3 hours ago, Walt G said:Vince, thank you for your comments and taking the time to share. I will limit my comment to one word "MYTH" ( becomes fact if around long enough)
This tale of the 1936 car has been going on for decades.
I know I have information on Fernandez and Darrin here in my collection, photos too of the era either in publications ( most likely French - Omnia and L Illustration magazines) or something else but as with everything it takes hours/days to locate and I do not do instant research - I am not a button that can be tapped for instant history like many people take for granted now. My refraining from "instant" replys does get some demanding people irritated and mad - so be it.
Thanks Walt. I had seen some of your other posts and photos from your collection, specifically the advertisements on Charles Lindbergh and the Franklin Automobile Company. My grandfather, the fourth owner, was told by the second owner that it was originally owned by someone in the Anne Morrow Lindbergh family, whether it was anne's, her sibling's, or mother's. And the franklin cars seem to be one of the last few automobiles that Charles would openly let people photograph him in (prior to the 1935 Hauptmann trials and that fallout, I will leave an image the Packard outside the court house during the first week of the trial jan 6th 1935).
But anyways, I will send you a private message Walt, the history and documentation for this stuff is a process that definitely requires going outside the united states to get original information on.
I have spent days skimming French databases and archives looking at old concours photos. I will mention that there is a thread collection on the website coachbuild that had the most information on old F&D advertisements and other great photos/cars, especially of that 1932 F&D Packard 8 that I hope someday shows up in a barn in France.
Edit: I will add, to the 1936 car, I find it amusing that this car, which if it was an original Fernandez & Darrin Build, should have been on display at Pebble Beach in 2014. That was the first year to my knowledge they had done a class just to exhibit Fernandez and Darrin work, and I believe there was about 13 or so F&D cars shown. I have seen many times cars get freshly restored or come out of the woodwork, go to Pebble Beach, and then show up on one of the big auction sites within a year. Seems weird they were not there, on top of the the Mecum auction just listing it as "Dutch Darrin" coach work, which I feel would undermine the value/history.
