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I thought the special Darrin offered by Packard was a one-off car. Turns out there were 3 body styles sold over a period from 1937 to 1942 and could be ordered on two different Packard chassis.
The initial orders for this ultra-expensive car exceeded what Darrin could build in the former cola bottling factory building he had purchased in Los Angeles, so he went to what remained of the Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg company in Connersville Indiana in 1940 to get additional cars built there. There were 2 4-door Sports Sedans (steel tops), 5 Convertible sedans, and 40 Convertible Victorias produced in total over the year in Indiana. Auburn closed its doors at the end of 1940, so Darrin went next to a specialty vehicle builder in Cincinnati for production. The last Packard Darrin cars were built on the same assembly lines with a funeral hearse manufacturer. Production there totaled 50 over 1941 and 1942.
Here is a sample of Packard Darrin cars for 1938, 1939, 1940 and 1941:
1938
Photos by JCarnutz
An earlier LA-produced version was built for and sold to Clark Cable:
There Were More Packard Darrin models than 1940 !
Posted - 02/19/2025 : 07:12:20
