"Dutch" Darrin's 1940 Packard Sport Sedan

Howard "Dutch" Darrin (1897-1992), biographical info here, is known for his custom car body designs, although he also consulted for Kaiser-Frazer post- World War 2.

For the 1940 model year he provided sporty designs for Packard sedans in addition to his better-known 1937-1942 Packard Darrin convertible coupes.  Today's post presents some images of his 1940 Packard Custom Super Eight One-Eighty Sport Sedan.  Photo sources vary.  One seems to be from RM Sotheby's, two are via the Concept Carz web site, and the remainder are from sources I cannot identity.  There weren't enough Internet images to yield a walkaround, so below is a randomly scattered set of views.

Like Darrin's 1940 Packard Custom Super Eight One-Eighty Sport Sedans, the body abaft of the front end is lower and sleeker, resulting in an interesting mix of tradition and futurism.

Gallery

Fenders and the front end are production Packard items.

This car lacks fender-mounted spare tires and running boards.  Its body is lower, and seems to be the prototype of the others.

The roof is quite rounded by even 1940 standards, and windows are small.

Thanks to its four-window configuration and small-for-1940 backlight window, the C-pillars are enormous.  Trunk area sheetmetal seems the same as on Darrin's convertible sedans.  And the trunk lid might be the same used for Packard coupes.

The angular profile of the rear window is in contrast to the rounded aft roofline.

Given the heavy, rounded roof, I think Darrin might have been wise to reconsider the shape of the rear door's window.