Re: Darrin Sport Sedan....

Posted by Bobby On 2018/8/10 18:58:01

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in one of those product planning meetings! My understanding of the Speedster series...I believe from the Kimes tome we all know and love...is that the V-16 took Packard totally by surprise, and that their immediate response was the Speedster series..which I agree came from the fertile mind of Jesse Vincent and his love for speed. These were truly excellent cars, perhaps the first factory hot rods....and although targeting a different segment of the market...in general and surely for Packard itself....they more generally targeted wealthy consumers who were rightly wowed by V-16 power and the plethora of fine body styles available. Aside from the uniqueness of the Speedster series for Packard itself..a company known not so much for brute speed but gentle refinement, was the complete absence of any marketing for them..which of course is reflected in the low sales of around 100. I find this inexplicable.

The issue with the Darrins was the choice to instead of making these standard Senior fare, Macauley instead agreed to simply catalog them. Around the same time, he contracted with Darrin to design the new Clipper....a brilliant design that should have been introduced as the senior, too...so, clearly management saw the value and worth of Dutch's obvious talent.

I've always enjoyed Darrin's creations..perhaps b/c of his larger than life personality, but mostly, b/c his designs were, to my eye, simply gorgeous in a flowing, contemporary way..utilizing both balance and proportion and fine detail. I recently got a 1/43 Matrix version of the Darrin Sport Sedan...a neat and far less expensive way of obtaining one of the actual 2 or 3 still extant..and began to think more on what was and how it came to pass, and more importantly, what could have been.

Packard needed something, and sometimes it seems like it was just right there.