Lot S50 // 1936 Packard Twelve Gentleman’s Tailback Speedster // Mecum Monterey 2016

Website: Learn About the Car: Register to Bid: For many years, the provenance of this automobile has been the subject of much research by historians and the curiosity of avid Packard enthusiasts. Differing opinions have been brought forth over several decades about this vehicle’s origins and early history. As the auction house, we will disclose the available information brought to our attention in an effort to provide potential buyers as much information as possible to assist in their decision making process to bid confidently at auction. Please note this 1936 Packard Twelve Gentleman’s Tailback Speedster is being offered by America’s Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio and the following narrative has been provided by the museum’s historian. This 1936 Packard Fernandez & Darrin Speedster is one of the most stunning Packards in existence; exquisitely designed, beautifully executed, and perfectly restored. It is a one-off, V-12 Packard sports car, and has recently completed a 3-year, 7,000 hour, restoration, at a cost in excess of $450,000. It is certainly one of the finest Classic Era motor cars, of any marque, ever built. Its jet-black finish is unblemished; its taupe ostrich-leather and Wilton wool interior is flawless; as is its interior and exterior brightwork; its instrumentation all works properly; it runs and drives as new. According to America’s Packard Museum, this coachwork was designed and executed by the fabled Howard “Dutch” Darrin in Paris, in 1936, when he was in partnership with J. Fernandez, a wealthy banker and furniture manufacturer. It is one of a group of either five or six speedsters (history is a little vague on this point) which Darrin built on various chassis, including Packard, Duesenberg, Delage, and Buick (and perhaps another) in the 1936/1937 time frame, and shortly before Darrin shut down the Paris operation and returned to Hollywood, California in mid-1937. It is believed that the Buick example exists today and the Delage was spotted on national television with President Jimmy Carter riding in the car. These particular speedsters were all produced by using a cache of Auburn Speedster “bodies-in-white” which Darrin had been able to acquire from the financially troubled Auburn Distributor in Paris, as a starting point. This example is believed to have been originally commissioned by Parisian playboy Count Armand de La Rochefoucauld, Darrin’s polo-playing pal. Howard Darrin’s passion for polo was shared by La Rochefoucauld, who, though not having Darrin’s skill, was still an aficionado of the sport, and owned many of the ponies ridden by Darrin. It is reported that by early 1937 La Rochefoucauld owned not only a Fernandez & Darrin Town Car, executed on a Hispano-Suiza chassis, but the Packard Twelve Speedster as well. This magnificent motor car, like many others, has acquired over the years a “Legend” in which it is claimed that a Mr. Dick Saunders, in upstate New York, built this piece of rolling art, “in his backyard” using a rope, a tree limb, a dis-used Auburn boattail body, and a Packard Twelve chassis and engine. Or maybe it was first on a Marmon chassis, either with or without a Marmon V-16 engine, depending on who is telling which version of the Legend. Or maybe the Packard Twelve was in the Marmon chassis. Or maybe the Marmon V-16 engine was in the Packard chassis. Documentation reveals that Mr. Saunders owned 116 Packards throughout his lifetime. He was one of the forefathers of Packard hot rodding and had created many different custom Packard Speedsters over the years. Mr. Saunders was in inveterate tinkerer, whole loved to play “mix and match” with various engines, chassis and bodies. It is documented that Mr. Saunders owned two or more Packard Speedsters fitted with custom Auburn bodies. After Saunders’ death, his boattail was acquired from his estate by a Mr. Harold Sliger, from Illinois. Sliger was smart enough to seek out and find Mr. Darrin, for advice in restoring his car to its original glory. Mr. Darrin agreed to help Sliger, and advise him on what had to be both done and/or undone, or both, to restore the car to its original configuration. Sliger spent many nights on the telephone with Darrin and his son Patrick, consulting on these matters. When his trucking would take him to California, he would personally visit with both of them for the same purposes. Patrick recalls these visits and calls as he participated in them. Patrick recalls that his father told both him and Mr. Sliger that the car was his creation, in Paris.