Darrin, Howard A.

Howard A. "Dutch" Darrin (1897-1982) was an American industrial designer. Known as a designer of luxury automobiles,he was a consultant to many high-end automobile makers including Renault (France), Daimler-Benz (Germany), Rolls Royce (England), and - in the U.S. - Stutz, Packard, Studebaker, Graham-Paige, and Kaiser-Frazer. In the 1920s he partnered with Thomas L. Hibbard as Hibbard & Darrin, based in Paris; their projects included the 1931 Rolls Royce Phantom. After Hibbard left the firm in the 1930s Darrin partnered with French financier M. Ferndandez as Fernandez & Darrin. In the 1940s Darrin relocated to Los Angeles, California where he established his own design shop, Darrin of Paris. His extensive collaboration with Packard resulted in the Packard Darrin (1940) and the Packard Clipper (1942), while his work with Kaiser-Frazer gave rise to the 1951 Kaiser Manhattan, which won the Grand Prix d'Honneur at the Councours d'Elegance in Cannes, and the Kaiser-Darrin sports car. Many major Hollywood personalities owned Darrin or Darrin-designed automobiles.

From the guide to the Howard A. Darrin Papers, 1919-1961, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)