1939 Packard 1703 Super Eight Convertible Victoria

Packard's Super-8 range was divided into two series - the 1703 on a 127-inch platform and the 1705 on a larger 148-inch wheelbase - with both using the same straight-8 engine. In 1939 Packard halved the number of body styles for the Super-8 and introduced a new 356 cubic-inch engine, which was highly successful and continued on Packard's larger models until 1950. Darrin's Convertible Victoria was still an option, and this example is one of the first built on the shorter 1703 chassis in 1939. The very first of Darrin's Packard Convertible Victorias was built for movie actor Dick Powell in 1937, and the Hollywood crowd so admired the car that many of the stars of the day, including Clark Gable, Tyrone Power, Errol Flynn, Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, and Gene Krupa, became Darrin customers.

This particular car, with its trademark aluminum cowl and 'Darrin-dip' doors were built for the cowboy actor Tom Mix of Boston. The current owner fell in love with this car when he was eight years old and then spent three decades pursuing it. He now celebrates over 20 years of ownership.

Upon opening his coachworks, Darrin of Paris, on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California in 1937, Howard 'Dutch' Darrin drew on the work he'd done in Paris with Hibbard & Darrin, late Fernandez & Darrin. He introduced sensuous European curves onto the American chassis.

Darrin favored the impeccably engineered Packard, but economic considerations prevailed. Of the hand-built 'Darrins' produced in Hollywood prior to 1940, most rode the less expensive '120' platform. Only when a client requested the exclusive 'Super-8' version was it constructed. Seen here is the second of just six 'Super-8s' built.

Darrin's team incorporated his signature low-profile hood, down-swept doors and the chromed vee'd windshield. A cast aluminum cowl was installed to strengthen the low-slung open car. The movie crowd noticed. Contemporary owners of 'Hollywood' Packard Darrins included Clark Gable and Errol Flynn.

Packard's 1939 dashboard was cast from Tenite, an early 'cellulosic thermoplastic.' Unstable, the dashes were known to crumble over time. Here, the Tenite 'mica' infused dash has been faithfully reproduced using original methods. The recollections of 'Dutch' Darrin himself, in a 1967 issue of Car Classics, dictated this 'genuine saddle quality' leather upholstery. For the exterior, original paint samples led to the selection of Packard's polychromatic Havana Beige.