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Packard developed a number of factory body styles, but it was Darrin who broke the trend of stately and predicable in-house designs. Despite making a striking Convertible Victoria, Packard initially refused to include Darrin designs as a factory option. This changed when a single Convertible Victoria was parked in front of a dealer's convention in Detroit. Almost immediately afterwards, Packard offered the Darrin Convertible Victoria and advertised it as the "Glamour Car of the Year!"¹

Not surprisingly, the source of these magnificent bodies came from France. Howard 'Dutch' Darrin relocated from Paris to California and one of his first projects was the Packard chassis. By the time Packard officially recognized Darrin, he had done around 16 Packards including both coupes and convertibles.² These were the first Packards to feature no running boards, but also had an extensive makeover including channeled body sections that removed up to three inches of height from the body, curved doors with the signature 'Darrin Dip', reprofiled fenders and a lowered engine that dropped the entire body. In many ways these were modernized versions of Packard's existing designs, but they were very expensive to produce. With an extended hood, Darrin bodies were also designed with an excellent sense of proportion which some of the standard bodies lacked.

By 1940, Packard offered the Darrin Convertible Victoria as an official model. To ramp up production, these were made at the derelict Auburn plant in Cornersville, Indiana. Since the bodies retained very little of the standard Packard pressings, they were very time consuming and expensive to build. To achieve a lower stance Darrin replaced the front cross member of the chassis to lower the front grill. In fact, a recall was later issued for all Darrin models to reinforce this area after delivery.¹

Darrin build the Convertible Victoria on both the 127-inch One-Eighty Custom Super 8 chassis and the 120-inch One-Twenty Junior version. Aside from the length and engines, the One Twenty featured smaller bumpers, a static grill and a metal dashboard. At $3,800 and $4,570 respectively, the Convertible Victorias were only cheaper than the Darrin Convertible Sedan produced at $6,300 USD-nearly four times more expensive that the standard Packard Business Coupe.

Packard had Darrin start production in 1940 on the Eighteenth Series, beginning with the Custom Super-8 One-Eighty chassis. These used an inline-8 engine that was one of the most powerful of its time, only being eclipsed by the Cadillac V16 or defunct Duesenberg. In total, less than 100 Convertible Victorias were produced on both the Custom Super 8 One-Eighty and One-Twenty Junior chassis.

Chassis & Sales

A309389 - 1938 Packard Eight. Ordered by Cark Gable, this Packard was sent to Howard 'Dutch' Darrin in California to be transformed into a dramatic Convertible Victoria. As such it was one of the first Victorias and went on to motivate Packard to officially pickup the model in 1940. Gable's car was actually the second Convertible Victoria built and started life as a Packard Eight Business Coupe. Darrin and his team including Paul Erdos, Rudy Stoessel, Harry Fels, Oscar Haskey and Bert Chalmers left little of the original Coupe.

Sold by Bonhams at their 2009 Greenwich Concours d'Elegance, Collectors' Motorcars and Automobilia Auction. Described as "The second Darrin Convertible Victoria was ordered by dashing, debonair Clark Gable. The Gable Convertible Victoria and the first two-seater for Chester Morris were built with a traditionally coach built ash framed, aluminum paneled cowl. Rudy Stoessel was hard at work designing and making patterns for a 3-piece cast aluminum cowl that would be more quickly assembled and stronger but it was not ready and Clark Gable was not a client to be taken lightly. His car was finished expeditiously and earned Darrin instant national recognition.

Sam Broadhead and his brother-in-law James Plumb, Jr. discovered this car in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was owned by Ernest Sulek who recounted buying it in about 1960 from a military officer. It had been bought in Los Angeles and driven to Cedar Rapids and Sulek said he’d been told when he got it, “Clark Gable owned this car.” After some persuasion (and two floods on the Cedar River which did the Packard no favors) Broadhead persuaded Sulek to part with it in 1962.

