Re: Anyone know the history of this 1940 Darrin listed on eBay?

Posted by Tim Cole On 2016/7/5 15:20:47

There is a distinct possibility the car was once owned by Louis Johnson. Louis owned the car in the late 1940's and owned it the rest of his life. The reason I say this is because the car has the hood louvers which are not original.

Originally the hood sides on Louis's car were cut down by Darrin and the louvers eliminated, but people (experts) kept telling Louis he should have a louvered hood so he had us make hood sides with the louvers. I thought the car looked better without them.

I like the 120 Darrins much better than the 180 Darrins. They drive better. The 180 Darrins have tremendous understeer and drive like land yachts. However, the 120 Darrins need some work to stabilize the cowl because the doors can fly open. Ken Hines had a seat belt connecting the two doors to prevent the problem. As well I think the car is better proportioned.

The pictures don't show the car with the top up. Louis's car had the original Darrin top bows which the experts always cut down. However, on this car the seats have been altered from the original so they probably butchered the Darrin top design as well. Louis's car had the original seating and top bows. So if there is a 120 Darrin with the correct seats and top bows and an extra pair of non-louvered hood sides then that is certainly Louis Johnson's car and not this one.