontwards , and once arrived in his interface of conclusion , no attack by ground or ocean was sufficient to dislodge him . He was a great jokester and a wonderful needler , but there was a serious side to him too , and nobody was more loyal to a friend .
If there was one quality which set Dutch off from most corresponding automotive figure , it was his characteristic way of standing back and front at himself , as he believe account would : " How will I front if I do this or that ? " Or : " What must I do now so that the finding of fact of history will be favorable ? " Like Churchill , he was always look for for finest hours , and if one was not immediately available , his impulse was to create one .
He was , of class , above all , supremely fortunate . Time and again , as with the immortal Packard Darrins , history place him in a role that he was ideally dependant to meet . Dutch was superbly favourable . And perhaps the warmest matter about him was that he never give up to say so – as for example in 1972 : " Whoever think that a dim kid like me would pass into a strawberry patch ? "
Among the many auto collectors who knew him in his later years , each recalls some little incident – many of them , a kind action graced with the courtesy of retiring propagation , decease far beyond the normal calls of cultivated communication . Each accumulator has his own memory , for in the wealth of the tributes Dutch received at his death all of them at least make love the epitaph he would have chosen himself : " He was a in effect automobile man . "
