Hibbard & Darrin
Encyclopedia
Hibbard & Darrin was a French
coach building company
.
Two American designers, Thomas L Hibbard and Raymond H Dietrich had met while working for Brewster
. Tiring of the corporate environment they started freelance work in their spare time and when William H Brewster discovered this he fired Dietrich and Hibbard left.
They decided to set up on their own and formed a new company and called it LeBaron
after a family friend. LeBaron did not build car bodies, they sold designs.
Fellow designer, Howard "Dutch" Darrin met Tom Hibbard in 1923. Hibbard by this time had left LeBaron and the two decided to go to Paris, initially to try to sell LeBaron designs but instead decided to set up their own company and founded Hibbard & Darrin.
Over the next few years they built innovatively styled bodies on many of Europe's most prestigious chassis but the partnership ended in 1931 when Hibbard returned to the USA to take up a position in General Motors
's design department.
Darrin however remained in France and formed a new company with a wealthy French banker named Fernandez calling it Fernandez and Darrin.
Darrin also returned to the United States in 1937 to set up his own coachworks on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood.
Howard "Dutch" Darrin designed cars for Kaiser and Studebaker. With Bill Tritt he designed the Kaiser Darrin sports car. For Studebaker, renamed Studebaker Packard after their merger he designed cars that were never produced but can be seen at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, Indiana
. With his sons he designed some replica cars that were sold in kit form.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
coach building company
Coachbuilder
A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles.The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer , formed in 1810. Others in Britain included...
.
Two American designers, Thomas L Hibbard and Raymond H Dietrich had met while working for Brewster
Brewster & Co.
Brewster & Company was an American coachbuilder, active from 1810-1937. Their first known bodywork on an automobile was in 1896, on an electric car, and a gasoline powered car in 1905, on a Delaunay-Belleville chassis. Eventually they would use chassis from a variety of makers...
. Tiring of the corporate environment they started freelance work in their spare time and when William H Brewster discovered this he fired Dietrich and Hibbard left.
They decided to set up on their own and formed a new company and called it LeBaron
LeBaron
LeBaron may mean:* LeBaron Incorporated, a car design and body builder established in 1920* Chrysler LeBaron, a car model produced by Chrysler* Eddie LeBaron, a former professional American football player...
after a family friend. LeBaron did not build car bodies, they sold designs.
Fellow designer, Howard "Dutch" Darrin met Tom Hibbard in 1923. Hibbard by this time had left LeBaron and the two decided to go to Paris, initially to try to sell LeBaron designs but instead decided to set up their own company and founded Hibbard & Darrin.
Over the next few years they built innovatively styled bodies on many of Europe's most prestigious chassis but the partnership ended in 1931 when Hibbard returned to the USA to take up a position in General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
's design department.
Darrin however remained in France and formed a new company with a wealthy French banker named Fernandez calling it Fernandez and Darrin.
Darrin also returned to the United States in 1937 to set up his own coachworks on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood.
Howard "Dutch" Darrin designed cars for Kaiser and Studebaker. With Bill Tritt he designed the Kaiser Darrin sports car. For Studebaker, renamed Studebaker Packard after their merger he designed cars that were never produced but can be seen at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
. With his sons he designed some replica cars that were sold in kit form.