Restoration was carefully undertaken including noting many original markings as they were discovered. Among them were “Cook’s Top Shop, 6063 Melrose” in chalk on the back of one of the kick-boards and a stenciled number PACK 127 7-22-37 52A on the frame. The wooden framing of the cowl was, Broadhead described in a Packard Cormorant article, duplicated as closely as possible.

Later Dutch Darrin acknowledged the Broadheads’ car as the one built for Clark Gable in both an article he wrote in the Packard Club’s Cormorant magazine and in a letter to the editor in Cormorant. Only two Packard Darrin Convertible Victorias were constructed with coachbuilt wood-framed cowls like this. The Gable car also is identifiable according to Dutch Darrin’s Cormorant letter by the length of the hood which stretched to within a half-inch of the door opening, the only one of the series build this way.

It has many other unique and very pleasing distinctions. The engine is dropped four inches in the frame which allowed Darrin to section three inches from the radiator grille shell and to similarly lower the body over the frame. Both the front and rear fenders have been substantially reshaped for a more streamlined effect, then repositioned relative to the body and frame. To take full advantage of these changes Darrin also reprofiled the rocker panels, giving them a curved and flared treatment reminiscent of the most pleasing Packard LeBaron coachwork, subtlety highlighted by this car’s freedom from superfluous chrome detailing.

It was acquired by Ted Leonard from the Broadheads in 1982, becoming one of the cornerstones of his unique and varied collection. Subsequent to acquiring it Leonard had it repainted in its present Black livery and reupholstered with Red leather, believing along with Broadhead that this was the original color scheme. A quantity of documentation comes with it including George Bruce’s 1950 California fishing license (illustrated) and correspondence from Bruce, Skip Marketti and others in the successful quest to identify this car conclusively as Clark Gable’s.

It is absolutely unique not only because of its unsurpassed celebrity ownership history but more importantly because of its unique design details, particularly the extended hood which was not employed on subsequent aluminum cowl Darrin Convertible Victorias. The combination of documentary evidence, the car’s physical structure and details and Dutch Darrin’s own statements conclusively establish its provenance as one of Hollywood legend Clark Gable’s important, powerful, exclusive automobiles and the first five-passenger Packard Darrin Convertible Victoria. It is uniquely designed and executed in a pure, uncontrived expression of his vision for the Packard convertible victoria, uncompromised by production considerations.

Ted Leonard kept this car carefully and proudly for a quarter century, preserving it and its history for subsequent generations. This is an unparalleled opportunity to acquire one of the most important and beautiful Packards ever built, owned by Clark Gable and the first of its historic style."

Sources & Further Reading

1. Kimes, Bevely Rae.Packard. A History of the Motor Car and the Company..Automobile Quarterly: 1978.
2. Coachbuilt.com.Darrin of Paris, 1937-1939

Story by Richard Owen

Chassis & Sales

1939 Packard 120 Convertible Victoria - sold for $148,500 This 1939 Packard 120 Darrin Convertible Victoria remains highly presentable, having undergone a restoration spanning the latter part of 2006 and early 2007. The restoration was primarily cosmetic in scope, with the Packard requiring only minor mechanical attention. Stripped to bare metal, the bodywork was thoroughly prepared, repainted, color-sanded and buffed. During the process, a section of original paint was discovered, so it was decided ... more
Gallery: 2010 Vintage Cars of Meadow Book by RM Auctions

1938 Packard Eight Convertible Victoria - sold for $269,500 This car, the second Darrin convertible, was reportedly built for legendary actor Clark Gable whose appetite for new and sleek automobiles was almost insatiable. The car would be built using traditional coachbuilding principles, including an ash frame with aluminum cowl and many hand-fashioned trim pieces. It would be the first five-passenger Packard Darrin Convertible Victoria produced. Packard Darrin #2, the Clark Gable car, shows eviden... more
Gallery: RM Auctions' 2010 Sports & Classics of Monterey

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