Some of the rarest and most desirable “Darrin” Packards are the 1941 and 1942 models featuring the new, up-to-date Clipper-inspired styling with the model’s signature extended hood line, low vee’d windshield, and cut-down doors. As before, these automobiles were essentially hand-built to individual customer order; just 35 were produced in 1941.

The DeAtley Darrin was sold new on 29 May 1941 to Howard Viet of Pebble Beach, California, by Stahl Motors of Monterey. Mr. Viet owned the car until his passing in the early 1950s, after which his widow sold the car to Mark Raggatt of Carmel, a longtime family friend. Mr. Raggatt exhibited the Packard at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1956, when it was largely still a small, local charity car show.

Subsequently, the car passed through the hands of early Packard enthusiasts Patrick Young and Tom Mix, then several Midwestern collectors, including the late Harold Mistele. In 1990 it was purchased by Bill Weltyk of Oak Brook, Illinois, who sourced a correct 1941 engine block (replacing the 1948 block in the car), which was completely rebuilt, and had the engine compartment detailed and fitted with new wiring. Much of the chrome work was refinished or replaced, and the body was professionally stripped to bare metal, blocked and sanded, and refinished in the year-correct color of Saratoga Beige, with a new leather interior and wood-grain-and-plastic dashboard, per original specifications.

The late Neil DeAtley acquired the Packard in 2007 from well-known specialist Tom Mix, and it was maintained in his distinguished collection for over a decade. It was occasionally driven and shown in local CCCA Arizona Region activities and has been well maintained in beautiful overall condition.

This is a particularly beautiful and well-kept Darrin, long considered among the most well preserved and to have the best-known ownership history of any surviving 1941 model. It would be an ideal addition to any distinguished Packard collection, or, alternatively, a superb CARavan automobile, offering outstanding performance that is some of the best of its era.